I’m running out of room on my laptop hard drive. Thus, I’m spending time trying to clean off space and discovering some gems in the process. Today I found this article on intuition by Anne Durrum Robinson.
I had the great fortune to meet and get to know Annie through my involvement in AWC/Austin. She was truly a luminous being. I still carry one of her business cards in my purse even though she died in 2005. Whenever I see it, it makes me smile. Today I found this article an a folder called “Miscellaneous Creative Stuff.”  I am pasting it its entirety. I don’t think she would mind.
INTUITION:
Your Ever-Present Partner in a Changing World
By Anne Durrum Robinson
Call it “hunch.†Call it “gut feeling.†Call it ‘instinct.†But whatever you call it, keep it always by your side!
We once thought intuition was a special gift for women. The feminine contingent relied on it heavily because, for many eons, it was all they had. The masculine supply of records, numbers, statistics and rules was, for the most part, out of their reach.
But, as the old comics were so fond of saying, “Them days is gone forever.†Today’s highly educated, widely read, widely traveled gals are as conversant with the left-brained skills as any of their masculine counterparts. On the other hand we find many of those counterparts now aware of the value of and equally reliant on their intuitive sources.
So let’s agree that both men and women can and often do access this elusive part of their mental make-up. What are some of the other things they should bear in mind about this potential ally?
First of all, belief in it is very important. Intuition is an inherent right-brain ability, given to us all. Some people recognize its power and rely on it all their lives. Some never become aware of it. Some try early heeding of its advice, are ridiculed out of it and never turn to it again. So belief and practice are both very important in the efficacy of intuition.
Equally helpful is the knowledge of the various kinds of intuition. It can be physical, hence the appellation of “gut feeling.†It can be mental, as with a “fleeting thought†or “inspiration.†It can be emotional, as with other types of feeling. It can be spiritual, appearing in dreams or visions during prayers and devotionals. Lately there has been the recognition of environmental or circumstantial intuition in which a set of oddly related circumstances tends to encourage one to take a definite action or prevent one from doing something.
As I have watched this old world spin faster and faster, I have become increasingly aware that certain attitudes may no longer be appropriate. Reliance on data has become questionable. Data are quickly outdated or often inaccurate. Forecasts are disproved almost as rapidly as they are made. Strategic planning has often turned into stra-tragic planning. Tomorrow seems to by-pass today as it slides hastily into yesterday.
So how do we access this valuable but elusive partner? Here are my suggestions:
- Acknowledgement “Intuition exists. We all have it.â€
- Valuing “Intuition is an incomparable ally, always ready to assist me.â€
- Affirmation “I state regularly my belief in intuition.â€
- Gratitude “I give daily thanks for its reliable and accurate guidance.â€
- Recording “I keep a running record of my intuitive experiences.â€
- Evaluating “I carefully distinguish between intuition and wishful thinking.â€
One way to keep oneself “honest†about the genuine-ness of one’s intuition is to keep a consistent intuition journal. This can be as fancy or as pedestrian as one chooses.
Each page should record a separate intuitive experience. The page should be dated. Circumstances surrounding the experience should be carefully and completely recorded. One’s way of receiving the intuitive experience should be noted. Some people may alternate between or among different methods of receiving; others may be more consistent in the way they get their intuitive information. (Personally I have two different signals. If I am being cautioned about a person, a small warning bell will ring way back in my consciousness. Important information about a situation will generally be repeated three times.)
The intuitor should make careful note of his/her intuitive experience, indicating what information was received, by what means and when.
Later one should return to this particular page and record how the experience “played out.†Was the intuitive information valuable to the receiver? Was it complete? In what form did it arrive? Was it accurate?
Over a sufficiently long period of time the intuitor can begin to winnow the wheat from the chaff of his/her experience.
Obviously the time has come (in the commercial as well as one’s personal world) to enrich common sense with “uncommon sense;†to raise conventional wisdom to “unconventional wisdom;†and to bolster pure intelligence with broader, more far-reaching intuitive sources.
In which of the following areas can these often-ignored sources enrich your life?
- Interpersonal relationships
- Problem-solving
- Negotiation
- Management
- Interviewing
- Counter-intelligence work
- Acting
- Creativity (in many directions)
Actually, you can differentiate intuitive access in two other ways:
- Spontaneously
- Deliberately
Spontaneous intuition can occur anywhere, at any time. Deliberate intuition is, in some ways, more under your personal control. You spend a large part of your normal day in your beta brainwave frequency…not in touch with your more receptive side. As you begin to doze off to sleep (if you have no serious sleep problems) you move softly from beta to alpha which is slower, more deliberate, and more aware. With practice you can learn to recognize and hold your alpha level of awareness. Then, as with any good problem-solving system, you can state your problem or question; give a specific assignment to your subconscious mind; then drop on down past theta to delta brainwave frequency and deep sleep. Meanwhile your subconscious mind (with its list of recent instructions) searches its various sources for the information you need or desire. As you become more adept with this formula, you can give your subconscious several sets of instructions and requests. There is one caveat: be very clear about what you know and what you need.
As you come awake the next morning, your brainwave frequency moves from delta, through theta, through alpha and back to busy, demanding beta. Learn to hold it at alpha for a time. Give your helpful subconscious an opportunity to confide in you whatever it has discovered in its sleep-time forays. It may offer you a good bit of information on one assignment. On the other hand, it may simply bring bits and pieces of help on several different requests. As best you can, sort the information into its proper places and record it all in your information journal.
When I first became intrigued with the difference that reliance on intuition could make in one’s life, I found one or two authors who had written reliable books on the subject.
As I have studied more on the subject and taught many workshops in that area, I have happily seen the number of well-researched, well-written books greatly increase. There are fine videos and audio cassettes available. For a time, an international network flourished and (until I was wheelchair bound) I attended excellent conferences on the subject. Reliable trainers offer workshops throughout the U.S. and other countries.
Once a month I mentor a group of men and women on the importance of intuition. I call the gathering the HUNCH BUNCH FOR LUNCH. We meet at my home and each attendant brings his/her own lunch. Using an expansive list of materials which I gathered when I was training business/industry clients in this helpful and fascinating subject, I lead the group in various exercises designed to put members in touch with their respective intuitive responses. This group has no connection to a “séance.†Rather it is a workshop to enable the members to sample various ways of connecting to their intuitive selves. Some people find certain exercises effective. Others find entirely different exercises more productive or more to their liking.
Our globe seems to be spinning faster and faster, and the number of challenges is increasing nationally and internationally. With business and individual relationships getting more far-flung and rapidly diverse, our formerly vaunted “common sense†will no longer get the job done. We need “uncommon sense†and we need it NOW. We truly require a built-in adviser to tell us what to do, how to do it, with whom and when. In short, we need our INTUITION: readily available and always by our side!
P.S. Annie’s namesake, Annie, was featured earlier in this post.
