The central insight of Nonviolent Communication (NVC) is its focus on universal human needs. But what are basic needs? For those new to NVC, it’s often difficult to distinguish fundamental needs from emotions, judgments, and strategies. As a result, a list of needs can be particularly helpful in understanding and practicing NVC. If there’s one […]
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Printable Version of the NVC Feelings List
With some changes that have happened on the Web, I’ve recently created a printable version of this site’s List of Feelings. Please continue reading if you wish to learn more….
Protected: Mourning the Word “Forgiveness”
There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.
What is Trauma?
As terrible as trauma can be, it opens you to some sacred knowledge. ~ Kenneth Robinson Yesterday I asked Kenneth to help me understand trauma better. Recently I’d said to my teacher that trauma isn’t just a feeling, but then was unable to say more than that — and I want to be able to […]
Communication in the Service of Awakening
“How do we use this amazing capacity to communicate in the service of awakening?” This is the question Oren Jay Sofer thinks the Buddha is asking us to consider in what he says about Right Speech in the early Pali Canons. For me this is deeply inspiring and I hope it might be for you too.
Hope for a Great Sea-Change on the Far Side of Revenge
From Seamus Heaney’s The Cure at Troy — words that I hope might buoy your spirits when seemingly beyond consolation in your efforts to effect great change.
“Human beings suffer,
They torture one another,
They get hurt and get hard….”
Wandering Forth
Not quite two years ago, I once again felt that clarion call to be “an upstander.” In 2015 I had bowed out of a 22-year journey of speaking up about Unitarian Universalist clergy sexual misconduct. By then all signs were (and still are, to my knowledge) that the denomination was at last truly headed in […]
When About to Converse Online
When about to converse online
I vow with all beings
to come from full presence and care,
attending to what truly matters.
A Sister Website
In this packed-with-potential new year of 2022, I’ve started a sister website: Letting Go, Kindness, Space. I’ve been feeling the creativity itch for some time now, so I paired that with a New Year’s resolution and the result is a free-flowing blog. Where does that leave this site — Wise Speech Online? My hope is […]
Pause with Mobile Wallpaper
Oren Jay Sofer says, “If I could teach people only one tool for training in presence it would be to pause.” Pausing can make a big difference in our lives. It’s true. The challenge for some of us is to remember. So to help I’ve designed three mobile wallpapers.