Speak from the Heart: Deconditioning and Nonviolent Communication for Nourishing Relationships
This article is about Nonviolent Communication and three important ingredients that make us better communicators. Actually, it’s about how to come back to open-heartedness in the midst of chaos in our attempt to relate. It is an article about taking your choice...
Respect – The Needs’ Year (Week 40)
Recently I have just joined a one-year training course that deals with the different stages of human development, based on an individual, a group and an evolutionary perspective. The training includes a personal test with a follow-up conversation with the course...
Challenge – The Needs’ Year (Week 35)
I stood on the top and looked down. It was so steep that I couldn’t see the end of the ski slope. For a couple of minutes I mustered up the courage and then I headed downhill. I zigzagged down at increasing speed. Suddenly, I fell over and landed on my back,...
Meaning – The Needs’ Year (Week 13)
A few years ago, I rented a working space with some other people for a while. Once a month I gave an introductory lecture to NVC. Each time there was a varied number of participants, sometimes as many as 20 people. At one occasion, only a single person came. After a...
Integrity – The Needs’ Year (Week 8)
“What are you doing? The finishing line is here!” Kay shouted and gestured which track I should take. I had just covered 40 km on cross-country skis, but instead of crossing the finishing line, I took an extra lap in the stadium. The ski race went three laps and...
To matter – The Needs’ Year (Week 6)
We are in the entry hall in our apartment in Järna, south of Stockholm. My partner is lying on an ambulance stretcher and is supported by our midwife to give birth to our son. In the background are two ambulance drivers waiting. The birth started so fast that we never...
Rest – The Needs’ Year (Week 3)
Rain and exhaustion “Fucking hell!” I had just got my third flat tyre in less than 24 hours. It was raining and I sought shelter under a pedestrian bridge along the river Schelde just outside Gent, Belgium. I was soaking wet and even though it was not so...
Community – The Needs’ Year (Week 2)
My life in community “Who in the collective house would you most like to eat?” We were sitting around one of the tables in the dining hall engaged in a conversation. We stuck to the adult community members and most of us chose one of the young women from...