NVC Journal: Reflections on the Need for Connection

This is my post to start the new NVC 4 week course that eco-alex is doing! If you haven't seen it go Check it out now.

The first assignment is to write about a time where I really connected with someone.
Wow, that's a tough one.. I mean I've connected with a lot of people, but which one to choose?

I don't want to choose a moment with my wife or son, since that seems a little too easy, and maybe I'll have less to learn from it because of that.
So I have chosen a moment from a while ago, but it was such a powerful event, I feel it is worth it.

It was when I first met ecoknowme in India.
We had just arrived at Karuna a few days before, and had heard that ecoknowme might have a volunteer opportunity for us to stay..
We were sitting in the restaurant having a drink, when this guy comes over (we hadn't met yet) and says, "hey, I'm ecoknowme" (he obviously used his real name), "do you want to come up for a tea and we'll talk?"
We went up to his house and had tea and talked for three hours non stop.
It was one of those moments where it didn't matter how little time we had know each other, we instantly connected on a very deep level. There was no need for introductory pleasantries, we got straight into deep conversations.
We talked about a lot of different things.. But one of the main themes was, that he was going through something in his personal life, and he shared so openly and honestly with two complete strangers, that we all felt this was a very special experience. It really helped us open up as well and Thx to a miraculously synchronistic even, we all got exactly what we wanted/needed.

Although we don't talk all that often since we left, we have stayed in touch, and every Skype call is as though we never left..

It has always felt like we had a strong bond, beyond words. The words were really there as short side notes, to much larger ideas, too big for language to express entirely..
We both came with our own vocabulary, and we learned very quickly how to communicate with each other,i.e. learning each other's semantic reactions.

It is a very special relationship, and although of course ecoknowme is a very special man, I feel that we both were similar enough to be on the same wave length, and still different enough to be challanging and interesting.. And that's a tough balance to find...

I am forever indebted to him for all he has done for us, and it is no exaggeration to say he is the reason we are in Portugal today doing what we are doing.

Ps, if you ever read this, thank you!