MY WISH for this year is that we all spend a little more time to engage each other and our respective communities with active peacebuilding and compassionate communication aka non-violent communication. Over New Year I spent some time reading Marshall Rosenberg’s classic ‘Non-Violent Communication: A Language of Life’. I do agree with many of his ideas about developing a compassionate understanding of language interaction, focusing on immediate needs rather than morality and passing judgement ‘observing instead of evaluating’,  but of course disagree completely with what some will term woke attempts to police so-called ‘microaggressions’.

Lack of compassion for others is indeed  at the heart of many of our conflicts, but attributing wrong-doing to those who speak harsh words, and reaching out for legal solutions for colorful speech, accomplishes exactly what Rosenberg eschews and rejects, which is to evaluate and pass judgement on others. Required reading for anyone wishing to adopt a more compassionate response to the many conflicts which have embroiled communities over the past year.

Rosenberg writes: “What I want in my life is compassion, a flow between myself and others based on a mutual giving from the heart” He outlines “a language of compassion” that ‘replaces our old patterns of defending, withdrawing, or attacking in the face of judgment and criticism, we come to perceive ourselves and others, as well as our intentions and relationships, in a new light. Resistance, defensiveness, and violent reactions are minimized. When we focus on clarifying what is being observed, felt, and needed rather than on diagnosing and judging, we discover the depth of our own compassion. Through its emphasis on deep listening— to ourselves as well as to others—Non Violent Communication (NVC) fosters respect, attentiveness, and empathy and engenders a mutual desire to give from the heart

I wish all my readers, a Peaceful, Fruitful and Prosperous 2025.