11 Ways to Engage with the Guidebooks!!
The truth is:
We are terrible marketers and salespeople, Casey and I.
We’ve known that.
It’s not what inspired us to create these guidebooks.
What inspired us was a passion for seeing
questions as a fresh entryway,
and WONDER as the hand that holds us,
and beauty as a part of the mystery,
as we wander through this world together.
And, honestly, we would love the guidebooks to touch more people. We envision little writing, conversation, art making spaces, going on everywhere!
Because what this practice does is open us up.
Again and again.
When we ask and ponder and contemplate questions.
When the prompts invite another window.
We widen our view points.
We become a bit more tender, a little more able to be with discomfort, a lot more able to wonder, and we rouse a cascade of care and compassion into the bucket of the world. (We meaning Casey and I at the moment. She and I have been exploring a question regularly.)
So here are 11 ways you can play with the guidebooks and support us getting these out into more hands, and hearts, and bodies!
1. Buy a PDF copy of Wonder Uprising Self and World. (for the price of a couple coffees to go!)
2. Leaf through and pick the 7 questions that peek your interest most. Print out those pages. Roll a page or two up. Put a ribbon around each one. Stick them in a stocking or fold one into a card over the holidaze!
3. Take one of the questions and write your answers at this moment. Tuck it into an envelope with a second copy of the question and a stamped return envelope. Ask your loved one to send their thoughts, feelings, musings back to you!
4. Begin a relationship with someone in prison using the questions as above! Here's a link to find one.
5. Buy a hard copy and give it as a coffee table gift. Or buy one for yourself and put it on your coffee table. Share it with those who sit around it with you! Pick a page, ask the question out loud, go around and answer, do the prompts. Notice how you all feel when you finish the round!
6. Take the book out on a first date. A friend of mine did that and they didn’t do a second date but the guy bought a book!
7. Buy the PDF of the Relationship Book, make sure it's the personal one! Again pick a question you’ve wanted to ask your good friend, partner, roommate, sister, brother, father, mother, child and print it out. Do one of the above things with it. Remember you don’t have to write, you can discuss each question and prompts through conversation! My partner and I do this a lot with the books. He enjoys the conversation more than the writing! Do what makes sense for you.
8. Ask a small group of friends if they would like to play with, and live into one question together! In October, for my friend's birthday, three of us sat at a wooden picnic table under a Mighty Ponderosa, the sounds of the Deschutes River beside us, and asked a question together! We wrote and shared and laughed and cried. It was such a precious time. I was changed by the experience.
9. Ask a good friend or family member to be your year long Wonder Uprising pen pal! One question a month for the year!
10. Take a page to a work meeting or retreat. Ask if you can have a little time to offer this to the group. The group guidelines are available here, feel free to use those or not! Pick a question relevant to your work or as a way to get to know each other differently.
11. Have a themed dinner party; Connectivity or Compassion. Have a shared meal then do a question together! See where that takes you. Then do another one!
Here's the WEBSITE one more TIME If you want to purchase a PDF or Book!
And lastly. You can help us spread this work by sending this email to 1-5 people you know. You could share why you like this practice and that you’d love them to join you/us in one way or another!
Thank you. Each and every one of you. For being a part of this community!
We appreciate your support!!
With care and warmth,
Carol