Article Intro
Trainers are invited to write lessons, tips, and experiences with NVC.
Trainers are invited to write lessons, tips, and experiences with NVC.
Nonviolent Communication is a practice designed to bring us back into connection with our hearts. Once we can find our way to our heart, old stories about who did what to whom, whose fault it is, how much is still owing (and so on) give way to a state of natural giving. While all of us have been to that place and recognize it– it’s our home!– nonetheless, we often forget that it exists at all. As the Buddhists say– Suffering is real (It’s the first Noble Truth), BUT there is a path out of suffering (That’s the second Noble Truth). The way is through acceptance.
In NVC, we spell it...
more...If they are not already familiar with his approach, I think many in our network will be interested in how Marshall Rosenberg viewed social change—or social transformation, as he increasingly referred to what he wanted to see. One reason Marshall decided to call the process he created Nonviolent Communication is because he wanted to link his work to the nonviolent social change work of Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.
Marshall was working on a book about the topic but never had a chance to finish it. He did, however, regularly present sessions on social change at IITs...
more...One of my favorite parables, of which there are several versions, goes like this: One day the one horse owned by a Russian peasant ran away. The peasant went to the village wise man and complained bitterly about this loss because of the large economic impact it had on him. “This is so bad” the man insisted. After hearing this the wise man replied: “Good, bad, who knows?” A few days later the horse returned, accompanied by several wild horses, significantly increasing the man’s wealth. He again went to see the wise man, this time exclaiming how good this was. The wise man again replied: “...
more...When people speak of responsibility within a domination system they often use the term to mean blameworthy or praiseworthy, deserving to be punished or rewarded for what they have done. Although NVC acknowledges a place for the protective use of force, it is incompatible with the ideas of blameworthiness, deserve, and punishment, and seeks to replace a system of retributive justice with one of restorative justice that can better meet the needs of all concerned, those who have injured others as well as those who have been injured.
This requires looking at responsibility in a...
more...A warm-hearted message from NVC teacher, coach and mediator, Lisa-Marie DiVincent, ORNCC co-founder and board member from 2003 to 2010.
Story-at-a-Glance
Long-time NVC “pro” recounts her early Compassionate Communication history, offers encouragement for wherever you’re at on your "NVC path” (or however you would describe it) and suggests some opportunities that might enrich your life.
Greetings from Empathy Cafe, the weekly group I've facilitated in Eugene for the past dozen plus years. I'm happy to say I still love Nonviolent Communication and find it as powerful...
more...Early in September the ORNCC Board of Directors sent a message to the network about the possibility of discontinuing our organization. Most of the responses we received to this message indicated a preference that ORNCC continue. Some of those who responded offered to help support the organization financially or in other ways. We’d like you to know that although a couple members of the board will be leaving the board at the end of this year, several members will be continuing and there are no plans for ending the organization in the foreseeable future.
The board would, however, like...
more...Going to Israel, where I am from, to be with my sister Arnina on her 70th birthday wasn’t an easy decision. These are not simple times for travel. Being in Israel, which I left because I didn’t want to have certain things be done in my name, has only become more difficult over the last number of years. And, based on previous visits, I anticipated being challenged to stay both focused on purpose and open to life.
There are some days I sit in front of my desk for six hours without once standing up and stretching. Likewise, I will go for hours without taking a drink of water from a glass full sitting right beside me. One of my phone apps is a “mindfulness” prompt, a bell that rings randomly throughout the day, a reminder to stop everything, to breathe, to clear my mind of thoughts, and to recenter my energy. I have that app turned off. Even though I know about the value of short pauses and mindfulness, I ignore that practice. Why?
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I recently felt compelled to print a couple of thousand business-size cards featuring a quote...