Active inquiry and hope in change
After 1.5 years of bearing witness to the annexation of Gaza, the forced displacement of Palestinians, and questioning all I’ve ever known, I may have discovered a contemplative practice to help find a glimmer of hope in an unjust world.
Active inquiry requires a committed state of presence and a readiness to engage with the world as it is while also participating in envisioning the world and communities we aspire to create. Bearing witness to the world on a deep spiritual level requires active inquiry and the capacity to perceive more than mere imagination or curiosity.
Even when things happen in the world that go against our values, morals, sense of belonging, and desires for life, active inquiry asks us to stay rooted in who we are, no matter the tension between the known and the unknown, the space between the present and the future.
Active inquiry asks us to be “present in the shifting and changing sensations inherent in being alive”, as Abigail Rose Clark describes, because our bodies constantly change in a changing world. “What was true yesterday may not be true today; what we learned yesterday will always help us learn more quickly and with deeper nuance if we remain in a practice of engaged inquiry”. Active inquiry requires mindful engagement to analyse the sociological and cultural state of the world. Spiritually, we can evolve our philosophical understanding of ourselves and the world. To imagine new possibilities, creative and generative thinking functions to form better communities. Here, we begin to envision and engage in productive conversations.
This is why I believe that spirituality and mindfulness are not inseparable from sociology and creativity. They are ingredients for our liberation and freedom.
Thanks for reading, and as always, thanks for being here. I hope this profound concept can help you, too.
Love,
