So..simple

I am blogging after a long time. I just had to put this down :-)
Varsha needed 4 inch diamond shapes with chart paper for her craft work today. She went and bought the chart paper and we both sat down to cut it out. She brought the scale and as we were measuring.. I wondered aloud how do we make it as a diamond. What do I need to do?
''Mummy, it is so simple... we just have to cut it out as a square and the square becomes a diamond shape''.
Honestly, the thought had never crossed my mind at the time. It was soo simple :-)

Learning for me today...

 I got the information in the morning that Kamala who helps me in everything from taking care of my home and center was sick and may not be able to come for a few days. First thought was concern for her and the second thought,'OMG! How am I going to manage home/center without her.' 

Yep! I was being selfish there and I also told myself that I had told her to take rest but she would not listen. 

I took a deep breath and told myself that I could manage.. I have done this before ..and I could do it.

I reached home and started working on getting the chores done.. one by one.

I had a visitor, she is a beautician whom I know for the last 7 years. For me, the connection is more than just a professional relationship. As soon as she saw the condition of the kitchen she said,' Didi there is so much to do.. I will do the dishes, you sweep the floor..we can finish the work together'

I did not take up her offer and at the same time  was amazed with her spontaneous response. She had come for work leaving her nine month old baby who has to undergo an open heart surgery in October. With all her problems ..she was still so open to help me out. She showed me that heart can be at peace even in such hard situations.  So...much learning for me ...

Sharing..thinking :-)

Read this:
'' .... a person is not a finished, unchanging entity but a process flowing from moment to moment. There is no real ''being,'' merely an ongoing flow, a continuous process of becoming. Of course in daily life we must deal with each other of more or less defined, unchanging nature; we must accept external, apparent reality, or else we could not function at all. External reality is a reality, but only a superficial one. At a deeper level the reality is that the entire universe, animate and inanimate, is in a constant state of becoming - of arising and passing away. Each of us in fact a stream of constantly changing subatomic particles, along with which the processes of consciousness, perception, sensation, reaction change even more rapidly than the physical process.''

What I found interesting was the part that the 'External reality is just a superficial one'. Would that mean that what we are doing in our lives...following our dreams/goals/buying houses/cars etc is really not the reality..then what could we be doing instead of that??
What would happen if I am really able to see all this happening around me as external? Would I lose connection with the external world? Would I go into a world of my own which I have created for myself where I feel safe? Would I develop detachment? If I do become detached would that make me something like a stone which has no feelings? Just thinking aloud for myself :-)
Or somewhere just complicating things for myself :-))) 

NVC as I understand it..

Non violent communication is all about trying to understand our needs, others needs and trying to meet both the needs. There is no time frame for this or any fixed agenda.

There are many perspectives to it:

• It is upto the receiver how he wants to receive something (his interpretation)
• It is also upto the giver how he wants to give something

Both these aspects are blended into NVC

There is a four step process to communicate with compassion (looking at the other person as a person having feelings and needs just like me)

• Observation
• Feelings
• Needs
• Request

Observation: This is the first step and an important part of the communication. For eg: I enter my child's room and see the clothes on the floor..books on the floor etc. How do I respond :

• This room is so messy. Why cannot you keep things in place?
• I can see clothes and books on the floor. 

If you observe these two statements you can see the difference between an observation and an evaluation. When I make an evaluation it talks more about the speakers' beliefs and feelings and it makes a judgement on the other person. If I am being judged then I may not feel like having a conversation at all. In the second case there is just an observation (as it is) Observation helps us to seperate our thoughts and feelings from what is there. Helps the process of communication.

Feelings:  The second step is the feelings. Here we take onus of what we are feeling. For eg: What you said made me angry instead we can say ' I felt sad when I heard those words'. Some other person might feel amused/confused..so feelings are about the person who is feeling it. It is important to understand that no one can make me feel sad.. I just choose to feel sad. It helps to become aware of my feeling.

Needs :  We all have needs. When these needs are met we have certain feelings and when the needs are not met we have certain feelings. Identifying the need at the moment helps us to communicate. For eg: My need is to give a safe environment for expression ..

Request:  Now, we come to the last step where I have a need which has to be met so I make a request to the other person to meet my need. When I demand there is a resistance ..when I make a request I am seeing the other person as a person who has his own feelings and needs to be met.(the person is not an object)

For eg: I observe the towel on the floor. I tell my child,' When I see the towel on the floor ..I feel disturbed.. as my need for cleanliness is not met. Would you be willing to put the towel in the rack'' 

Do remember that at times my request might seem like a demand to the other person ..it might seem like a threat too. The point out here is that my need may be met or it may not be met. It is possible that the other person's need at that point of time is to relax:-))

Then I have an unmet need and the other person is meeting his need by resistance. How do I respond at that time? If I see the person as a person then I am able to see his needs and go further with him to understand and work on how both our needs are met or I see the person as an object and let him know that my need is more important /pass judgements on them/ put myself down etc etc.

This is a continuous process. If my aim is to connect and understand the other person then I am constantly working with this process as a way of life not as a tool or strategy.

Have loads of work to do on this :-))

Compassion/Lecture

Yesterday in the night around 8pm, I saw Varun working on something (a project) which he was supposed to submit today. He had known about it in the weekend and when we spoke about it..he gave an impression that he was in control and was clear with what he had to do.
Now, he seemed upset. He called me over and told me,' I have so much to do. I don't have pictures. I took some xeroxes but I forgot to take the other book for xerox. Oh God! how am I going to finish this'
I could see he was upset and ideally this would be a great opportunity to let him know about planning/taking it easy etc:-))
I saw him as a person who was feeling overwhelmed and did not require chiding/advises/suggestions. I told him,' You are overwhelmed right now. How would you like me to help you?'
He was quiet for a second and said,' I don't know'
I asked him,' Would you like me to go and get the pictures xeroxed for you'
He said,' That would be nice'
I went and got the xerox for him (luckily the shop is inside our complex). By the time I came back he had worked on the project ..before he slept he completed part of it... got up in the morning and completed the whole thing :-))
Just thinking back would my lecture have made a difference? 

Anatomy of Peace..

Reading a book called,' The Anatomy of Peace'.
This book has helped me see how we are creating conflict in our relationships, when we actually want peace within us and outside us.
My understanding as to what am I doing in my relationships.

•  Am I looking at a Person as a person or an Object
• Focus on helping things go right, rather than trying to fix things/children/spouses
• Shed our images of how the world sees us

I am enjoying reading this :-))

Mail...

Varsha wanted me to send her a mail (yep..she has one which is hardly used:-)) ). I wrote her a mail in which I expressed my love for her and also gave some gyaan on how in different ways she could express herself when she was going through a strong emotion. She read the mail and insisted on sending one to me. This is what she wrote:
Hope you stop shouting like that
how to respect smallers
1.Greet them
2.Hug them
3.Love them

:-))