Subscribe via RSS‘ATTENDING TO INTUITION is quiet. This internal practice turns inward to visceral messages. Attending to ‘What’s being heard’, we engage ‘I’m listening’ and respond accordingly’………CONSTRUCT DevelopmentConversation Journal, QuintessentialYou Design
I have spent the last few hours in solitude and silence. I feel wrapped in cashmere. I hear my breathing and I am conscious of the sheer serenity available in my immediate environment. There is no discussion, no noise, no opinions being offered or evaluated. I move when I am moved, sip from my water glass when I feel like sipping. The phone has not rung and only now, as I write this post, is the sound of the computer keys and the background hum of its operation breaking into the space that surrounds me. I am acutely aware of the love I have for silence. Simultaneously, I experience the ride of solitude as I float at one with my environment. It is as if my body has no boundary when I am in this state.
I have colleagues and friends who have questioned my proclivity for time with mySelf. They wonder how it is that I find the stillness so very compelling. I wonder how they can survive without it. Only here in this state am I able to hear mySelf and its messages to me. Only in this state am I able to decipher the clues that call me forward and lead me along the path that is exquisitely perfect for the expression of this Self – mySelf.
With all the noise of causes and protests, the shouting of trends, and the blazing of trails by others, I have to step out and stand back to remember me, to hear the messages that are intended for me and me alone. I have to attend to these whisperings and check my experience in light of their calls and invitations. I have to engage my individual listening to discern what my intelligent body is telling me. I have to respond from that place and only that place to follow instinct aligned to the design of quintessential me.
How often have you heard someone say they missed the mark or made a mistake in Attending To Intuition? How many times has someone said to you, ‘I wish I hadn’t listened to my intuition? my gut? my instinct?’ I venture to say that it is much more rare than the times we hear ‘I wish I had listened to my instinct, my gut, my intuition’.
We’re so busy having to do and doing to have, we think we haven’t the time for this practice yet truth be told, it gifts us time and space, clarity and integrity with every message it delivers and call it makes.
What is your experience of Attending To Intuition? How do you recognize its presence? What are its characteristics? Do you heed its call?
Kath – this is lovely! I felt “wrapped in cashmere” reading it. Just yesterday I had to rescind on an obligation agreed to in haste, but later, lots of gut voices yelling no. Often I only recognize intuition “in reaction” to something. But there are indeed quite longings that can only be heard in the silence; the challenge is I feel them but can’t often understand their message.
Thanks!
Thanks Kathy! I love that you love my experience of being in silence and solitude to hear intuition speaking. I think recognition of intuition and the opportunity to respond versus react comes with two things: Practice, of course and in my experience living life as a living process. Our individual lives are rich in resources & circumstances that provide on-going context for each one of us to see and to hear the messages we are being gifted. It is an invitation to live life moment to moment in inquiry, exploration, discovery. As we keep presencing, it does show us what we need to see.
Solitude and silence are precious gifts. Only in them can you find your true self. They are like the compass and the map necessary for the navigation of the uncharted and the unknown. Solitude and silence are the wellsprings of inspiring thought and the crucibles of creativity: only in them is it possible to make connections and understand the regal patterns of the universe that are the formulae and the blueprints of what we are.
Ron ~ many thanks for continuing to share your thoughts with respect to the blogposts. Much appreciated! How do you experience Attending To Intuition? Do you recognize its presence in a particular way in your own being? I am curious as I think we all experience intuition and heed its call…or not ….differently.
What a great post and one that was perfectly timed. I truly needed to not only read this but to pay attention to this. Many times I read or hear and think I understand. In truth, I’m barely paying attention. Thank-you for capturing my attention!
Thanks for taking the time to comment, Marc. I am delighted that the post appeared
and that you gave it your attention at just the perfect time. Invite you to sign up to receive future blogposts. I sense you will enjoy them!
As always, this is perfect timing. I rarely allow myself the time to really wrap myself in solitude and attend intuition, but for the past few days I have had just that experience. I find that the space that solitude has opened is essential for, and conducive to, effortlessly attending to intuition. One example would be light-hearted banter with one of my friends who often tries to get a reaction by insinuating a gender bias stereotypes. Usually I would react, without thinking, and then be mad at myself, but I was able to say, “uh-huh, that’s right” (dumbfounded silence) and with a smile, “nice try”. No reaction, no hook. Grace itself. I prefer this, for sure.
Thanks for the post!
Bobbie – thank you so much for adding to the conversation. I am thrilled that you have found your own version of grace inside silence, solitude and intuition. Bravo!
Kathleen, you allude to something in this post that I think is an important distinction between some humans: You listen to yourself, but some people are afraid of what they might hear if they turn down the outside volume. You know the types: The person that talks non-stop, the person that always has Ipod headphones on, the person who says, “I can’t stand silence!”
I find quite the opposite, as you talk about here. I LIKE silence. Many times, I seek it. Hiking and camping are wonderful ways to find it for me, but even without those “outside” silences, I can find silence at home when my girls are out or still sleeping in the morning. Hearing my own thoughts does not frighten me – I am comfortable with who I am, and I learn from my own mistakes by assessing what I have done in the recent past. What better time to chart a new path forward than by listening to yourself say, “Why did you say this / do that the other day?” and then resolving to make a different choice the next time that situation arises?
Silence is golden. But some people don’t recognize the luster of silence, ignoring it’s worth out of fear of what they might discover about themselves. And that’s their loss.
Dave F. – it sounds to me like you have lucky girls – having a Dad who knows the value of silence and reflection. It is there
that we have access to the joy that resides within each one of us and the answer to every question we pose! Thank you for
being in conversation!
Aaahhh….the allure of being wrapped in cashmere…such a sensuous expression for me. It is so descriptive of what I feel when I come home after a day of talk, talk, talk….listening intently to others, whilst listening to my intuition, my gut, my instincts. When it is all humming along, there is a synergy that is uplifting and enriching. When it is not, the thought of being home, in silence and solitude, is the ‘wrapped in cashmere’ experience that I know awaits me. I walk into my home and breathe in the silence and comfort of my space, my thoughts and tune into the rhythm of my being. This experience leads me from moment to moment… and I have come to trust mySelf more deeply as a result.
It wasn’t always this way. Trust me. Being alone, wanting silence and solitude, used to feel as though I was withdrawing from people and the world. I needed to ‘get away’ from it all and think (read analyse/figure out) my way through everything.
Having been in the living of life through the experience of my QYou blueprint for some time now, I have come to intimately know mySelf. The revelation of silence and solitude as treasured experiences was a surprise and a delight. Thinking as an experience … rather than an objective … now fills the silence and connects me to my intuition. A blessed relief given I love to think and be alone :).
As always Kathy…. your speaking resonates for me :).
Sylvia – Thank you for your thoughtful comment! So happy to have you share your own experience of silence & solitude! More importantly, it is wonderful to hear about your individual recognition of their gifts and your very personal connection to intuition. It is truly there for each one of us in our own way and when we discover and touch it within ourSelf, it is, as you note, a surprise and delight AND an enduring gift!