Exploring Ways To Make Peace Within
Ourselves & the World

Women In Black Denver, Colorado

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Why Do I Write This Blog???

The easiest (and probably the most honest) answer to that question is: I don't know. It all started in the summer of 2005, when I went to Crawford, Texas ( a.k.a. the home of the prez's ranch, a.k.a. the home of Camp Casey) to support Cindy Sheehan. I wanted the world to know that, contrary to what one could read in the mainstream media, the peace movement was alive and well and large numbers of Americans did not support the war in Iraq. I wanted people to know that thousands of Americans were willing to travel to Texas and tolerate the heat, humidity, and bugs in order to support a grieving mother whose new purpose was to shine a light on the lies that led to the war and to bring home our troops so that no other mother would have to know the pain that she felt.

Over time, this blog has become more of an exploration of who I am, my spirituality, and how life works. I love life's complexities, exploring the shades of gray. I want to, as Rainier Maria Rilke said,

"Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves, like locked rooms and like books that are now written in a very foreign tongue. Do not now seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is, to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer."

Maybe my blog is just one big question about what is needed in order for people to take the time to love and cherish each other and our earth. Maybe someday, I will "live along some distant day into the answer."

In the meantime, thank you for joining me on my journey. I welcome you to share yours with me

 

Sunday, August 20, 2006

Wanna Join Me?

Next month, September 13-15, I will be taking Marshall Rosenberg's NonViolent Communication class that he is offering at Naropa in Boulder. I'm inviting all who are interested in learning skills that will create a different world to join me in this class. It's not free, but neither is freedom! hah! I just had to pull a W where I could. Really though, bombs take away many freedoms, and the skills of compassionate communication and empathic listening do bring us much freedom.

The class is Sept 13-15, Wed. 7–9 p.m., Thurs, Fri. 9 a.m.–5 p.m.
Non-credit: $325, $260 by September 9
You can sign up on Naropa's site

A Little About NVC and Marshall:

Most of us are hungry for skills that can improve the quality of our relationships, deepen our sense of personal empowerment, or simply help us communicate more effectively. Unfortunately, many of us have been educated from birth to compete, judge, demand and diagnose; to think and communicate in terms of what is "right" and "wrong" with people. At best, the habitual ways we think and speak hinder communication and create misunderstanding or frustration. And still worse, they can cause anger and pain, and may lead to violence. Without wanting to, even people with the best of intentions generate needless conflict. By examining the unmet needs behind what we do or say, Non-Violent Communication (NVC) helps reduce hostility, heal pain, and strengthen professional and personal relationships. It affects cultural shifts as institutions, corporations and governments integrate NVC consciousness into their organizational structures and their approach to leadership.

NVC helps us reach beneath the surface and discover what is alive and vital within us, and how all of our actions are based on human needs that we are seeking to meet. We learn to develop a vocabulary of feelings and needs that helps us more clearly express what is going on in us at any given moment. When we understand and acknowledge our needs, we develop a shared foundation for much more satisfying relationships.

Marshall B. Rosenberg , Ph.D. is the founder and director of educational services for the Center for Nonviolent Communication, an international peacemaking and training organization. He is the author of Speak Peace in a World of Conflict, and the bestselling Nonviolent Communication: A Language of Life. Dr. Rosenberg is the 2006 recipient of the Global Village Foundation's Bridge of Peace Award, and the Association of Unity Churches International 2006 Light of God Expressing Award. He is also the recipient
of the 2004 International Peace Prayer Day Man of Peace Award and the 2004 Religious Science International Golden Works Award.



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posted by Carol at 11:50 AM

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