The topic for March is intuition 💡
In March we’re delving into the realm of intuition—our innate sense of what feels right.
Hey Friends,
Spring has finally sprung, bringing with it the promise of new growth, energy, and creativity. As I watch ideas sprout seemingly out of nowhere, like seeds bursting forth with potential, I'm reminded of the mysterious source from which creativity emerges. It's a place deep within us, where ideas are felt rather than thought, bubbling up to the surface of consciousness like fresh springs of inspiration to draw from.
Welcome to the 4th edition of our monthly community newsletter, where we'll be delving into the realm of intuition—our innate sense of what feels right. From gut feelings to flashes of insight, intuition guides us in ways that rational thought cannot always explain. We’ll look at findings that help us expand our understanding of what intuition is and how it works, and I’ll share practices that are helping me access it and work with it as a creative.
We’re a highly sensitive bunch, us creatives. We’re able to notice beauty in the subtlest details and experience the world with more intensity. I experience my creativity as a rise of ideas and visions within myself as opposed to deliberate thinking or problem solving. While the thinking mind acts as the editor and manager, the intuitive creative voice waits quietly for something to emerge. Whatever you like to call it, ego vs. higher self, thinking vs. feeling, for many creative people I meet, myself included, when there is a clash between intuition and reason, it can lead to overthinking, self-doubt, creative blocks, frustration, and lethargy.
How can we become more able to notice what’s arising around us, trust what we’re sensing, and move towards our felt sense of what is right and feel more aligned?
Practical techniques such as journaling and mindfulness practice have helped me overcome mental blocks, unload and quiet an overactive mind, and increase my ability to notice what’s arising in and around me, giving space for creative insight to emerge.
I recommend Vision (Mood) Boarding, a foundation of the creative process, as a tangible tool for tapping into intuition and manifesting goals. By creating visual representations of our aspirations, we become attuned to our intuitive guidance and open ourselves to new possibilities.
Albert Einstein once said, “The intuitive mind is a sacred gift, and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift.”
Together, let’s explore the realm of intuition to reconnect with the guiding force that leads us toward our truest selves and most profound discoveries.
Warmly,
Shawn
Focus Topic: Intuition
The power or faculty of attaining direct knowledge or cognition without evident rational thought and inference.
Findings on Intuition
What science has to say:
Intuition is a form of knowledge that appears in consciousness without obvious deliberation. It is a faculty in which hunches are generated by the unconscious mind rapidly sifting through past experience and cumulative knowledge.
Often referred to as “gut feelings,” intuition tends to arise holistically and quickly, without awareness of the underlying mental processing of information. Scientists have repeatedly demonstrated how information can register on the brain without conscious awareness and positively influence decision-making and other behaviors.
What philosophy has to say:
In Zen Buddhism, it is understood that intuition is one of the deepest functions of the human mind. It is a means of perceiving reality directly, not by means of logic or reasoning. This occurs or is experienced when the personality is well integrated.
The different ways we experience intuition
Strategic Intuition, or Intuitive Flashes of Insight: "Eureka!" moments that produce new and useful ideas in a single thought are behind some of the world's most creative and practical innovations.
Strategic Intuition, WIlliam DugganGut Feelings, or “Spidey Sense”: A feeling that appears quickly in consciousness, with us unaware of the underlying reasons, but strong enough for us to act on.
Gut Feelings: The Intelligence of the Unconscious, Gerg GirgenzersExpert Intuition, or Snap Judgements: The ability to “thin slice” large amounts of data or information that help with decision-making. Sometimes leading people to make harmful and biased decisions!
Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking, Malcolm GladwellArtist’s intuition, or Temporal Intuition: A sense of the timing being right to create or capture an opportunity.
The Creative Act: A Way of Being, Rick Rubin
Improving access to your intuition
The daily practice of "Morning Pages" introduced by Julia Cameron in her book The Artist's Way—three pages, without thinking, editing, or judging the content, just letting it out on the page first thing in the morning, every day—is a great tool for accessing your intuition.
The pages provide a space to wring out the ego—the complaints, fears, bickering, negative beliefs, self-pity, and sorrows—that, once cleared, allow access to a gentle voice of inner wisdom. It’s an opportunity to explore your depths, uncover thought patterns, get to know yourself better, and discern more clearly your desires. The practice of writing without thinking has also improved my ability to creatively flow with less self-editing in the moment in other areas as an artist as well.
A Journaling Practice to access intuition:
What you will need:
• Any old pad of paper or journal
• A penInstructions
• Write three pages first thing in the morning, and then the next day, write three moreHelpful tips from “The Artist’s Way”
• There’s no wrong way to do the morning pages
• You should write your pages first thing in the morning
• Nothing is too silly, petty, stupid, or weird to be included
• Nobody ever reads your pages, except you, and don’t even go back and read them for at least 8 weeks
• The pages are not art or even writing, but just the simple act of moving the hand across the page and writing whatever comes to mind
Utilize your intuition to influence tangible outcomes
I’ve been creating vision boards—in the trade we call them “mood boards"—my entire career as a graphic designer. It’s a key early step in the creative process to transition from the brief, the rationale for the project, to a visual expression of early conceptual thinking. It allows us to explore what’s possible through sourcing inspiration that guides possible paths to take the creative process. It also helps the rational thinkers (the client) get on board with what the creative thinkers are beginning to feel and pick up on from the brief before any actual creative is produced.
Vision Board Exercise
Similar to a mood board a vision board is a collage of images, pictures, and affirmations of one's dreams and desires, designed to serve as a source of inspiration and motivation. Creating a vision board is an intuitive creative process of turning ideas into a collection of images that serve as an artifact or map of your early conceptual vision. The board serves as a big picture reminder of your goals and aspirations to guide your journey towards your desired destination.
Download the vision board instructions
The importance of having a compelling vision
We can be pushed down the road by deadlines, expectations, and to-do lists. We can be driven by the desire for money or accomplishment or by the promises we make. Or we can be pulled down the road by the gravitational force of a compelling vision, like water running downhill. You can feel the difference between these two forces: pushed or driven on one hand, or pulled irresistibly on the other. Discovering what draws us has the power to overcome the bonds of lethargy and fear. Finding a compelling vision can take any goal, action, or outcome and invest it with new power.
Co-Active Coaching, Karen Kimsey-House, Henry Kimsey-House, Phillip Sandhal, Laura Whitworth
“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom the emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand wrapped in awe, is as good as dead; his eyes are closed. The insight into the mystery of life, coupled though it be with fear, has also given rise to religion. To know what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty, which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their most primitive forms-this knowledge, this feeling is at the center of true religiousness.”
– Albert Einstein
Thank you for joining me! I’d love to hear from you if you have questions, comments, or a story you’d like to share with this community. Hit me up!
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