Nurturing Relationships

A Spacious Place is founded on what we call our six “Playground Principles.” Read an overview of our fifth principle, “Nurturing Relationships,” below.

The “Nurturing Relationships” principle favors “Empathetic Listening.” Active, nonjudgmental, compassionate listening carries incredible power for healing. We seek to avoid the “My Assumption is Your Reality” approach, which assumes a person can determine from another’s body language or words the others’ feelings. While such observations may guide our perceptions, each person has a right to his/her own sense of personal truth.

A Spacious Place also avoids the “You Heel!” approach, which employs defensive language to manipulate another person’s behavior. Both the “My Assumption in Your Reality” and the “You Heel!” approaches employ violent communication.

Instead, A Spacious Place favors the use of “Non-Violent Communication,” often through the use of open-ended questions. Deborah van Deusen Hunsinger lists four steps in Non-Violent Communication: Step 1—Differentiate Observation from Evaluation; Step 2—Identify and Express Feelings; Step 3—Connect Feelings with Needs; and Step 4—Make a Request, understanding the difference between a request and a demand. “Non-Violent Communication” enables us to take care of ourselves while respecting the other. Non-violent communication helps clarify both individual’s needs and also deepens trust and relationship.

Our symbol for Nurturing Relationships is a pair of shoes, because we foster relationships with other persons by seeking to stand in their shoes: respecting their experience and their sense of truth. Standing in another’s shoes also involves valuing the other equally with ourselves.

How do you “Nurture Relationships?” Share your thoughts.