May, 2018
 

For some years now, I've had an intention of becoming progressively more radical and less alienating at the same time. I learn it in fits and starts as I navigate my own tendency to focus on differences and forget commonality. Today I share one key piece I learned on this journey.

Simply put: I learned that part of what makes the radical challenging is that it seems overwhelming and unattainable. This is why visionaries are so often referred to as "naïve" and "unrealistic." The conclusion is startling: the more practical I make what I speak about appear, the more connecting and accessible it can be, regardless of how radical it is. radical

With these "radical and practical" glasses on, I now see endless opportunities and examples. As just one example, when I talk with parents about sharing decision-making as a general policy, they often dismiss it impossible. When, instead, I give parents an example of words they can use with their child in a difficult moment, words which are simple, straightforward, and which point in the direction of holding everyone's needs with care, they tend to ask me to repeat so they can take notes. freedom

With this in mind, I hope you will explore and experiment with my two recent blog posts in which I am aiming for exactly that integration. As I explore the sensitive topic of the endless push to "get ahead," I offer, in the first one , a radical view of freedom and interdependence that we can embrace instead, and, in the second one, the very practical and concrete steps we can take to move in that direction. CF

Late this summer, I offer, for the first time, an online course on Convergent Facilitation, the method I developed for facilitating collaborative decision-making, which I have used repeatedly to achieve radical results in practical ways. And my Responding to the Call of Our Times (which is still open to registration (now at reduced cost!), accompanies a dedicated group of people who, week by week, aim in this direction.

Another example of the radical and the practical is the multi-year effort of the New Future Process of rethinking the structures of the global NVC community. All along, those of us who have participated in the design and now implementation of the project, have worked on that intersection: radical enough to create the change we want to see, within our community and in the world, and practical enough that it can work in the here and now. For the first time, now, the emerging new way of organizing the global NVC community is open for anyone to join. I urge you to do so! 
See below . vTaiwan

In another domain, I recently participated in a conversation with Tom Atlee from the Co-Intelligence Institute and with Audrey Tang, Digital Minister without Portfolio (i.e. without a specific area of focus) from Taiwan, about vTaiwan, the most radical and most practical large-scale experiment in participatory democracy that I know of in the world. After this and other conversations and research, Tom wrote a series of blog posts that describe this experiment in ways that I find accessible, practical, and inspirational.

I am not surprised, actually, that the radical and the practical converge so easily. I rather think that what I envision, and what many aim to embrace with me, is only challenging because so few of us do it. When the entire world functions based on competition, command, and control, in a sea of separation and scarcity, collaborating, caring, and acting with integrity require more than most of us could ever aspire to. This is why I want structural changes that would enable all of us to go about our lives and simply contribute to the whole without effort. The experiments in Taiwan show that, when done radically enough and practically enough, it's possible. This is what I am banking on for all of us.

in peace and hope,
 
Miki celebmourn
 
P.S. If you want to hear more of what's been happening in the last couple of months, click here for both work and personal celebrations and mournings, including my work with Palestinian women in Bethlehem last month, as well as some links to articles that have inspired me recently.
Free Teleseminarsevents
You are invited to join Miki and others in the next   Fearless Heart Teleseminars.  On these calls you can engage in conversation about her latest blog posts, "  Stepping off the line into Freedom and Interdependence Part One: Why ," " Part 2: How",  earlier posts, or other topics of interest. 

Facing Privilege
Tuesday, May 22, 6:30 - 8:00pm
Monday, June 18, 5:00 - 6:30pm
The  Facing Privilege Conference Calls  are an opportunity for people to engage on the deep questions that arise as we reflect on the topic of privilege. 

Principle-Based Teaching Coaching Calls
Saturday, June 30, 2:00 - 3:30pm
The Principle-Based-Teaching calls  are designed for people who have been integrating NVC for a while, who are now sharing NVC with others in various forms, and would like to engage with others and with Miki in deepening our collective capacity to bring NVC to the world in this particular way.
  
For years, Miki has been examining and questioning the assumptions of the global capitalist economic system in which most of us live and discovering and inventing other possibilities. These calls are for all people who want to grapple with all aspects of this economic system both external and internalized. Our hope in holding these calls is to grow our capacity to make choices within our sphere of influence, even if only internally, that challenge the norms of fairness, deserving, merit, economic security, material resources as measuring value, and everything else that is part of the modern economic narrative and structures.
More info and link to free registration.   
 
Online at NVC Academy
Responding to the Call of Our Times
Fridays, February 2 - November 30, 2018 
(44 sessions)
Noon - 2:00pm PT
Registration costs for this course just went down, and you can still join and get all the recordings of the earlier sessions. There is no curriculum, and it's never too late. Whether you are an "official" leader or not, this ongoing program will support you in freeing yourself to fully step into leadership in all aspects of your life and work, and play your part in making life work for everyone.  Info and register. 
Convergent Facilitation: A Path to Efficient, Collaborative Decision Making
Sunday, August 12 - September 23, 2018 
(5 sessions - first session free)
7:30 - 9:30am PT (early so many countries can join live)
The first ever on-line course on Convergent Facilitation! 
Read the case study about Miki's work supporting collaborative lawmaking in Minnesota.  (link: 
http://efficientcollaboration.org/minnesota-case-study
Info and register. 
 

Mobilizing for Nonviolent Global Liberation
These retreats are designed for all who want to take a next step in understanding, capacity for interdependent living, practice, service, and contribution to support the possibility of nonviolent global liberation.

Warsaw, Poland 
June 4 - 10 

Ben Lomond, California, USA
August 23 - 30  

Working for transformation without recreating the past
Workshops for change agents: 
"Imagine a future world in which we all value people and life and participate in the flow of generosity... A world where attending to everyone's needs is the organizing principle." - Miki. If you are inspired by Miki's style of visionary leadership, and want to integrate these principles in your life and community, you are invited to join Miki for one of these events.

These workshops combine practices to support embracing nonviolence in thought, word, and deed; methods for making decision that work for everyone; dialogue skills to bridge differences; tools for understanding and engaging with your own and others' power and privilege; and models for visionary organizations and leadership.

In the UK (residential)
June 12 - 14
Info and register

An Intensive for Change Agents in Winchester, VA
July 15, 9:30am - 5:00pm
 
At the Rowe Center in Massachusetts (residential)
Oct 26-28
(under the title Reweaving Our Human Fabric)

More Events in the UK in June
Liberation in 3 Chapters: Personal and Collective Practices for Embracing a Collaborative Future
June 16, 10am - 5:00pm
This is an interactive workshop with Miki exploring shifts from accumulation to a flow of giving and receiving, from competition to collaboration, and from compromise to integrated solutions that work for everyone. Come prepared to learn, laugh, cry, and think freshly about almost everything.  Please get in touch for places to stay in London:  sophiedocker@gmail.com

Integrating Power and Love: Collaboration and Leadership in Difficult Times
June 13, 7:30 - 9:30pm
This is a workshop for you if you are ready to explore what leadership that supports and deepens collaboration can look like and what this would mean in your own life, work, and organizations. 
NVC-OInvitation to participate in new future process
The Implementation Council of the New Future Process invites you to join the global NVC-O Community to participate in building the future of this community. There are just 3 steps to join. http://bit.ly/JoinNVCOCommunity. Why join? -Experience the satisfaction and inspiration of a shared Vision, Purpose, and Mission generated by hundreds of us; -Support and shape the continuing evolution of CNVC into our new international organisation NVC-O; - Access resources being developed to find collaborators, students, teachers, project partners, support and resources in your language, and more! 3 steps to join .
Other people's events
Events by former students of Miki's who follow a similar path to hers in sharing NVC:

Nonviolent Leadership for Social Justice Retreat: NVC and Race, Ethnicity and Social Class in North America
July 29 - August 5, Moraga, CA
An intensive immersion into the heart of nonviolence and social transformation, calling together a community of committed practitioners working to manifest a nonviolent future.  Info and register.

Leadership Program Summer Retreat
Deepening Learning in NVC. Generating Ideas for Sharing, with Roxy Manning, Aya Caspi, Cathy Bucher and Talli Jackson
June 17-24, Aptos, CA
Renew your understanding of applying, facilitating and exploring NVC. Kids welcome! Info and register.

Nonviolent Transformation through Body and Movement
In Poland, in English
A four-part series, two of which are led by former students of Miki's, exploring how body-based practices can support nonviolent social change in ourselves, in our relationships and in the world. Info and register .
We now have 95 donors contributing, in total $2,850. We have an ambitious goal for 2018: we want to double the number of donors to 200, and reach $5,000 a month by December. The Circle of Support is our baseline of steady support for Miki's bold and successful venturing into the gift economy, and we want it to keep growing so more and more of Miki's work will be simply gifted, without any strings attached. It's the world so many of us want to see.