NVC in Rockford, Illinois

This past weekend (May 9-10) I was in Rockford, Illinois for a few NVC events. Rockford is a place that Marshall Rosenberg traveled to twice each year for 20 years during the time he was developing NVC while living in St. Louis, Missouri (my current hometown) and elsewhere in the 1970s and 1980s.

I led a 3-hour introduction to NVC on Friday evening, and asked for a show of hands of people in the room who had been with Marshall in person, and several people raised their hands and shared anecdotes of how they went to one of his trainings 30-some years ago. I was honored they had chosen to be with me that evening!

Driving through Rockford for three days was striking -- such poverty, abandoned and burned-out buildings, poverty abounds in this Midwestern town that depended on the manufacturing industry, most of which has moved to other countries.

I also experience warmth and kindness that moved my heart. One time, I was in a carload of people being driven by Steve Meyerhardt , NVC practitioner from Columbia, MO, and a man driving a taxi gave us directions while we were both driving down the road.

Another highlight of the weekend was a meeting on Saturday of the Alliance for Nonviolent Communication, a regional NVC organization based in the Midwest that was begun by Myra Walden from the Chicago area.

The group is becoming increasingly structured and I feel the momentum and energy building -- it's palpable. There were people in attendance from four states (Wisconsin, Missouri, Illinois, and Georgia), which included Mark Feinknopf and Cynthia Moe from the Atlanta, GA area, who provided some insight and guidance based upon their experiences with the Georgia Network for NVC and Compassionate Communication of Central Ohio.

Sometimes, even though I criss-cross the country sharing NVC, I feel such loneliness and long for NVC community that I can sink my teeth into. I was so nourished by heartfelt connections with others this past weekend!