Do You Ask Enough Questions?

Asking the right question in order to get ourselves thinking, really thinking - there is so much truth in this.

When we can ask that question, at the right moment, and that gives us clarity of direction, how powerful this can be in our lives. And set us off in a direction that has deep meaning to us individually.

I believe very much that this is where it’s at - when we can reach that spot of deep meaning in our own lives - getting to this spot is so life affirming.

These questions I found while surfing the web have no right or wrong answers, because sometimes asking the right questions is the answer.

1. How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?

2. Which is worse, failing or never trying?

3. Are you doing what you believe in, or are you settling for what you are doing?

4. To what degree have you actually controlled the course your life has taken?

5. Are you more worried about doing things right, or doing the right things?

6. What’s something you know you do differently than most people?

7. What one thing have you not done that you really want to do? What’s holding you back?

8. Have you been the kind of friend you want as a friend?

9. Which is worse, when a good friend moves away, or losing touch with a good friend who lives right near you?

10. Would you rather lose all of your old memories, or never be able to make new ones?

11. Have you ever been with someone, said nothing, and walked away feeling like you just had the best conversation ever?

12. Is it possible to know, without a doubt, what is good and what is evil?

13. When was the last time you marched into the dark with only the soft glow of an idea you strongly believed in?

14. When is it time to stop calculating risk and rewards, and just go ahead and do what you know is right?

15. If we learn from our mistakes, why are we always so afraid to make a mistake?

16. Decisions are being made right now. The question is: Are you making them for yourself, or are you letting others make them for you?

"I cannot stress enough that the answer to life's questions is often in people's faces.  Try putting your iPhones down once in a while, and look in people's faces.  People's faces will tell you amazing things, like if they are angry or nauseous or asleep"
~~ Amy Poehler

I took this photo in January 2011 when hiking with friends at Seal Cave, near Stoney Bay on the Banks Peninsula Track on the South Island of New Zealand. It would be a perfect spot to contemplate some of these questions.

Powerful Questions

Asking the right question in order to get ourselves thinking, really thinking - there is so much truth in this.

When we can ask that question, at the right moment, and that gives us clarity of direction, how powerful this can be in our lives. And set us off in a direction that has deep meaning to us individually.

I believe very much that this is where it’s at - when we can reach that spot of deep meaning in our own lives - getting to this spot is so life affirming.

These questions I found while surfing the web have no right or wrong answers, because sometimes asking the right questions is the answer.

1. How old would you be if you didn't know how old you are?

2. Which is worse, failing or never trying?

3. Are you doing what you believe in, or are you settling for what you are doing?

4. To what degree have you actually controlled the course your life has taken?

5. Are you more worried about doing things right, or doing the right things?

6. What’s something you know you do differently than most people?

7. What one thing have you not done that you really want to do? What’s holding you back?

8. Have you been the kind of friend you want as a friend?

9. Which is worse, when a good friend moves away, or losing touch with a good friend who lives right near you?

10. Would you rather lose all of your old memories, or never be able to make new ones?

11. Have you ever been with someone, said nothing, and walked away feeling like you just had the best conversation ever?

12. Is it possible to know, without a doubt, what is good and what is evil?

13. When was the last time you marched into the dark with only the soft glow of an idea you strongly believed in?

14. When is it time to stop calculating risk and rewards, and just go ahead and do what you know is right?

15. If we learn from our mistakes, why are we always so afraid to make a mistake?

16. Decisions are being made right now. The question is: Are you making them for yourself, or are you letting others make them for you?


"There are four questions of value in life... What is sacred? Of what is the spirit made? What is worth living for, and what is worth dying for? The answer to each is the same. Only love."
~~ Johnny Depp



Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi, Sydney - November 2009

Jeans, Trees and The Simpsons

I wonder if anyone else remembers this very early episode of The Simpsons ? Lisa is trying to introduce Bart to the great philosophical questions of the universe, eternity and the big "how?"

As you can imagine, she's not getting very far. First she tries posing the ancient Chinese question: What is the sound of one hand clapping? "Piece of cake", says Bart, holding one yellow hand in the air and smacking his three fingers onto his palm (it works, have a go......).

Lisa tries again: "If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it - does it make a noise?"Bingo! Bart's eyes become wide, unfocused saucers of wonder as he attempts to figure it out and his brain starts to feel all psychedelic and bendy with the strain. Well, I have been remembering Bart in that moment because recently I had one similar.

I was out for my morning walk when I encountered a large party of teenage kids out on a school field trip. We were crossing the road from opposite sides and as they streamed past me, I noticed that every single one of them - male and female - was wearing a pair of jeans. There were about 40 of them.

"That's interesting." I mused casually. In high-fashion terms, jeans are supposed to be over, but they really have become the default with the young now, just as they did with my generation in the '70's.

Then I remembered I was also wearing jeans myself that day, and that really got me thinking, because if every Western teenager and even old birds like me have them, then how many pairs of jeans are there in the world?

And then my pesky brain pursued the idea, like a foolish dog following a ball onto the road and into the path of an oncoming car, pondering, "So how many pairs of all kinds of jeans are there? "And that's when the weirdness hit. Aaaaah! Stop the thoughts! My head feel funny! But still the thoughts continued.....

Every member of my immediate blood family, from my three-year-old great-niece up to my octogenarian mum, owns at least one pair of jeans, and most have several. I quite dread to think how many pairs my trendy older nieces own each.

So apart from the odd nun, at a very conservative estimate, just about every citizen in Australia, the UK and America must have one pair of jeans. Priests wear them. Doctors wear them, on duty. Add in Japan, Russia, Europe and China's burgeoning youth culture and the numbers start to spin out into the kind you need to be Stephen Hawking to understand.

As the concept of the world jeans reserve hit me that morning, it could send you mad, I realised, so I forced myself to stop.
I wondered instead, for the rest of my walk, about that falling tree and that empty forest......

Rwanda, Nov 2006 - Even in Africa the blue jean saga continues.

Answers, Questions and maybe WISDOM!

My philosophy class resumed last week for another term, so I am feeling in a very philosophical mood......it will pass, but I will take advantage of it while I am here....or should that be whilst I am here?

ONE of the greatest gifts one generation can give to another is the knowledge gained from experience!

Wisdom is a rare commodity. There are a lot of very brilliant people, bright people, clever people, NOT so many people who are wise.

Wisdom isn't an answer, wisdom IS a question! I went to see a shrink once, I was bothered by things in my childhood and my youth.......And I was so disappointed that the shrink didn't have a big bag of answers! I came to be very grateful for it later, that what they have is a big bag of questions. We have the answers....And that is when I found that the answer is invariably in the question. We carry our own question around with us.......are you still with me!

I grew up feeling unloved - all around me were seemingly happy, blissful people and my question was WHY don't I feel like everyone else.

There is no answer. It's like your Mother saying "where have you been till this time of night". The question was in the answer. She didn't want you to tell her. The question WAS the answer......And thats where wisdom is: in the constant questioning of where you are......And when you stop wanting to know, you're dead......You're walking, but you're dead.

What do I live by? - one of the things I try to do is not to believe in too much.

What do I know that's absolutely, incontrovertibly true? - All I can say is that everything changes. Thats all I know with any degree of certainty! It's all going to change and flowing within change keeps us flexible.......And helps to develop a sense of humour about everything!

Gee I am glad I got that off my chest!!

In 2007 3 friends and myself travelled to the Northern Territory in Australia and visited Kings Canyon, I took dozens of photos but this one gave me a feeling of wonderment.