Capital NVC

by Bob Wentworth

Nonviolent Communication offers me hope. At a personal level, since studying NVC, I experience more joy, peace of mind, and gratitude -- feelings that haven't always been easy for me to access. Interpersonally, I find that NVC makes it much more common for me to experience empathic connections with others that I find so much more satisfying than other ways of connecting. I also find that I have tools to have challenging conversations -- conversations I previously would have avoided -- in ways that are free of blame and which include a degree of honesty that previously seemed out of reach. Looking to the larger world, I have hope for how the logjams that currently block solving serious problems could be cleared when the day comes that a significant number of people involved can bring NVC awareness to the situation. I dream of the level of mutual support, and joyful community that NVC could make possible for people as it becomes more widely practiced.

I want to fully enjoy the world as it is. And I want to help create a world that is even more delightful. I long for others to join me in creating that world, both because it would be so great for that world to arrive sooner, rather than later, and because companionship is itself satisfying. So, I'd like to invite you to consider what you could do to hasten the arrival of that even more delightful world.

Although focusing on NVC is simply a strategy for making the world more wonderful, it's a strategy I believe to be particularly powerful. So, I invite you to join me in incorporating NVC into your own lives, in building community informed by the principles of NVC, and in finding ways to share the gifts of these ideas with others. What do your own yearnings and creativity call you to do?

Do any of the following possibilities speak to you? I offer these ideas for your consideration.

Deepen your knowledge and practice of NVC:

• Take a workshop or class. See the Capitol NVC event listings to the right.
• Study on-line at the NVC Academy, take an intensive training, or read some NVC books or listen to NVC CDs.
• Join an practice group. Practice groups are a great way to find mutual support for deepening one's practice of NVC. (See practice group listings to the left.)
• Find a strategy to apply NVC in your life. Keep a journal in which you connect with feelings and needs. Choose a relationship or situation to work on approaching differently.
• Consider private communication coaching as a means of deepening your practice. A number of Capitol NVC's trainers offer such coaching.

Help build NVC community in this area:

• Start a new NVC practice group. If you can round up a handful of people interested in practicing NVC together, we at Capitol NVC would love to support you in starting a new group.
• Volunteer to help Capitol NVC. Let us know what you would be interested in doing.
• Offer your ideas. Send us email.

Current core focus areas of Capitol NVC include:

• Moving towards offering a comprehensive range of NVC trainings, including regular class offerings and special events.
• Supporting the creation of NVC community through supporting practice groups and sponsoring events that build community.
• Promoting social change by bringing NVC consciousness to settings where it can make a difference.

If you have ideas about or enthusiasm for any of these focal areas, let us know.

In addition to the three focus areas just mentioned, Capitol NVC is currently trying to strengthen its institutional practices around publicity and finances. If you have interest in helping us with either of these, please let us know.

We would love it if you'd like to support Capitol NVC in growing NVC in this area. And if you have your own ideas about how you'll contribute to making the world a better place, that's great too.

I'd enjoy our all doing our part to enjoy the world as it is, and to make it even more delightful.