Asking: The Power of Articulation

To "ask" is to take up the way of inquiry as opposed to the way of complacency. To ask is to maintain a state of alert energy. We work with our doubts and questions, and we grow through our resistances. This is how creative careers are built - not by smooth sailing, but by the willingness to negotiate troubled waters.

To ask means that whenever and where ever we feel a disjunctive energy -be it within ourselves, in interacting with another, or in external processes of the world - we inquire into its quality, its texture, and it's message.

To ask is to open the floodgates of blocked energies, to move into connection, sincerity, and connectedness with others and ourselves.

Asking is not necessarily about questions and answers. In fact, one of the models we want to avoid is the problem solution model. The victim thinks, "My life or my career is a problem, and I have to find the solution." Such thinking reinforces the hamster-in-the-cage mentality that keeps us seeing life as an unsolved problem.

There are many different ways to ask, and they are all valid. You can ask the universe. Go to a sacred place, a place that has meaning for you and ask the clouds, the trees, or God for whatever is truly urgent in your life. Ask from your heart, from your gut, not as a supplicant but as a being burning with inquiry, with a passion to know deeply. Ask, and energy is set into motion. But know that the answer you receive to your asking may not be the expected one, for this kind of asking opens possibilities for new pathways and non-solutions.

Here are some questions you might want to ask:

• How am I really feeling about this?
• Do I really want to go to work this morning?
• Why am I resisting this particular situation?
• What one thing would brighten my day?

And here's something to consider:

If you are going somewhere too fast, you do not have the time or energy to inquire.... And if you don't have time to inquire... do you even know where is it you are hurrying to get to?

~Rick Jarrow