- Five Finds of the Fortnight
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- Five finds of the fortnight: Edition 30
Five finds of the fortnight: Edition 30
Registrations for the Living Bridges journey are still open! Join us.
Dear reader,
The past two weeks have been eventful. In my last newsletter, I had shared with you that I facilitated my first in-person session after two years. Over the last fortnight, in-person sessions have continued with FAME India, an organization in Bangalore (where I’m running batches in English and Kannada—a first for me). I also had the opportunity to offer a session on feedback skills for Serein—the first time I led a hybrid session with some participants in the room, and some being on Zoom.
I enjoy being able to lead in-person sessions after two years—and hope we’re able to continue doing these!
How have you been? Have you tried anything new lately? Has anything changed for you recently? Reply to share with me, I’d love to connect with you!
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In other news, registrations for the Living Bridges journey closes this weekend. You can still join us now.Here's why signing up for the Living Bridges journey (either the whole quarter or any of the curated routes, the NVC route and the Social Change route) adds value to your learning experience:1. Includes registrations to fortnightly practice sessions2. Comes with a specially designed self-assessment tool, which is only available to people who join us for the journey.3. There are fellow travellers4. It's a bundle of fun!
Warm regards,
Ranjitha
1. Quote of the fortnight
The choice between truth and kindness is a false dichotomy.
The fullness of truth is always an expression of love, for it contains grace, shows humility, and honors a multiplicity of perspectives.
With the right tools, it’s possible to be clear, honest and direct while staying connected to love and compassion. This sort of speech is both rare and powerful, for it requires that we move beyond the narrow constraints of the dominant culture and connect with the fullness of our heart.
~ Oren Jay Sofer
2. Image of the fortnight
A reminder that while I may want to contribute to another, I want to put them at the center—and respond based on what they need in the moment.
3. Social media post of the fortnight
I compiled some of my takeaways from Robert Maoz Krzisnik’s workshop “But it’s not me who’s violent”—an introduction to Nonviolent Communication. Click on the image to read the entire post.
4. Article of the fortnight: on grief
We often speak of grief as associated with the loss of a human dear to us. Is losing a loved pet different? I was moved by this article on grieving the loss of a pet.
The final gift a dog gives its family is the lesson of loss. The knowledge that a story isn’t devalued by its ending. All that love still happens. Our kids have been given a knot of complex emotions and, as hard as it has been, it has been extraordinary watching them untangle that knot.
Our eldest, who has a tendency to shut down difficult emotion, has expressed her grief in painting and poetry. Our youngest is learning that raging against the dying of the light doesn’t turn the light back on. I have no doubt both the girls will be better people for the knowing of Moxy — and the losing of her.
5. Upcoming event alert
Coming up this weekend at Living Bridges: A session on observations with Manasi Saxena, CNVC-Certified Trainer.
"When we combine observation with evaluation, we decrease the likelihood that others will hear our intended message."
~ Marshall B. Rosenberg
The very first step of the NVC process (the one that comes after understanding and establishing our intentions), is Observations - i.e. the capacity to distinguish between our evaluations and what we are seeing with our eyes, and hearing with our ears (or what we remember seeing and hearing).The capacity to move separate evaluations from observations is the capacity to use language for engaging with our world as a dynamic, changing, multi-dimensional, nuanced, and complex system, rather than a world compartmentalised into right/wrong, good/bad, should/should not. Growing this capacity also grows our capacity for relationality and connection.
Join us for this workshop about the first step in the NVC process: Observations, an interactive workshop to understand, practice, and explore questions together!
This workshop will be followed by workshops on Feelings & Needs (April 23 and 30), with me, and Requests (May 14 and 21), with Samuel Odhiambo. You do not have to attend one to attend the other, and we highly encourage you to do so, to get a fuller picture!