Empathy in a Difficult and Dangerous World

Giraffe speech helps us to connect

Empathy means to stand in another person's shoes, i.e. to see things from their perspective. 

EMPATHY is at the heart of Nonviolent Communication (NVC).  In an NVC context, empathy means to connect with feelings and needs - our own and other people's.

In order to be able to connect with someone else in an empathetic way, we first need to have empathy for ourselves.  

In NVC, empathetic speech is called "giraffe speech".  This is speech which helps us to connect with others and with our own experience. 

With all the violence and conflict all over the world, there has never been a greater need for NVC skills.  NVC helps us to connect using language - to connect with other people's needs and to express our own.

Empathy can be, and has been, used in many situations, including those involving extreme violence.

I am sure you have experienced empathy - either using it yourself or receiving it from someone else, or both.  I encourage you to blog about your experience of empathy in your home, with your family, at your workplace, or in any other situation.

Please post your blog post to the Blogging Carnival for Nonviolence 2019.  Go here for details.

Go here to read the blogs from 2018. 

Go here for the 2019 blogs. 

We look forward to hearing from you!

Go here for short films about the basics of Nonviolent Communication (NVC).

Go here for a short film about NVC and parenting.

Enjoy these, and please share them with your networks.  Please leave your comments below.  Thanks. 

Spock Is Dead

Spock is dead, and my heart is breaking. 

Leonard Nimoy, the actor who played Spock in Star Trek the original series and the movies derived from it, died yesterday aged 83. 

I remember Star Trek being on TV when I was a young child.  At the time, I had a mild interest in the series because my father and sister watched it avidly every week.  Later on, I became a true fan.  Spock was always my favourite.

Star Trek was an essential part of my youth.  My father always called me "Spock" because he said my mind was so logical.  Spock was the one who taught us to "live long and prosper" and, later, that "the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few and the one" - and vice versa.  His death in Star Trek II:  The Wrath of Khan is one of the most moving scenes in the entire Star Trek franchise.  Blog continues below. 

Star Trek was known for breaking taboos about race and the portrayal of people of colour on TV, and for challenging racial stereotypes.  This was partly because of the casting of African American actress Nichelle Nichols as Uhura (the intergalactic receptionist, but still an officer).  The Uhura character was updated in the reboot. 

In Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, his friends travel across the galaxy to recover his essence, i.e. his soul.

Star Trek IV:  The Journey Home is and shall always be my favourite Star Trek film.  Directed by Leonard Nimoy, IV is the funniest of all the Star Trek films.  And, of course, Nimoy was the only actor from the original series to appear in the reboot. 

Star Trek is still referenced today in TV shows such as The Big Bang Theory, in which Nimoy (or at least his voice) made a guest appearance.

Spock, you are loved and you will be missed.  Live long and prosper.