nvc stuff

tonight i host the monthly empathy practice group at the peace and justice center at 6, i expect the usual turnout of two to three, hopefully growing as word gets out

it'll be minimal on the lecture, and more about just holding space for mutual empathic listening and supporting whatever other needs are present

i volunteered to begin hosting when the previous host expressed some ambivalence, i have done this kind of thing before so feel pretty comfortable with whatever happens

except for the fact that it was recently shown to me that nvc doesn't actually work in the world, like when sitting in the internet cafe, a seriously obese woman kept coughing and sneezing next to me without making any attempt to cover her face, and there is really nothing to be done in this situation, particularly because i did not in any way wish to make contact with her, which is an essential part of the nvc process

which begs the question of how many people really wish to make contact with those who are threatening their well-being, which is at the root of many if not most of the much larger conflicts in the world, and hence seems to invalidate the nvc process, does it not?

for the comfortable middle class who are, not coincidentally, most drawn to the nvc process, there is something to be said for their relative position of power, from which i have found empathy to be substantially more effective, such as when i was manager at the museum shop a few years back, and this is not surprising since the process originated from the experiences of a Ph.D-educated charismatic associate of famed humanistic psychologist Carl Rogers

nevertheless, there's usually something useful to come out of ironies such as finding this disillusioning clarity after recently joining the board of directors for nvc new mexico, which by extending this current analysis, may be more useful for the relative position of power it provides than anything that actually gets done

i am still pressing for someone to step up and do some nvc "de-escalation" training with the cops