Clarity – The Needs’ Year (Week 34)
I’m desperately trying to change the language on the computer. Everything is in Polish and I don’t understand anything! I call Magda for the fifteenth time and ask her to help me translate some commands, so I can perform the most basic tasks. I feel stressed,...
Learning – The Needs’ Year (Week 33)
Inevitably, my eyes are drawn to the bookshelf. I scan titles and my eyes become fixed on a yellow book with the title “The Culture Map”. I ask my host, Paulina, if the book is good and if she recommends it. “Do you want to borrow it?” she asks and I’m not...
Sexual Expression – The Needs’ Year (Week 32)
My abdomen and legs began to tremble in convulsions. It was as if I were receiving jolts of electricity through my limbs. It was a pulsating sensation that multiplied through my body. I thought I was going to explode, so I immediately stopped what I was doing....
Space – The Needs’ Year (Week 31)
– Joachim, could you say…? – No! I’m leaving in 10 minutes! The answer came fast as lightning. I was in a hurry, quite stressed and needed to pack the last items before leaving home. I knew I didn’t have enough capacity to both prepare the...
Connection – The Needs’ Year (Week 30)
He had been grumpy all week. It didn’t matter if it was during the community meetings, when we were playing volleyball or during meals. Not a smile crossed his lips. What was wrong with him? My judgments about one of the participants at the European NVC Summer...
Touch – The Needs’ Year (Week 29)
For ten years, from the time I was about seven, I don’t recall many memories of physical closeness to others. I remember a sweaty wrestling game with my friends when I turned ten. I have sweet memories of being close to the girl I was in love with when I was 14, when...
Joy – The Needs’ Year (Week 28)
The first memory that comes to mind when I think about the need for joy is from a small party over 10 years ago with my friends. We are in a house outside Stockholm. We have had dinner together and some have drunk wine. It’s late and one of us has picked up the...
Interdependence – The Needs’ Year (Week 27)
Right now I’m participating in the Midnight Sun IIT in Finland as a support trainer (an IIT – International Intensive Training – is a 10-day NVC course). One topic that has arisen is how we handle the Covid situation. In large parts of the world –...