The worker-bees are buzzing and working behind the scenes to get Year of Inquiry participants on board. (And, those buzzing bees would all be me–haha)!
It’s quite the undertaking to join a whole year program primarily online. Holy smokes, what a commitment.
Fortunately, the effort it takes mostly is marking your calendar and dialing a phone or clicking a link to join live calls, and also connect with partners in The Work.
But the other day, when an acquaintance learned I’m about to start another Year of Inquiry again, he asked me why on earth I’ve done The Work for so many years, week in and week out, and with a whole group of people?
He said it sounded a bit boring (he actually made the ‘yawn’ motion with his hand over his mouth).
Hmmm. I might have to do The Work on him.
But meanwhile, I also thought about what a good question he asked me:
Why ask, and then answer, the very same four questions over and over, and find our turnarounds….about events, people, situations that have disturbed us?
What I’ve noticed as someone who has returned over and over to The Work as a regular practice, is how interesting my answers are. How educational.
How enlightening.
And how sometimes, doing The Work is really the only thing that ever helped calm me down.
Byron Katie calls the inner life we experience “The School of You”.
But it’s not ever about only ourselves–it’s about our relationship to reality, to life, to the world, to how we see and feel this astonishing experience of being alive.
There’s so much I’ve called “boring” in my life (as if I need all those boring things to be entertaining or large), but The Work is certainly not one of them.
Every time I sit with someone else or the four questions, a contemplation and inquiry moves in a liberating way.
This work is about working with feelings, and the thoughts that tend to produce them.
One of my favorite things about The Work is that instead of my old go-to of attacking my feelings and myself for being the one who feels upset or troubled, I look at what I’m thinking and believing, and question it. I used to berate myself horribly for feeling (and acting) angry or afraid, or even depressed.
When we do The Work, there’s no judgment or attack in it….or even if there is, we pause and simply answer the questions.
We get to use our imagination wondering what it would be like without our current perspective (often a viewpoint that was set in place long ago).
When I used to feel anxious or upset or furious, I’d eat, smoke, screen time, plan, obsess, daydream, and try to think about how to fix myself or the situation ASAP.
Now, it seems I more often get to look at myself with great compassion, ask for help, share with others, connect and inquire. Usually inquiring needs to happen first.
The, transformation happens all on it’s own, gently unfolding naturally. Hooray for The Work.
Hooray for the simplicity of coming back to four questions.
What a relief.
If you’d like to read more about Year of Inquiry, and even watch an information session about what’s specifically included for the entire year, please visit this link : HERE.
We start with Orientation next week (!). We’ll get to know one another, and step into a life of self-inquiry, wondering who we’d be without our thoughts, using our own brilliance for insight, not condemnation and criticism.
Would you like to join us?
Head here to read more. Write me if you need to talk first, or you have questions.
Much love,
Grace