I love NVC – Non Violent Communication. I”m still learning but I listened to it’s founder, Marshall Rosenberg, on youtube this summer and could see the value. He is bonafide (as they say in the movie Brother, Where Art Thou).  He was called into conflicts in the Middle East and  police-gangs situations.  I can see why successful intentional communities study NVC and make sure to use it as much as possible.

I recently attended a workshop on NVC. They mentioned that we can have a jackal journal. A place where you let all your jackal thoughts out. I thought – hey, that’s my blog. Okay, I won’t let all my thoughts out and how I feel about everyone, but I am doing more jackal ideas on intentional communities versus giraffe thoughts.

For those who do not know NVC – Jackal thoughts are what we have all grown up with – competitive, violent, judgemental, etc. Marshall Rosenberg urged us to think more like giraffes who have the biggest hearts.  How can we listen and not judge?

Just writing about it makes me feel more peaceful.

But back to my Jackal Journal.  I don’t want to hurt anyone but I do think there is a lot of PR and wishful utopian dreamers out there on the Internet – I was one of them. Yet, the reason I started my blog and podcast all along was to tell the truth of cohousing – the good and the bad. For me, it went way darker than I had hoped (I can’t say it’s the first time I’ve seen a group go dark but I thought we had the guard rails to protect us in cohousing).  So this blog has become more negative, yet, as I heal I’m sure it’ll balance out more and I still am one of those utopian dreamers.  Maybe next time….