Fort Questions

I felt energized on a weekday morning and went to a remote beach to build driftwood forts and sculptures.

As I built, my mind flooded with questions. Sometimes I empty my mind when I build forts, but sometimes it fills up. This morning, it filled up, filled up with inquiry.

Some questions, posed in the second person:

How long since you’ve read a book for an hour in one sitting?

When was the last time you admitted error in relationship to judging a human being?

When did you last experience solitude?

When did you last truly follow through in something that required concentration, time and effort?

When did you last support an artist, musician or writer from your community?

When did you last abandon an assumption?

When was the last time you looked in the mirror and it wasn’t about your physical appearance?

When did you last reach out to help someone? Or check in?

When was the last time you wrote a card or letter to someone?

When was the last time you used a cliché to deflect an opportunity to live an authentic life? Like using a cliché such as “I’m putting this on the back burner.”

When did you last experience unbridled joy?

When is the last time you sat around a fire?

When was the last time your practiced forgiveness?

When did you last kick out the jams?

When was the time you experienced wonder?

When was the last time you told someone you loved them?

When was the last time you walked somewhere without a destination in mind?

When was the last time you said something to a member of the homeless population?

When was the last time you talked to an animal?

When was the last time you took the high road?

Why do so many people want to traffic in the gutter?

When was the last time you swung on a swing set?

When was the last time you played tetherball?

The questions kept coming as I moved down the beach building, shoring up, creating.