like running through a field in a starry night with friends and a jar chasing fireflies, this little book of phrases and fragments is a playful attempt to hold the beauty and power of ephemeral conversations that unfold in the margins of dominant work flows and administrative obligations of the“well-being” professional field, e.g., writing applications for funding, summarizing reports about impact, and designing evaluations & data collection frameworks.

in this zine we are interested in what subterranean landscape of assumptions shape how we relate to one another in our use(s) of data and focus on measurable impact, how and when dominant norms and expectations seem to hold or shift, what charades we perform/stories we tell that may undermine our own efforts, what different ways of knowing might release us together into deeper honesty and clearer seeing at the various scales and altitudes at which we play our parts. sometimes we take these dynamics for granted. here we wrestle/dance a little with the stories, ideologies, and experiences that organize the ways we understand and work with our world of realities and possibilities. we are people, students, activists, teachers, funders, artists, nonprofit & collective impact leaders, connectors, storytellers, collaborators…

thinking in questions is a project by drusilla roessle and alison marie chopel started in september 2024. 140 were printed and shared at “flourish: advancing collective well-being in america,” hosted by the robert wood johnson foundation in nashville, tennessee in december 2024. this project unfolded saying “yes” and “yes” and “yes” to more time in conversation with an emergent community of practice facilitated by elizabeth garlow and amanda janoo earlier that year, who connected us with funding from the foundation to play out this idea. that led to many small miracles in which other people said “yes” to participating. it’s been a profound gift to tap in to resonant conversation with people we barely know. it’s a reminder that we are all creating something together whether we see it or not.