A few weeks ago, I shared a statement that is foundational to asset-based community development:

Questions are more important than answers.

This week, I want to share a practice that invites you into becoming more acquainted with the questions you are already holding within you – whether you're aware of them or not.

But first, a word of guidance: if you're like me, when you read you may be tempted to consume the "content" and skim over any "practices" there are. That is not helpful here. If you just read the steps of this practice, it's unlikely anything of depth will pop up from within your story.

Instead, I invite you to set aside 15-20 minutes, grab some paper, and engage this questioning practice in an intentional, real way.

Here's how it works:

1. Identify an emotion, physical sensation, inner narrative, life experience, or other topic to focus on. It can be an inner experience or something you want to process in your community/the world.
2. Set a timer for 10 minutes. Write every question you have about your chosen focus. No judgment or editing – just start and let your pen guide you. If you get stuck, return to the who, what, why, when, where, and how questions.
3. After you have your braindump of questions, prioritize the three most potent and/or resonant questions you have. I do this by circling or drawing a star next to them.
4. Identify supports you may need in order to engage with each question. (Supports could include people such as a friend or therapist, tools such as paper and pen, the calendaring app of your choice, etc.) Set an intention, including date and time, to sit with your questions and see what emerges.

If you want to be guided in this practice, here's a video of me leading it.

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Questions

1. What question do you feel the need to ask yourself, but would feel defensive if someone else asked you the same thing?
2. What fears emerge at the prospect of sitting with your own questions?

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Resources

• ​The Questioning Practice (guided video)
• ​What is the Most Important Question for Our Time? (article)
• ​Peter Block's 6 Conversations That Matter (article)