Last week, I was privileged to spend an entire day with the extraordinary poet David Whyte at the 19th Annual Energy Psychology Conference in San Antonio, Texas.
I was first introduced to him many years ago by a friend who told me about his book The Three Marriages. It’s an excellent inquiry into our relationship with ourselves, our love partners and our work in the world. It’s one of those books that I have lovingly defiled with dog-ears and far too many underlines.
Soon after I read that, I started to pay attention to his poetry. He has a way of observing the world that is captivating and breath taking. I now follow his Facebook page where he posts poetry regularly and sometimes it speaks to me so deeply, I am moved to tears. My recent favorite is Friendship.
The workshop I attended was called “The Art of Asking the Beautiful Question” and I want to offer to you for consideration the question he posed that had the biggest impact on me…
“What if you could start a conversation with yourself that your future self would come back to thank you for?”
What might that conversation be about?
- Love
- A big decision you are facing
- Parenting
- Health
- Asking for help
- A book you are longing to write
- Your work in the world
- Spirituality
- Joy
- Grief
- Quitting a job
- Starting a new business
- Travel
- Forgiveness of self and others
- Rest
- Learning how to say NO
- Gathering courage to say YES
There are thousands of possible answers to this question but only ONE that will matter to you and your future.
I had a chance to explore this question during the workshop and began an important conversation with myself in the process. One question led to more questions than I have answers for but at least I started the conversation! I’ll tell you a bit more about it in next week’s blog.
Grab a journal and dig deep with this one. See what shows up for you!
Here’s to Beautiful Questions!
Elizabeth