“Every criticism, judgment, diagnosis, and expression of anger is the tragic expression of an unmet need.”
– Marshall Rosenberg
My Gratitude for Language
In words and in sentences, in writing and in speaking. The verbal and the nonverbal. An elegant expressive medium, and a powerful shaping force of futures. As both the means and end in itself, in its diversity and in its universality, my heart today celebrates the amazing phenomenon, and the amazing potential, of language.
Opening Questions…
- How can language be used to promote connection and prepare us better for disconnection?
- How does language at times ultimately support violence?
- How can we learn to listen beneath disconnecting language?
The Common Experience of Disconnection
For some of us, disconnection happens only every blue moon. We may regularly be full of confidence, surrounded by compassion and support from others, and generally more inclined to empathy and open presence toward ourselves and those around us.
Others of us may experience disconnection on an everyday basis. We may experience apathy or animosity around what happens to us, or around what others are feeling or needing. We do all we can to get through each day, to survive and (sometimes at best) just hope for a better tomorrow.
Let’s face it, though: either way we all experience disconnection at some time or other in our lives.
This disconnection may be subtle, underlying the basic premise of our day with tension and concerns — or it may be loud and consuming, bringing us to the breaking point of tears or rage.
What is disconnection? How can it so ubiquitously affect us? And how might it be contributing to the violence we see so much of, so often around us?
You have an amazing capacity for thinking these things through – it is the power of a philosopher. As you should imagine – most of us move through these scenarios with a shrug and keep going down our own paths. It is good to pause through your reflection.
Thank you, Mike! I really resonate with that thought. I’m making a very conscious effort at this time to slow down, in order to fully experience the greater depth to what may seem a “trivial” matter to me at the time. I’d say I probably even take more time to try and meditate with it and feel it out over think through it much (since my thoughts on the first go-round tend to stimulate more frustration or pain than acceptance or gratitude for the experience). It feels great to receive that recognition for my efforts!