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Tuesday, 08 August 2006 16:36 |
| | Janese Johnson |
Two weeks ago, I was in the Seattle area with my work.
When I travel, I usually offer a short workshop on ?®using your intuition in your everyday life.?∆
After a small introduction, we go around the circle of participants and share a practical intuitive experience that has happened in our lives. Most often people come thinking that they are not intuitive. They have come to believe that intuition is for those ?®special?∆ people that have that ?®extra gift.?∆
The
good news is that most leave the workshop knowing that not only are
they intuitive, but that intuition is as natural as thinking ?? all we
need to do is pay attention to it.
The definition
of intuition is having an understanding or truth without any rational
explanation. Some call intuition the sixth sense.
Albert Einstein
was such a strong advocate of intuition that he said, ?®The only real
valuable thing is intuition.?∆ He also added, ?®The intellect has little
to do on the road to discovery. There comes a leap in consciousness,
call it intuition or what you will, and the solution comes to you and
you don??t know how or why.?∆
If we think
about it in a historical way, we can see that when life was more
challenging and all about survival, intuition was as important a
function as reasoning.
If a person felt something was off, they usually paid attention to it and oftentimes that ?®off?∆ feeling saved a life or two.
It was also
important to rely on intuition in meeting others from strange areas and
hunting the food. Because intuition was such an important factor with
survival, it was not even considered as something to turn on or off, it
was just as natural a sense as smell, touch, sound and sight.
When life became
more simple due to agriculture than technology, intuition was not used
as much for survival, and got reduced as ?®an extra?∆ ability.
Most of what we
are enjoying in our life these days that has made our life simpler from
caveman days to now have come from intuition. If it is a new idea than
it has come from the place of intuition.
Over the years
there have been many who have recognized the importance of intuition.
Immanuel Kant, a great philosopher in the 1700s, was another strong
advocate for the importance of intuition when he said, ?®All thought
must, directly or indirectly, by way of certain characters, relate
ultimately to intuitions, and therefore, with us, to sensibility,
because in no other way can an object be given to us.?∆
We can also see the importance of intuition when reading ancient texts before the holy crusades.
The holy
Crusades really signify the time when a lot of original ideas, thoughts
or behaviors were seen as the work of the devil and repressed.
The Crusades
were around the 11th century and the goal of the west was to eliminate
any and all influence of Islamic thinking from the holy lands. Fear and
anger rose to great heights and violence touched all lives. Since those
who would not conform were tortured and killed, conformity became the
way of survival.
With conformity,
many great ideas and ways of life were lost for a long time if not for
good. The Crusades started in 1095 and lasted until 1291. Many things
were lost and changed through almost two hundred years of repression
and bloodshed.
So if we have
gone so long without intuition in the forefront and we seem to be doing
ok, why am I so passionate about educating others of the importance of
it? Because I don??t feel that we are doing well as a global community
on every area of existence. I believe that intuition can help us to
become more connected to nature, each other, and to new ways to live in
more harmony. If we first recognize the importance of intuition, then
work on listening to it, I believe that changes for the positive can
happen.
Alan Alda, who
is known in the film industry, puts it a lot better than I can when he
says, ?®Be brave enough to live life creatively. The creative is the
place where no one else has ever been. You have to leave the city of
your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. You can??t
get there by bus, only by hard work and risk and by not quite knowing
what you??re doing. What you??ll discover will be wonderful. What you??ll
discover will be yourself.?∆
If all we do is discover our own self then what do we have to lose?
?ÿ
Janese Johnson
has been doing intuitive counseling nationally for more than 20 years.
She may be contacted at janesej-at-buncombe.main.nc.us.
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