The Magic of Questions

My Obsession and How I Use Them in My Work

Happy New Year!

There is already lots of magic in the air this first day of 2022.

“The quality of your life is a direct reflection of the quality of the questions you are asking yourself” ― Anthony Robbins, Awaken the Giant Within: How to Take Immediate Control of Your Mental, Emotional, Physical and Financial Destiny!

Questions have been one of my obsessions forever. I love asking a good question to spur life giving conversation. I use questions in my coaching and when I evaluate teachers it is a go-to indicator for quality in a classroom.

In social settings I often have a question ready to ask because I am an introvert and detest small talk. I have used the 36 Questions That Lead to Love for conversations and blog posts. I have lists of questions everywhere.

Several years ago a work colleague and I were reflecting on career paths, life decisions, waiting, and life. We both remarked how different we were from our siblings who we grew up within the same house and with the same parents.

Then the conversation moved to my love of asking a great question. I often ask a person what their first reading memory is. I clarify by indicating it can be a positive or a negative one, just the first one they can recall. The reaction and answer is either a dramatic story of happiness or a dreaded and horrific story of a novel or text that teachers made them read that they hated. It is ALWAYS a strong emotion — passion vs hate. It is fascinating to me. [Feel free to answer this question in the comments.]

The connection of my thinking being so different from my family and reading is one I have never made in any of the self-reflection I do. I am an anomaly in my own family. Outsiders notice my thinking and mindset is quite different from the people who raised me. Countless times when people had met my parents I got a bewildered look and the question, “How do you come from those people?” I spent most of my childhood with my German grandmother which has more to do with my mindset. Sadly, my Oma died in 2000 so no one has the luxury of meeting her and comparing my ideology.

When I met this same friend for coffee in a quaint little cafe in Chicago, we continued the reading question discussion.

A  startled look on my friend’s face as we sipped our lattes led to her blunt comment to me: 

“You do realize that the answer to your own question and your fascination with reading is why you are so different than your circumstances. Your own reading life and patterns changed the trajectory of your life. You didn’t want to settle for just what you already knew.”

I needed her to tell me that fact that day and I come back to that conversation often.

I will admit, I much prefer to be the asker of the questions rather than the answerer. It has become a game for me to see how many times I can redirect the conversation back to someone else. 

A new set of questions I have become re-obsessed with is Bhanu Kapil’s set of questions she used for her book The Vertical Interrogation of Strangers. 

I was introduced to these questions in a writing workshop with K-Ming Chang. I used the prompt as a writing exercise for my PUSH group last year as well. We will be revisiting these questions at the January PUSH group meetings. [I invite you to join - see the information at the bottom of the newsletter.]

I keep thinking about these questions because they are so interesting. They have taken hold and I cannot seem to shake them loose.

Questions from Bhanu Kapil Rider's “The Vertical Interrogation of Strangers”

1. Who are you and whom do you love?

2. Where did you come from / how did you arrive?

3. How will you begin?

4. How will you live now?

5. What is the shape of your body?

6. Who was responsible for the suffering of your mother?

7. What do you remember about the earth?

8. What are the consequences of silence?

9. Tell me what you know about dismemberment.

10. Describe a morning you woke without fear.

11. How will you / have you prepare(d) for your death?

12. And what would you say if you could?

K-ming suggested answering the questions in a slanted , indirect way. You do not have to write to them in an autobiographical way and it can be complete fiction.

Which one resonates with you as you read through the list?

How would you answer it?

I also found that writing the answer gave a much different perspective than just thinking about it. It was like I didn’t know what I thought about the question until the pen was to the paper. 

Want to talk more about these questions and write with them in a supportive environment? We start January 10th.

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I invite you to join my PUSH group resuming in January which is the month of questions.

Conversation, Community, Writing

PUSH groups are the heartbeat of the community space provided by TammyB. It is intelligent conversation with creative people.

Gatherings are the 2nd and 4th Mondays at 7 p.m. Central/ 8 p.m. Eastern

Each bi-weekly hour-long meeting focuses on curiosity and wonder. We share wins and experiences, write together, laugh, and are open to new ideas. 

The second meeting of the month will be a writing circle where we will write together, share, and give feedback with a non-critique method.

Payment of $15.00/per month to PayPal will secure a spot for the month. 

If you would like to pay ahead you may!

$90 for 6-month enrollment

You can enroll for PUSH groups here. Please make sure to include your email in the notes! You will receive the Zoom link for the month when your registration is confirmed.

If you have trouble with the paypal.me link you can search for me by my email tammybreitweiser@gmail.com or @tammybreitweiser1 in PayPal.

I look forward to seeing you!

Questions? Reply to this email. 

NO ONE will be left behind due to financial hardship. If you need an alternative price point just reply to this newsletters. You are welcome however you are!

Tammy L. Breitweiser writes, walks, inspires, and teaches. She is the conjurer of everyday magic with short concise stories. Her fiction has been published in Gone Lawn, Cabinets of Heed, Spelk, Five on the Fifth, Clover and White, Fiction Berlin Kitchen, and Elephants Never.