A Vision of Zero-Waste Lifestyle

You’ve invited to join us at Maitri House Wednesday Feb 9 for a presentation and discussion about “A Vision of Zero-Waste Lifestyle
Join us at 5:30 for a potluck, vegan-inclusive dinner
or at 6:30 for the discussion itself
A Vision of Zero-Waste Lifestyle
Presenter: Sasha Adkins
We live in a disposable culture where things, and perhaps, for many, even relationships, are only instrumentally valuable. What would it look like to begin to see worth in everything, even what others have thrown away — dumpstering for food, befriending folks living on the street, and committing to not contributing to the waste stream might be pieces of this lifestyle. I’ll present my dissertation research on trash, with a focus on plastics in the oceans and the consequences for human health. We’ll discuss practical ways to disengage from disposable culture and create together an alternative vision.
rsvp to Ryan McAllister: ryan@notjustskin.org

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mini Folk Fest and Brunch Invitation (Feb 5 and 6)

!The fantastic Takoma Park Midwinter mini-Folk Festival is Saturday Feb 5!
Noon-10:30 pm. at Takoma Park Middle (7611 Piney Branch Road)
For $20 or less per adult ($10/child) you get:
– Two tracks of dancing
– Dozens of musical performances
– Workshops, lessons, craft vendors, and more!
– more info at
http://fsgw.org/myorgnet/public.php?Org=fsgw&ProgramID=11&NoTitle=1

And the next day, Sunday, Feb 6, join us at Maitri House for Brunch
– come over between 9 and 9:30 to help cook
– brunch around 10-10:30

Accommodations for Saturday Night
– You’re invited to crash over slumber-party style for saturday night at Maitri House.
– Save travel time and fuel!

– Bring a sleeping bag or blanket.

rsvp helpful but not required:
ryan@notjustskin.org

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Green Energy Party June 5 6pm

Come sign up for green electricity!
Dance, eat, play music!
You’re invited to a Green Energy Party!!!!!!
When: Saturday, June 5th, 6pm – 12:30 am
Who: You, and any friends you’d like to pass this invitation on to.
Bring:
1.  Your utility bill if you pay your own electric bill.
2.  Ideas you’d like to share for green living.
3.  Potluck food or beverage if you’d like to share something.  Please wait til after the kids go to bed (~9 pm) to drink alcohol.
4.  Instruments you like to play.
5.  Your bike if it needs a free tune-up (lube, patched tire, quick, minor repairs)
What:
Learn how to sign up for greener electricity options, through your power company or other energy providers.   We have options for you even if you don’t pay your own electric bill.
Projected Schedule:
6:00 pm    Potluck Dinner, Small Talk, & Free Bike Tune-ups by Tarek
7:00 pm    Sarah & Emily will present a short introduction to signing up for green energy.
Computers will be available for you to sign up at the party.
7:30 pm    Representatives from WeatherizeDC, RePower at Home, and Earth Sun Energy will talk about weatherization, conservation, and solar residential options.
8:15 pm    Get down.
Why:  Because we care, and we like to party!  We’re not associated with any company.  We’re not getting paid anything if you sign up, we have no financial interest, but we all have an interest in better energy choices.
Please spread this invitation far and wide.
The more people who sign up for green energy,
the quicker we change our fuelish ways.
Thanks,
Sarah Foard & Emily Townsend

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Compassionate Communication with Family Sunday June 13 3:30 pm

Would you like more family connection and a different way to view conflict? Join Takoma Attachment Parenting on Sunday, June 13th for Compassionate Communication with Family, a workshop facilitated by Ryan McAllister and Megan Donohue of the Bay NVC Parent Peer Leadership Program (http://www.baynvc.org/pplp.php).


In this workshop, we will discuss how self-connection and compassionate connection can help us shift our understanding of, and sometimes resolve, conflict with family. This way of communicating can open up new understanding, help you express your needs, and establish more peaceful partnerships with your family members. Discussion will be guided by participant interest, and may include: handling family members who disagree with your parenting style, finding common ground with your partner on parenting, attending to tantrums and strong feelings with your children, setting limits, self-connection, and communicating your own needs.

More information about this approach to communication can be found at
http://www.baynvc.org/about_nvc.php. Ryan and Megan are also associated with NotJustSkin.org a local nonprofit supporting parents, children and community. More details about Takoma Attachment Parenting Meetings: http://www.takoma-ap.org/tapcalendar .

Location: Takoma Park Community Center, Azalea Room

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Capital NVC Community Circle coffee/tea/NVC Social Event

The Capital NVC Community Circle is hosting a coffee/tea/NVC event on Wednesday evening, April 21 at 7:30 p.m in Dupont Circle. Come chat with us while you sip and nibble (or choicefully abstain) and get to know others in our NVC community.

“My intention is to continue the conversations I started at the community event held in January…and to start new ones,” says Rhonda Eldridge, one of the event’s co-organizers. We plan to meet at a coffee shop that is easily accessible by Metro.

Location: Le Pain Quotidien (http://www.lepainquotidien.com/ ) at Dupont Circle. It is 1 ½ blocks from the metro and features communal tables and a variety of food options.

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Family Heart Camp Gathering

Join us on Saturday, March 13 from 1-2 PM, for an opportunity to learn more about Family HEART Camp.

Family HEART Camp is an unforgettable one-week immersion in Compassionate Communication for families, held in an oasis of natural beauty near Washington DC.

During this informal gathering you can meet in person with one of the organizers of the camp, some families who attended last year camp and meet other potential campers face-to-face. Kids are welcome to join this gathering, being held in Takoma Park within walking distance of the DC metro. Please e-mail Inessa (dcnvc@hotmail.com) for specific directions if you would like to attend.

Compassionate Communication (also known as Nonviolent Communication, or NVC) offers a powerful set of tools and perspectives that support people in living their values, and in speaking in acting in ways that say “You matter!” to everyone involved. In doing so, we create a setting for our natural love and joy in being together to bloom.

The Family HEART Camp offers parents a chance to reflect and learn valuable skills, children a chance to play and explore, and families a chance to grow together, all with loving support. Participants in last year’s camp had this to say about it:

  • “I have never experienced such dedication as I did from all the staff members! Unbelievable. I also enjoyed the support and connection with all of the participants. Thank you so much for the experience.”
  • “We enjoyed connecting with so many people who value compassionate relationships and my family is committed to working to embody NVC in our lives. We’re hoping to return next year!”
  • “This experience was very valuable for us as a family as a new beginning of how we want to communicate to each other and beyond! The ability to meet without the children was pivotal and addressing real situations helped to support the practice.”
  • “The staff cared for our children better than we could have – we get angry with them sometimes, but the staff never did!”

Visit FamilyHEARTCamp.org for more details about the camp or contact us with any questions that aren’t answered there. Super-Earlybird pricing is available for registrations before March 15, so register early! Our goal is not to turn anyone away for lack of funds and work-exchange options are available for those who cannot pay full price.

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Sticky: Maitri House Calendar

Note that we don’t consistently update this page or our calendar with all of our events. Inquire about our events and announcements email list if you’d like to receive updates.

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Dialogue with a Voice for Creative Non-Violence

Join us on Sunday, January 24, 2010, for a potluck with renowned activist Kathy Kelly discussing war and peace in Afghanistan and Pakistan at Maitri House.

6:00 Potluck – 7pm Presentation – 7:30 Discussion

Bring a friend! Children welcome!

Questions?  Contact Tarek (202-374-0369)

In consideration of those with chemical sensitivities, we request that you avoid bringing smoke- or chemical fragrance-producing products.

Kathy Kelly co-coordinates Voices for Creative Nonviolence, (www.vcnv.org) a campaign to end U.S. military and economic warfare. As a co-founder of Voices in the Wilderness, she helped form 70 delegations, from 1996 – 2003, that openly defied economic sanctions by bringing medicines to children and families in Iraq. Kathy and her companions lived in Baghdad throughout the 2003 “Shock and Awe” bombing. More recently, she has visited Gaza and Pakistan, writing eyewitness accounts of war’s impact on civilians. Kathy was sentenced to one year in federal prison for planting corn on nuclear missile silo sites (1988-89) and served three months, in 2004, for crossing the line at Fort Benning’s military training school. She and her companions at the Voices home/office in Chicago believe that non-violence necessarily involves simplicity, service, sharing of resources and non-violent direct action in resistance to war and oppression. Kathy hasn’t paid federal income taxes since 1980.  See vcnv.org/kathy-kelly-long-version for a more complete biography.

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Making Friends—Nonviolent Communication Style

by Lynd Morris

Have you been wishing you knew a few more people who could communicate with you from an awareness of the beauty and universality of needs? The Capital NVC database now includes more than 1,000 people and all of them are invited to gather for our community celebration from 11:00 to 3:00 on Saturday, January 9th, at Maitri House in Takoma Park, Maryland.

Meet other people practicing NVC, share a potluck lunch, and hear about some of the inspiring peacemaking projects members of our community are engaged in. There will also be an empathy room for people to receive and offer empathy (coaching will be available for those who’d like it); a space for youngsters to play (unsupervised); an area for posting NVC- and other peacemaking-related resources, flyers, and books; and a chance to talk about what support you’d like to receive for growing NVC in yourself and to offer for growing NVC in the Metro DC area.

Letting us know you are coming (and the number of people you may be bringing), will allow us to set up the space comfortably. Just send an email to Ryan McAllister any time before January 9th. But, if it works better for you to decide at the last minute whether or not to come, that would be fine, too—you (and your family) are welcome.

Please consider bringing:
• A potluck dish (be prepared to list ingredients for people with food allergies) and serving utensil
• Plates and cutlery for everyone in your party
• Folding chairs/backjacks, if you have them

Please consider offering to:
• Arrive up to an hour early to help set up (let Ryan know if you can do this, if you RSVP)
• Stay a little late to help clean up
• Rotate through the empathy room to offer your compassionate listening for 15-30 minutes or so.
• Bring NVC- or peacemaking-related resources to post/share
• Hang out in the children’s space to get to know our youngest community members and provide time for their parents to get/give empathy, eat lunch, or participate in any of the presentations.

Our tentative schedule for the day:
11:00 a.m. – Noon Welcome and social hour
Noon – 1:00 p.m. Potluck lunch
1:00 – 2:30 p.m. Presentations and practices
2:30 – 3:00 p.m. Closing circle/celebration
3:00 – 4:00 p.m. Clean up
11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Empathy room and children’s space

Contact Ryan McAllister if you have questions or comments regarding any aspect of our upcoming community gathering.

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Day after New Year’s Day ExpressionFest

You’re invited to join us in celebrating the New Year with a party on the evening of Saturday, January 2nd at Maitri House. This is an open-invitation event.

We’ll have dinner at 6:30 (please feel free to bring a potluck contribution or not). Our menu will include vegan black-eyed peas, greens, and corned beef. If you know of other traditional New Year foods, feel free to suggest them or bring them!

We’ll follow dinner with an Expressionfest (open mic for poetry, dance, music, or any other form of expression) and dancing.

You are invited to dress up in your fancy party clothes (or not), and invite your friends (especially if they like to play music or dance!).

Time/Date: Saturday January 2nd, Dinner at 6:30, festivities following.
Organizers: Emily, Sarah, Melinda, Ryan
Contact ryan@notjustskin.org if you need directions.

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