Five finds of the fortnight: Edition 22

Dear reader,

Robert Gonzales, NVC trainer who taught about the Living Energy of Needs and the spirituality of NVC, passed away in Mexico on November 19.

If you’re not familiar with his work, here is a series of videos that are offered free on Youtube—they are a great starting point to understand Robert’s teachings on Living Compassion.

I was fortunate enough to attend the only retreat Robert led in India (in Auroville, 2014), and to be on the trainer team with him at the Kochi IIT, January 2020. I’m grateful to his work for introducing me to the living energy of needs—going beyond labeling or identifying my needs to actually experiencing them—and for helping me understand what living compassion looks like.

Here’s a picture of the IIT trainer team from Jan 2020:

An appeal for support

Robert’s family and friends are raising money to cover the costs of his treatment and care towards the end of his life. You can read more about it here.

Please consider making a contribution if you can.

Warm regards,

Ranjitha

1. Quote of the week

2. Image of the week

3. Article of the week

Recently, someone shared the link to a 2016 commencement speech by Vivek Murthy, the Surgeon General of the United States. I particularly enjoyed how he addressed the topics of empathy, connection and listening:

“I’m talking about the connection you build with people who are entirely different from you because you are able to look past labels and see them for who they really are.

I’m talking about the kind of connection that inspires you to feel kinship to people around the country and around the world because you recognize that, deep down inside, we all have the same fundamental hopes and dreams and we are better off when we are helping each other.”

—“Empathy is choosing to see ourselves in another despite our differences.

It’s recognizing that the same humanity—the same desire for meaning, fulfillment and security—exists in each of us, even if it’s expressed uniquely.

Empathy is what creates our desire to build connection and to solve or even prevent conflicts from family disagreements to global crises.”

You can read the transcript of the whole speech here.

4. Video of the week

From a series of videos I shot with Liv Larsson, a couple of years ago: on understanding shame and reclaiming our power.

5. Fundraiser event: Mediate your Life with John Kinyon

John Kinyon is offering a 3.5-hour session “Mediate your Life with the Magic of the 3 Chairs”, which will help you gain more ease and confidence when you find yourself in the intensity of conflict.In this 3.5 hour session, you will learn conversation maps (both inner and outer) that will help you to:

• build resilience with adversity

• strengthen your relationships

• open new creative possibilities.

This event is by donation and is a fundraiser for the Center for Nonviolent Communication, meaning that you can sign up for free and choose to give a donation in an amount of your choice to support our work.