Tuning-In

Inner Space

“The Inner Light, the Divine Presence, the Big Mind, the intuition, or whatever metaphor we use to describe it, is filled with intelligence that gets decoded and comes to conscious awareness through our nervous system.

                         Joan Borysenko (A Woman's Journey to God)

Women are often described as flaky, air headed, and circular in their thinking. And it is true, women usually arrive at decisions and conclusions through a different process than men. They tend to be more body aware, emotional, relational, and intuitive. Men are typically goal directed, and more rational and linear. One is not superior to the other, they are simply different.

One of the shows on TV that I sometimes watch is Psych, in which two life-long friends, Gus and Sean, solve crimes by pretending to be psychic. The show both makes fun of intuition, because Sean is silly in his dramatic posturing, while at the same time demonstrating something of how it works. Sean sees things, makes a mental note, and then connects the dots between what he sees and the case. His real skill is keen observation. Intuition involves an acute sense of seeing, as well as grasping the underlying meaning of what is seen. It takes into account the body language, non-verbal cues like tone of voice and facial expression, and the energetic 'feel' of things. Then it weighs the underlying meaning of those, along with one's own emotional response to them. It is not linear, it is circular. For a woman, something has to “feel right” to be right. Typically, for a man, it has to “make sense” to be right.

Everyone has intuition, but not everyone pays attention to it. Sometimes, we know something is “not right,” but knowing that interferes with what we want, so we override it. We usually live to regret that decision. Women, because they tend to be more relational in their approach to the world, seem to access intuitive information more easily than men, but not always. Anyone can be taught to hone the skill. Intuition involves using both sides of the brain—the rational, logical, verbal left side, and the visual, non-verbal, emotional right side. Paying attention to information coming in through both sides gives one whole-brain intelligence. It's worth tuning-in to, even if it makes you seem...well, goofy. That flakiness may one day save your life.

                                          In the spirit,

                                         Jane