Why 'systems'?
In 2005, Maria Arpa asked Marshall Rosenberg, the founder of Nonviolent communication (NVC) who will take this work forward in the future. Marshall responded something like 'Those with bucket loads of compassion and equal amounts of political savvy." (What does 'savvy' mean? See below)
I love this story that Maria tells. Those of us who practice NVC do well in terms of increasing compassion, how well do we fare in terms of awareness of politics and systems that we operate in?
Kit Miller, the Director of the Gandhi Institute, also describes, in her Conversation series Creating Peace in Troubling times how we need to upgrade our systems thinking to be effective in this post-Brexit, post-Trump world. (I'm using the word 'systems' here as for me, it enables me to look at a very broad panorama of how humans operate in systems ... something happens to me with the word 'political' .. a distancing from my own lived experience.)
In response to this, and in response to my own desire to upgrade my own systems thinking, I will offer a 'Systems Savvy' study group, at a central London location in 2018.
What's the focus?
There are so many ways of approaching systems, and in this series we will focus on Nonviolence as a way of resisting oppressive systems and of creating new systems. We will read or view key text or films in nonviolence which will help us link and differentiate the practice of nonviolence and Nonviolent communication (NVC), as well as link and differentiate principled nonviolence (eg Gandhi and Dr King) and strategic nonviolent resistance (discrete campaigns to achieve a specific goal).
The scope and intention of this group will be to upgrade our systems thinking. Initiatives for action may come out of the sessions but it's not the intention to be an action focussed group.
The 'felt sense' as a response
As a sensitive person who loves new paradigm visions and thinking, I have always struggled in a more traditional discussion group where ideas are not connected to the body and ping pong around the room in (for my nervous system) a bewildering way so I can rarely contribute to or process what's going on.
I invite us to experiment with responding to short texts, articles and films with our 'felt sense'. How are we affected by the words and images we will see? What does this tell us about what we are encountering and about ourselves. I have experimented with this in NVC trainings and the results are always startlingly revealing. I have had people respond with anger to Gandhi as his vision felt so hard to achieve, and I've noticed tears of hope and grief in response to a study of the effectiveness of nonviolent civil resistance. I wonder if noticing the 'felt sense' of our responses to these historical and contemporary campaigns and visions will help us stay connected to each other and our shared humanity in a complex and bewildering world where ideas and opinions can divide us.
Where and when?
Dates and venue info to come.
Invitation to contribute to resourcing new systems
To draw attention to how we resource systems, I invite any participant who wants to the NVC UK conflict transformation system. More info on how to contribute soon.
savvy =
common sense, practical knowledge and good judgement.
Late 18th century: originally black and pidgin English imitating Spanish sabe usted ‘you know’.
I love this story that Maria tells. Those of us who practice NVC do well in terms of increasing compassion, how well do we fare in terms of awareness of politics and systems that we operate in?
Kit Miller, the Director of the Gandhi Institute, also describes, in her Conversation series Creating Peace in Troubling times how we need to upgrade our systems thinking to be effective in this post-Brexit, post-Trump world. (I'm using the word 'systems' here as for me, it enables me to look at a very broad panorama of how humans operate in systems ... something happens to me with the word 'political' .. a distancing from my own lived experience.)
In response to this, and in response to my own desire to upgrade my own systems thinking, I will offer a 'Systems Savvy' study group, at a central London location in 2018.
What's the focus?
There are so many ways of approaching systems, and in this series we will focus on Nonviolence as a way of resisting oppressive systems and of creating new systems. We will read or view key text or films in nonviolence which will help us link and differentiate the practice of nonviolence and Nonviolent communication (NVC), as well as link and differentiate principled nonviolence (eg Gandhi and Dr King) and strategic nonviolent resistance (discrete campaigns to achieve a specific goal).
The scope and intention of this group will be to upgrade our systems thinking. Initiatives for action may come out of the sessions but it's not the intention to be an action focussed group.
The 'felt sense' as a response
As a sensitive person who loves new paradigm visions and thinking, I have always struggled in a more traditional discussion group where ideas are not connected to the body and ping pong around the room in (for my nervous system) a bewildering way so I can rarely contribute to or process what's going on.
I invite us to experiment with responding to short texts, articles and films with our 'felt sense'. How are we affected by the words and images we will see? What does this tell us about what we are encountering and about ourselves. I have experimented with this in NVC trainings and the results are always startlingly revealing. I have had people respond with anger to Gandhi as his vision felt so hard to achieve, and I've noticed tears of hope and grief in response to a study of the effectiveness of nonviolent civil resistance. I wonder if noticing the 'felt sense' of our responses to these historical and contemporary campaigns and visions will help us stay connected to each other and our shared humanity in a complex and bewildering world where ideas and opinions can divide us.
Where and when?
Dates and venue info to come.
Invitation to contribute to resourcing new systems
To draw attention to how we resource systems, I invite any participant who wants to the NVC UK conflict transformation system. More info on how to contribute soon.
savvy =
common sense, practical knowledge and good judgement.
Late 18th century: originally black and pidgin English imitating Spanish sabe usted ‘you know’.