We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them. –attributed to Albert Einstein.
But we can’t start thinking new thoughts until we start asking new questions.
Pat Thomas of London, a friend of Planet Waves and Eric’s former editor at The Ecologist, has created two virtual decks of questions designed for anyone who would like to challenge their assumptions and shift their thinking — and anyone who already feels this process occurring and would like to engage with it proactively.
The global Occupy movement is showing us a deep, collective desire for change. At the moment it’s on the leading edge of that energy, just out of reach of articulation and grappling with who it is, what it stands for and where it wants to go. Chances are, even if you haven’t pitched a tent outside a bank in your city, you may be grappling with the same questions.
Questions have a way of creating momentum, of moving us forward. They make the mind active rather than passive, make us attentive to new ideas, open up new worlds and possibilities. Questions define and refine our thinking and our philosophy of life; they are the basis of our search for the truth of things. Questions are a manifestation of curiosity — and curiosity helps build awareness, appreciation and understanding.
What started as a way to remember the questions that were most important to Pat personally and in her work as a journalist — questions that often get forgotten under pressure of life and deadlines — evolved into two rough decks of cards, and eventually into a web-based project, Infrequently Asked Questions. The website features two virtual decks of cards with more than 100 questions each. The CultureShift and InnerQuest decks prompt the user with the kind of questions each of us needs to ask when we find ourselves on the threshold of a new challenge — whether personal, cultural, technological or philosophical. They work like Tarot in that we often draw the cards to us that we need — even if their meaning is not always immediately apparent. It’s a game — but it also has a serious purpose. Have fun with it and feel free to help it evolve further by providing your feedback.
zerosity – I, too, subscribe to Paul Clark’s Powerful Question, and I was fortunate enough to train with him for a five-day intensive several years ago. A truly enlightened soul, and humble to boot. He definitely walks his talk.
Great tool for the tool kit to keep moving forward. The brevity of the questions makes it easy to carry it with you to ponder and be aware (“notice and chooose”) of insight that follows.
Something similar is a weekly email from Paul Clark, “Your Weekly Powerful Question.” Paul’s question is not meant to be answered the moment you see it, but rather to “try to love the questions themselves” (as noted in the Rainer Marie Rilke quote) and be open. FYI, this week’s question is “What if I were to breathe more deeply?” Here’s the url: http://www.cwgcoachingservices.com/FreeQ.php.
Thanks.
JannKinz