This weekend S.F. will host the 9th annual New Living Expo. Every year the Expo draws thousands of people interested in learning more about health, healing, relationships, higher consciousness, and green living. This year, event organizer Ken Kaufman has brought together one of the most lively Expos yet, featuring over 100 speakers and 300 exhibitors.
The empathy team from Bay Nonviolent Communication (BayNVC) will be at the event for the second year. Last year they talked with hundreds of people who wanted empathy.
The BayNVC empathy team is a service project with several intentions. They gather together to get a sense of themselves in their larger NVC community – of how large this group of people wanting to bring empathy into the world is. They are volunteers practicing the skills of giving empathy. For instance, they give "empathy samples," asking Expo visitors to share their feelings and needs with team members.
The team wants to serve the world – to correct the empathy deficit in the world. They want to raise visibility so that people know that conflict resolution exists. They want others to know NVC’s implications for virtually every facet of life, from the workplace to education to interpersonal relationships to spiritual practice.
Judith Katz, BayNVC development coordinator, says, “It’s worked magic in my life. I’m passionate about it. I have become a clearer communicator. When I started I had a hard time getting my voice across, which led to a lot of problems. When I found Marshall Rosenberg, a leader in this movement, and NVC for the first time, it opened up the possibility of having better connections in every aspect of my life.”
Ms. Katz continues,“I’ve been working for BayNVC for 2½ years. I started as a volunteer. Later I took charge of the outreach program. This event is made possible in a large part due to the volunteers who are part of the BayNVC empathy team. There are six volunteers committed to bringing empathy to places like festivals and farmer’s markets. We give empathy in places where people experience stress.”
The BayNVC empathy team is building community around their values of diversity, freedom, and communication. This is timely because empathy has been showing up so much in the media lately. President Obama talked about empathy while campaigning. Our recent Supreme Court justice, Sonia Sotomayor, was chosen partly on the basis of her empathy. Author Mary Gordon is transforming schools with empathy. Author and activist Jeremy Rifkin put forth a global view of empathy in a recent book.
The BayNVC empathy team is out there to model the skills of creating mutual understanding with language and consciousness of feelings and needs. Contact Judith Katz at judith@baynvc.org for more information about the BayNVC empathy team.
This webpage is dedicated to portraying the amazing diversity of Conflict Transformation culture in the Bay area. All suggestions are welcome.
Teresa Rose is a certified life coach, mediator, and has a life coaching business based in San Mateo. She is passionate about helping transform internal and interpersonal conflicts into growth and peace of mind. Email Teresa: Teresa@PeaceOfMindCoaching.com and view www.PeaceOfMindCoaching.com
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