The Intuitive Mind
Susan O • Mar 26, 2013
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 —Albert Einstein
How often do you look to your intuition for information and guidance? Probably not so much as you rely on thinking, reasoning, and logic as the most valuable tools to navigate life. Einstein, Steve Jobs, Paul McCartney, Oprah and many others value and use their intuition. All that is required is the practice of starting to notice, pay attention, and focus on what is coming into your awareness.
I am not I. An imposter assumes a false or fraudulent identity. On occasion a client will tell me that he or she feels like a fraud, an imposter. The person will say I do not know myself or who I am. I am afraid I will be discovered and exposed. Someone who experiences and suffers with this anxiety is always on edge because at any moment their identity will be ...
Every February 14, across the United States and in other places around the world, candy, flowers, and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine. But who is this mysterious saint, and where did these traditions come from?
January became the first month of the year about 700BC after the Roman King Pompilius added it to the calendar along with February. Janus is the ancient Roman god of beginnings and endings plus he is the god of gateways, gates, door and doorways. He had two faces one looking back and the other forward. As the opening line in T.S. Eliot’s East Coker said, “In my beginning is my end,” and in the closing line “In my end is my beginning” (1942). January ends the past and sets up the future; winter is the season when the world slows down. As snow falls and covers parts of the earth as an insulating blanket one knows it is winter time. People pull back their energy and hibernate too by the fireplace or under their soft and cozy covers. They might reflect on what was accomplished in the last year and formulate new ideas as seeds to plant for the coming year. Life seems to stand still. The vibrant energies of nature such as growth, vitality, expansion, and progress seem to disappear underground and stop dead in their tracks. The instincts and senses appear to withdraw from worldly distractions and stimulating diversions while a discontent can set in. For some it can be the winter of their discontent. Originally the first line of William Shakespeare's Richard lll was "The winter of our discontent." The interruption of the life force produces decay and a dark stillness possibly a dark night of the soul. Wintertime can contain contraction, restriction, perhaps decay. The beginning of the coming year might be characterized by a bone chilling coldness, a misery to be endured, and barrenness due to death of a way of living. "Write the vision and make it plain..." Habakkuk 2:2 During this seemingly slow passing of time some people will write down a list of resolutions, as they create a set of goals to commence implementing as the year begins, their hope is to harvest their ideas and visions through coming year. January is burdened with all our hopes that are pinned on those first 31 days. We cram a laundry list of goals into one month and try to make them all happen at breakneck speed. Inevitably, by February we are burnt out, and by the summer, our declared resolutions are long forgotten. A personal inventory and reflection on the mistakes and mishaps of the past year is a good place to start when there is a desire for the new. What do you want to see change? Be specific. Where could you have done better? No need to be down on yourself. Just take a look at the areas that are considered your weak points or disappointments from the last year and create a plan and vision for this coming year. Let's give January a break? If your goals are worth attaining, they will take time - much more than a mere month can offer. Plus the effort and energy it will take to accomplish those goals are too much to do all at once. Space them out. Some resolutions and personal goals can't be worked on immediately. Give your New Year's resolutions some breathing room. You've laid the ground work to achieving your dreams, and you can take the next year to perfect them. Learn from the previous year's mistakes and grow. Every year is another chance to do it. C.S. Lewis said, "You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream." Here is an excerpt from Alfred, Lord Tennyson’s poem: In Memoriam, {Ring out, wild bells} Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky, The flying cloud, the frosty light: The year is dying in the night; Ring out, wild bells, and let him die. Ring out the old, ring in the new, Ring, happy bells, across the snow: The year is going, let him go; Ring out the false, ring in the true. Ring out the grief that saps the mind For those that here we see no more; Ring out the feud of rich and poor, Ring in redress to all mankind. Wishing everyone a joy filled 2024!
"Do not seek for things to happen the way you want them to; rather, wish that what happens happen the way it happens: then you will be happy." — Enchiridion of Epictetus Ch. VIII:
Everything Begins with the First Step
“A slip of the foot you may soon recover, but a slip of the tongue you may never get over.” - Benjamin Franklin Often a client will say to me, “I know it. It is just on the tip of my tongue.” The tip -of-the-tongue (TOT) phenomenon is about the sensation that I know the answer, but I can’t quite access it and say it. An example might be the desire to say a person’s name or a word and can’t quite retrieve it from memory even though you can remember that it starts with the letter “M.” You can hear the music, see the picture of the movie and the director, but cannot recall the name of the movie just when you want to say it. The name can come to you an hour later when you don’t need it. TOT is also known as lethologica which is about almost being able to recall a word a phrase from memory and having the feeling that it will come to you in a second. This dynamic is so common that it is referred to as a “TOT state.” This happens when the left temporal and frontal areas of your brain momentarily do not work together to recall words, names, or phrases stored in your memory. In psychology this can be referred to as a Freudian “slip of the tongue” which is likened to an error in speaking whereby the speaker had no conscious intention of saying what was said. A Freudian slip is a mistake that comes up from the unconscious mind. This is also known as a parapraxis, as these slips may come from secret thoughts or feelings and these slips can express unconscious attitudes or impulses. There are 3 types of slips of the tongue: sound, morpheme (part of a word) and word errors. Common Freudian slips may be: Mispronouncing/misreading a word. Saying a similar word to the one you are trying to read. Calling your child by their sibling’s name The following poem explains this atmosphere the tongue can happen to create: When the tongue slips, the heart speaks, As this is when the heart leaks. Free of the inhibitions of thoughts words said reflect the heart’s true desires: love, hate, disgrace. When you 'accidentally' called his name, I knew it was end of the game, so I Took my belongings and stepped away. It made no sense for me to stay. My only regret, Is that my tongue slipped too; And what it said was 'I love you. - Leslie Alexis “The tongue is a small thing, but what enormous damage it can do.” – James 3.5
