A Street Wisdom wanderer, Nicole Kagan, recently got in touch with a really good question. We asked if we could share it here to help other wiggly wanderers using the Street Wisdom way. We were delighted she said yes!
Here’s Nicole’s question:
I have a question about the process for Street Wisdom. Sometimes I find myself getting really stuck by what question to ask in the moment, as I’m embarking on the Street Wisdom walk/noticing/meaning-making process.
I seem to learn best through examples. I’m curious if there is a list of questions that others have asked themselves — I’m thinking this might prompt me with some ideas for the kinds of questions I might ask myself.
It’s a really good question and gets to the heart of Street Wisdom. Thank you Nicole!
So Street Wisdom – if you’re new – is a three-part process of 1. Tuning Up to the environment around you, before going out on a 2. Quest (where you ask the streets or landscape a question), and then finally 3. Sharing your story with others (or thinking for yourself if you’re on your own). Nicole’s question is about the middle bit – the Quest.
It’s a good question because, at some level, we all have a question all the time. But we often don’t know it. That’s partly what’s so profound about this simple Street Wisdom practice. We bring to light the questions we’re dealing with implicitly all the time. But the question is: how do you work out what your question is?
Here are Five Ways to ask Better Street Wisdom Questions if you need some Question Inspiration!
Firstly, don’t worry too much. If you’re not sure what your question is, go with that. Just go for a wander without any pressure or question and simply be curious about the signs and signals you see. See if there’s a pattern forming. Is the pattern interesting/useful?
Or try this. Maybe your question is: What’s my question? Use your wander to answer that question, then wander again at a later point with your new question!
If it’s any help, you can use the same question over a period of time. So don’t expect any one wander to show you the final answer. It will hopefully throw up some ‘fresh answers’. So take your time coming up with your question, and use it till you move on to your next one.
We’ve got some great ‘stock questions’ you could use that people often try out some of these: What’s next for me? Show me things I don’t know already. How can I do more using less energy? How can I make today more unusually X [insert word like joyful or curious or productive]? Show me some new ways of doing Y? How can I get better at Z?
Practise coming up with your question more and more. Think of it as a Question Muscle. Get better at posing your question, framing it, asking it. Make it as simple as possible. Ask strangers what they think about the question. Share your questions with friends and families. We all have questions, and answers are everywhere. If we’re going to imagine #BetterWays of living, working, playing, loving, learning, laughing… we need to ask #BetterQuestions.
Question: what do you think? What question has worked well for you recently? Let us know!
We’d love to share stories of people who’ve used the Street Wisdom process to ask, and answer, the questions in their lives
Thanks again Nicole for such a good question! And a big shout out for your amazing work, Meditative Muses. Really beautiful.
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Inspired? Fancy some more Street Wisdom? Join a Walkshop near you, or head out for your own wander right now with our Tune Ups. Buy your own copy of Wanderful, all profits go back into Street Wisdom to help keep it free. Share your insights and follow us @StreetWisdom_
Thanks so much to rawpixel.com for this awesome pic!
