Get to the inquiry

Last night I joined in with Dawn Herring’s Journal Chat live on Twitter, on the topic of how we talk to ourselves in our journals. Dawn had very kindly selected my Journaling Insights blog post as Pick of the Week, so the chat was about how we access other voices in our journals and what it gives us to do so.

In previous posts I’ve talked about how ranting in our journals can lead us to our inner wisdom – our still small voice of calm and reason – and this is certainly possible in my experience. However last night’s Journal Chat really helped me get clear on what needs to be in place in our own minds in order for that wise voice to come through.

Inquiry.

We need to know when and how to interrupt our circular, ranting thought patterns with a simple, genuine question.

Effective inquiry has the feel of surrender, but not of giving up; it has a note of vulnerability, but not helplessness; and it has a curious and trusting intention, rather than a tired and cynical energy. Inquiry is the chink of light at the end of a very dark tunnel; it’s the ticklish soft underbelly of our resistant shell; it’s where the heart beats.

Looking back over my own personal experience of the past few weeks there have been many sign-posts popping up in my life about the act of asking. Here are some of them:

• A few days ago I was reading about how we can achieve a calm state of mind simply by making a reflective inquiry. This is exactly what journaling can lead us towards. The most successful and productive journal entries arise out of inquiry.
• Recently I’ve met a fellow author in my village who has been having the most incredible results with Cosmic Ordering, including receiving £15 000 into her bank account exactly on the day she’d ‘ordered’ it. Her name is Ellen Watts and she is now leading workshops to help others tune in to what she calls universal abundance. For her making requests is guaranteed to produce results when it’s done clearly and specifically and for the good of all concerned.
• The other day I was filled with admiration for a vibrant and creative woman I know in my town who has taken on the mammoth task of home-schooling her seven kids and who, despite her awareness of her own dyslexia, has carved out a niche writing articles for the local paper and leading writing groups for other mums. All this whirlwind activity is impressive enough, but the thing that most touched me, because it was such a simple, honest and trusting act, was that she appealed amongst her friends on Facebook for help with baby sitting her brood while she attended to something for herself. She just asked.
• And this morning, in my latest bid to find help with plotting a novel I have in mind, I subscribed to Cathy Yardley’s fabulous newsletter, which entitled me to  a free mini-course in pitching called Get to the Request. Quite.

Inquiring in it’s simplest form is purely about asking a question. And we know in life that the more specific a question, the clearer it’s request, the more successful its outcome. Asking is powerful. We need to do more of it. It can lead us to our clearest answers and our most straightforward solutions. And our journals are a great place to practice.

What requests do you need to make today?