Speaking Peace - What's Alive In You?

Hi all .. Just finishing up an article to be published in The Pathfinder, The Heartland’s Resource for Conscious Living, published in St. Louis.  The article is on Speaking Peace as Anne and I will be in Collinsville, on the Illinois side of the really big Arches in St. Louis, Saturday April 29 from 9 to 5 to facilitate an introductory training program for the Association for Research and Enlightenment. The article, which will be published in March or so, highlights a few of the key themes in Speaking Peace or Compassionate Communication. Themes that deal with our using violent language on ourselves and others while heaping on the moralistic judgments in order to be “right” and totally evading any opportunity of meeting our needs of fully expressing what’s alive in us. Take a breath.

No time here to go into the whole thing. It takes a full day just to cover a bit of introductory material. That’s not to say it’s complex. It really is simple to learn and very difficult to master. Think about it. It takes a lot of personal awareness to overcome a lifetime of programming. Check out the books “Speak Peace” and “Nonviolent Communication” by Marshall Rosenberg. Join us in St. Louis for a fun workshop in April. http://www.areheartland.com/stlouis/index.html - program details and if you want to know more right now (or when you have a few minutes) take a listen to Anne and I – this is a service on Speaking Peace we presented January 8 at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Elgin www.uuce.org – go to www.PerfectingTheProcess.com – click on Speaking Peace to hear it or read the script. Remember – What YOU say next will change YOUR world!

On Purpose

The turn of the year is a great time for reflecton. My suspicion is that we don't do that much reflecting nor, perhaps, know how to do it. Reflection? Is that the same as thinking about? Not for me. Reflection is a process of reviewing a process while paying attention to the feelings and needs that are resonant with those reflections. Is what we are doing meeting our needs and the needs of others? Important questions because life processes are about meeting needs. Not wants. Needs.

As we shine our minds eye on the important processes of the past year or so, work, family, personal and intrapersonal relationships, just listen. Listen with an emotional ear. Let those feelings put you in touch with your deeper needs. Give yourself time for this. Get away. Be quiet. Let your daily life rest for a minute. Go deeply to feel and listen. What needs were met by your previous activities. Yours and others? What needs were not met because you were not aware of them? What needs were not met because you didn't think they were important?

What if we started off this year with a new presupposition of life? That everyone's needs could be met. What if you entered each situation and process of your life "as if" this were possible?

Consider how different we might behave with ourself and others if we were operating from a needs consciousness. How rich life might be if we were really experiencing it. To do so requires introspection and reflection. As our buddy Socrates says, "Know thyself." (Needs - Feelings) I add to that, know thy others.

In Peace, Bob | www.PerfectingTheProcess.com