Five finds of the fortnight: Edition 35

Hello dear reader,

I’m back after a short break—a few weeks of taking time off for rest, and prioritizing health. I’m back now and looking forward to work and learning in the next few weeks and months—the highlight being the planning of my first open workshop in-person since the pandemic began.

I’ll be sharing more information about it as and when the dates are finalized. On another note, it’s been over a year of sharing this newsletter now, and I’d love to hear back from you. Hit reply to this email if you’d like to share with me where you live, what brought you here, and what content you look forward to receiving from me in my future newsletters…or anything else you would like to share. I’d love to know more about you!

Warm regards,

Ranjitha

1. Quote of the fortnight

2. Image of the week: How not to listen

3. Article of the week: On why empathy contributes to healing

Excerpt:

In a nutshell, there are at least two reasons why empathy contributes to healing. One is that when you provide someone with the experience of being heard, your empathy is capable of removing one layer of suffering. The underlying cause of the suffering may well remain, and, with your empathy, the person is no longer alone with their suffering.

The other contribution that your empathy can make is based on the power of connecting with needs. If you engaged with the first module of the Making Life Work course – “Needs: Making Transformation Possible,” you probably already know the power of connecting with your own needs: it increases a sense of clarity, choice, self-connection, well-being, and empowerment. Not what we’ve been raised to associate with needs. If you haven’t explored the module on needs, just think of how satisfying it is to get clear on what you want when you’ve been unable to access it for a while. That, in essence, is the power of needs. When you know what you want and allow yourself to want it, something profound changes inside you.

It is exactly this experience that you can offer others through the power of your empathic presence. The power of the connection allows more vulnerability and openness. Then, with or without words, your empathy makes it possible for the suffering person to understand their experience more fully and settle into their own needs.

~ Miki Kashtan

From the Making Life Work course

4. Social media post of the week

Here’s one idea that can help you transform conversations—as speaker and listener:

5. Upcoming event alert

For anyone interested in understanding the link between individual and collective liberation, the NVC Academy is offering a course with Miki Kashtan: Facing Life as One: Restoring Our Individual and Collective Capacity for Choice, Togetherness and Flow.

The course is being offered on gift basis, and the first session is free— sign up here to experience the first session.