Learning for Liberation
Ten of Cups Consulting
Oblivion to Liberation
Sample Adult Questionnaire · First Explorers
Please give yourself at least 45–60 minutes with these questions. Find somewhere quiet if you are able. There are no right answers or wrong starting places here.
Some of these questions may stir discomfort and that’s okay. That is useful information in this process, not something to push past or perform through. You may find it helpful to journal alongside your responses.
The more truthful you are, the more useful this process becomes. This is where we learn to meet you where you are, and your answers help us understand how we can best support you moving forward.
If you need more room, keep writing on the back or in a journal.
1. The World You Grew Up In
Think about the neighborhood, school, and spaces that shaped you. Who was there with you, and who wasn’t? Looking back now, what do you think that environment quietly taught you?
2. What Happens in Your Body
When race comes up in conversation, what do you feel happening within your body, even before you’ve had a chance to speak? Try to locate and describe the sensations in your body, not just your thoughts. Are there particular sensations you recognize in your body that rise with specific emotions, such as a clenched stomach with nervousness or dry throat with the urge to explain yourself?
3. When It Felt Like Too Much
Has there been a moment in a conversation about race where you shut down, got defensive, wanted to walk away, or any other range of emotions? How did you react? What feelings came up for you in both body and mind? What do you think was underneath those feelings?
4. What You’re Not Ready to Look At
If you’re honest with yourself, is there something about your relationship to race that feels too intense or might cost you too much, personally, to examine closely? What would it take to look at it anyway?
5. Where You Are Right Now
What brought you to this moment? What are you hoping to understand about yourself that you don’t yet? What feels most frightening about this process right now? What feels most exciting? What other emotions are surfacing in you as you finish this questionnaire and move towards creating a plan for the work? What is your body telling you?
If this stirred something in you, that’s exactly the point.
The full questionnaire goes deeper and we are here to support you in this work.
Email [email protected] to learn more.