Imperfect. Uncertain. A Gate. Original Unity. My Message. My Life. What do these have in common? Each is a component of living a nonviolent life. When we accept that each of us is imperfect, live in awareness of the uncertainties in the world; when we live without the barriers of divisiveness, our life becomes a message of hope, compassion, and nonviolent engagement. We recognize that through our imperfections, we can fashion a nonviolent response to the uncertainties in the world.
This journey of nonviolent presence begins when we accept that we are imperfect beings living in an uncertain world. Our imperfects may be illusions about our self. They may be judgments or deep seated fears. We recognize that our imperfections are not who we truly are. They are opportunities to become who we truly are.
Illusions are at the base of our reactions. When we acknowledge that another person is not the trigger of our reactions and subsequent violence, our illusions, judgments, and fears at the base of our imperfects are revealed. For example, we might have very different political beliefs than another person. We may react because we feel attacked by that person during a conversation. Or, instead of feeling attacked, we might recognize how our imperfections are triggering us, hear what the person is saying, breathe through the potential reaction, and respond with compassion.
No matter how much we ignore our imperfections, they do not disappear until we meet their challenges and learn their lessons. Shifting our perspective from imperfections as unwanted flaws to important life tools, we get unstuck from feelings of failure and unattainable expectations for our self. We become our best, authentic self.
Our paradigm shifts from imperfections as a bane of our existence to imperfections as vehicles of growth. This paradigm shift is paramount to healing our woundedness and living nonviolently in an uncertain world. Healing our woundedness, we break free from our imperfections. Our authentic self is then reflected in each thought, word, and action. Any acts of violence are met with a self compassionate response. We heal the world by first healing our self.
Ready to heal your self and the world through nonviolent living? Join us beginning January 2, 2019, for 4-week online course: Imperfect in an Uncertain World: Being Nonviolent.
Excerpt from the book Imperfection in an Uncertain World: Being Nonviolent by Vanessa F. Hurst, ms. Available on Amazon.
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Start Date: 1/2/19
Cost: $20
The world has never been so connected — we communicate instantaneously via the internet, watch the world unfolding on 24-hour news channels, and get on a plane only to be thousands of miles away in a matter of hours. Yet, a virus of dissociation rages across the globe. Schisms have formed between nations, political ideologies, and religious beliefs. There is an inability to bridge these ideological divides.
But, deepening schisms need not be the end of our story. Within each of us is the power to bridge these divides and, in doing so, create a compassionate, nonviolent world. How do we begin? By recognizing that we are imperfect in an uncertain world. As a participant, dig deep into the roots of internal violence, develop a personalized nonviolent stance, build a nonviolent community of compassion, and articulate a message that reflects your life.
We can only transform the world though a message of compassion and nonviolence. This course includes a supplemental resource, Imperfect in an Uncertain World: On Nonviolence developed to ignite your nonviolent essence. Although some of the activities in the workbook are used in this program, participants are encouraged to strengthen their stance of nonviolence through additional workbook resources.
In this course you
- define violence.
- identify the roots of interior violence.
- reframe your perception of the world.
- increase your awareness of the internal catalysts of external violence.
- grow in awareness of the choice to compassionately respond or violently react.
- form a compassionate response to the world.
- recognize the role of community in creating a nonviolent world.
- collaborate within the collective consciousness to fashion nonviolent engagement.
- articulate how your life can be a message of nonviolence and compassion.
- develop a regular practice of self compassion.
Key Learnings
Week 1
- Imperfections as Challenges
- Understanding our Fundamentalism
- Being a Change Agent
- Our World View as Game Changer
- Responding to Nonviolent Opposition
Week 2
- Disengaging from Internal and External Violence
- Moving through the Spiral of Compassion
- Defining Power vs. Force
- Strengthening a Mindfulness Practice
Week 3
- Becoming a Community of Nonviolent Resisters
- Engaging the Power of Collaboration, Consensus, and Compassion
- Living knowing we are #inthistogether
- Empowering through Dialoguing Compassionately
Week 4
- Acknowledging Your True Self
- Reflecting Nonviolence as Your Lived Experience
- Integrating Nonviolence: Body, Mind, Spirit, Heart
- Bridging your Intent and Action
Vanessa F Hurst, ms, is a mindful coach, author, and compassion consultant who weaves her inner wisdom into all she touches. As a mindful coach, she offers Neural Synchrony™ sessions that bridge her and her client’s intuitions. She develops and facilitates results-driven resources for identifying compassion competencies, stakeholder/community building, and organizational culture strengthening
Vanessa nationally presents programs featuring compassion, mindfulness, contemplative living, and intuitive awareness. She is the innovator-facilitator of both the Compassion Conversation© and Compassion’s Circle©. Vanessa is co-project manager of the Compassion At~Work project of Compassionate Louisville. This project gathers impact stories of compassion in the workplace.
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