A Field Guide for Possibility
How about an ontological approach to requesting, inviting, and creating flow? – (this from deepdown in the back 80 acres of my mind, where I’ve been away vision-questing for some while now. this being prompted by the Soul Collab I’m co-facilitating with Andreas Mannal. It makes sense to me, but/and I am very conditioned by the Old Mode. hard to shift old habits: teaching causes me to learn: sharing results in dialogues of possibility. That’s pretty much my end-game. We get some new energy going around all the things.)
Well, isn’t that special?
1. The Old Mode: Why Fear & History Don’t Work
When we ask from lack, fear, or “historical data” (past disappointments, proof it won’t work, stories of failure), we:
• Narrow the field of possibility to what has already been.
• Invite resistance (in ourselves and others).
• Unconsciously signal I already believe the answer is no.
Ontological translation: Being “history-bound” is being closed. The world can only show us what we have already known.
2. The Shift: Being Before Asking
It’s always very matchy-matchy… the people, situation, circumstance or event vibes along the ley lines of the energy you bring. (plant tomato seeds=harvest tomatoes, garbage in, garbage out, etc.)
The same is true of any “ask.”
The ontological order is:
1. Be — step into the stance of openness, curiosity, and invitation.
2. See — perceive from that stance (possibility, not probability).
3. Speak — let the words carry the energy you are already being.
Your “ask” is simply the spoken surface of an already existing energy field you have stepped into.
3. The Stance of the Ask
Think of three energetic postures before you open your mouth (or type your words):
• Possibility: “This could be a doorway to something we haven’t seen yet.”
• Generosity: “This is an offering, not a demand.”
• Adventure: “Let’s find out what happens when we say yes to the unknown.”
These stances change the feel of the ask from “take from you” to “expand us both.”
4. An Ask Formula (Ontological Edition)
Step 1 — Declare the context
Name the shared possibility you’re standing in.
Example: “I’m exploring ways to bring more [beauty / connection / transformation] into the world.”
Step 2 — Invite participation
Frame the ask as a co-creation, not a transaction.
Example: “I’d love to explore with you how we might…”
Step 3 — Leave space
Don’t load it with expectation or attachment to the outcome.
Examples: “What comes to mind for you?” or “Does this feel like something you’d be excited about?”
This creates an open field rather than a binary yes/no trap.
5. The Energy Check Before You Ask
Ask yourself:
• Am I trying to get or am I creating an opening?
• Does my body feel tight or expansive?
• Am I speaking from now/future or from past data?
If the answer is “past,” pause, breathe, and re-enter the stance of possibility.
6. Why This Works
When you are being the possibility, the ask is no longer a test of your worth — it’s an extension of the reality you’re already inhabiting. People, the situation, circumstance or event (all the things) respond differently because:
• There is an invitation rather than cornering.
• There is space co-creativity.
• The energy is light, not needy. Resonant. Redolent. Radiant.
7. A Practice to Rehearse
Before each ask, speak this to yourself silently or softly aloud:
I am the opening
I invite adventure
I release history
This is an invitation to create what was not possible until now…
Then make the ask as if the possibility is already real.
Let me know how this goes for you. I’m in curious/wondering, just because of the possibilities. And, since it’s the Full Moon, and I’m all about that, here’s a mandala I drew, for the full moon. Download and print onto card stock, then color. (There is for sure some shadowing, my erased guidelines. Once colored over, I didn’t notice them anymore.)
“Doing” art is an ancient and rather proven recipe for calming (tf) down. Have at it.
The Journey 
My dearest Daughter,
I thank you for your mail and find I‘m asking a question of the present which has no apparent answer. I can’t get the question this photo presents me with out of my mind, but it just replaces the photo of the dead father and daughter in the mud after trying to cross the Rio Grand. That photo replaced the one of the father carrying his dead son through the flood waters in Pakistan.
How can the world allow this?