When I mentioned to my mother that I was going to be offering a workshop on how to approach “the vaccine conversation” nonviolently, she laughingly empathized with, “Oh my, you’ve just put yourself in the middle of a hornet’s nest.”
It certainly feels that way.
On a recent group coaching call, I got a number of big questions about how to heal from trauma. In the moment, I remembered how the simple practice of connecting with others and with ourselves can be a fundamental tool for healing. Connection can be healing. With that in mind, I responded by sharing the four key distinctions we try to make when we want to connect rather than disconnect in our communication and our relationships.
Last week, I had the pleasure of being interviewed for the radio show PARTNER UP! with Amy Carroll. Amy is a coach, speaker, and writer who specializes in communication, so as you can probably imagine, we had a lot to talk about.
Sometimes, we start talking simply to discharge built up energy. We vent, we rage, we think out loud, we process verbally, we gossip, and we form alliances with others. Other times, we’re speaking because we want to bridge a gap between parts of ourselves or between ourselves and other people.
As you dive into your next conversation, slow down for a moment and ask yourself, why am I speaking right now? What am I trying to achieve?
How to stand for the values and human needs we deeply want to serve in the world, in the most generous, skillful and connected ways possible.