by Yvette Erasmus | Jan 16, 2018 | Compassion
In a conversation I had last weekend with Roxy Manning and a group of leaders interested in bringing NVC-consciousness to diversity work at institutions of higher education locally, she used a phrase that I love: Focus on engaging, not changingFor me this translated... by Yvette Erasmus | Jan 2, 2018 | Compassion, Empowerment, NVC
We lived in Germany when I was in elementary school and each year for the holidays we would visit extended family “back home” in South Africa.I’d always be just a little more grown up.Hugging and welcoming us, family would turn to me saying with glowing, love... by Yvette Erasmus | Jun 27, 2017 | Compassion, Growth
Last week, my compulsive “yesses” caught up with me in a major way.Stretched far too thin, I dropped the ball in a number of places:I wasn’t as present to my friends as I wanted to beMy patience was running on empty in my parentingI wasn’t able to meet deadlines that... by Yvette Erasmus | Feb 28, 2017 | Communication, Compassion, Connection, NVC, presence
A post-it note on my office wall reminds me:”Stop loving people for who they could be, or who you want them to be, and start loving people for who they actually are, right now.”Strangely enough, this is not easy.Sometimes the way that people show up in the... by Yvette Erasmus | Nov 15, 2016 | Compassion, Dialogue
Over the last week, my sense of living in a nation deeply divided intensified.I’m reminded of the ever-present, low-grade fear and anxiety I felt as a young teenager living under a State of Emergency in South Africa under the rule of Apartheid.Caught between the... by Yvette Erasmus | Oct 23, 2016 | Compassion
A few years ago, someone reminded me that all my questions would be answered if I would just “go within.” I teared up at the time, recognizing the truth of these words, but it’s taken me a good few years to take action on that advice. I recently...