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Page 1 of 2 On the shores of beautiful Kootenay Lake in Nelson. This has been a road trip into my heart. In the journey toward a changed life and a changed world, I constantly reach out for new levels of understanding. I am not unique, not even in my ongoing commitment to a greater level of understanding. It is exactly because I am not unique that I continue to have such hope for this world.
Today I am attending the third day of a workshop in nonviolent communication. In this workshop we have been learning to observe without judgment, and from those observations get in touch with our feelings. From the observations and feelings we learn to identify our needs. And then, from a place of identified feelings and needs we learn to make a request. In short we are learning to communicate on the simple basis of observations, feelings, needs and requests. Today in Nelson there will be about 200 people in attendance with a couple of Trainers facilitating a very interactive workshop. We will take many of the most challenging situations in our collective lives; often situations where violence is a real concern, and we will communicate those situations to find resolutions through role play and reflection. This will allow us to initiate dialogue in a safe way in our individual lives, homes and work situations. From this workshop 200 people will go into the world and, using the tools they have learned here, begin the process of finding peaceful resolutions to potentially volatile situations. They will go with a faith in this process built upon clear examples of success. And that is what we are all seeking; we are all seeking tools that will empower us in our world. We all need something to believe in, something that will provide us with a sense of possibility for our lives. Everyone needs faith before entering into a world with any sense of hope. Faith and hope have been shattered for many people in the world today; shattered by the constant barrage of violent images. Such information makes for helplessness, despondency and a general sense of dissociation. All the crises of the world are leading humanity to an almost perpetual state of fear; very much like the dark ages of our antiquity. Fear is the antithesis of hope. When fear overtakes our hearts we can no longer take direct action. When fear overtakes our hearts we are bound to follow. Fear enslaves a people more thoroughly than any prison shackles. It will make a person narrow minded, selfish and violent. In order to free the world of the violence that appears to be overtaking it, hope and faith must be rekindled. That takes tools. So what are the tools of peace? The most powerful tool for peace is a safe environment for honest communication. When people feel safe they will express honestly. That will generate a sense of possibility which will inevitably open the doors to peaceful solutions. There must always be an intention for solutions; one of the greatest challenges to peaceful resolution is the belief that the ‘other side’ may not be interested in solutions.
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