It happened again.  That voice whispered in my ear telling me my word for the year.  I’ve written about choosing a word for the year over making annual resolutions.  I’ve offered up bucket lists and vision boards.  Recently I’ve even challenged you to find 12 positives from 2020 as well as offered up Jeff Harry’s play exercise of looking back via his Fun, Joy, Play Index. As I was casting about for inspiration of what to share with you this week, that word spoke to me again.  Intuition.

Intuition

How much do you rely on your intuition? A gut feeling? Your “mother’s intuition” (maybe this phrase should be updated to “parent’s intuition”?) Hunches, instinct or sixth sense?  There are many ways to explain this, but I will stick with this dictionary definition:

Can you learn intuition?

While logically we can understand what intuition is, it is another thing to listen to your intuition.  It’s a whole section in my 7^th Sense, Your Sense of Adventure program.  Some people it may be natural to follow your inner knowing.  For others, like me (like you?), it takes time to quiet the insecurities and self-doubts enough to trust your gut feelings.

The spiritual inspirational speaker, Sonia Choquette, has based her programs on teaching people how to connect with their sixth sense.  I met Sonia at a seminar back in 2010 (before phones had good cameras!) and started on my path to trusting my inner knowing through her “I Wonder” game.  This game has become one of my main tenets for creating an adventure attitude.  (Learn more about it in the free Finding Fun ebook – which you receive when you subscribe).

Creative Mornings

This year, thanks to the pandemic bringing all sorts of interesting things from around the world within my local area’s reach, I discovered a fun resource called “Creative Mornings.” As coincidences would have it, the “Field Trip” that popped up in a time I was available was called “Develop Your Intuition” presented by Sarah Shirley. 

Sarah’s presentation took me by surprise.  While we probably all can agree everyone has some level of intuition, she presented intuition as a form of psychic ability.  In my head, I thought “wait, psychic abilities are for gifted people – not everyday people like me!” 

Per Sarah, the four types of intuition are:

1. Clairsentience – “clear feeling” (in many cases – that gut feeling you get!)

2. Clairvoyance – “clear seeing” (those pictures that pop in your head, or visions or sometimes through dreams)

3. Claircognizance – “clear knowing” (that deep sense of knowing something without a logical reason.  “Knowing” was my 2018 Word of the Year!)

4. Clairaudience – “clear hearing”(no, you probably aren’t crazy for hearing voices in your head or externally! Or, it could be that song that comes on just as you’re thinking about it.)

Shift in Perspective

After reading these four types of intuition, can you think of instances in your life that might fit?  Since I’m a visual thinker, I have always thought that if I had a psychic ability – it would be through my creative dreams.  However, psychic abilities were aspects I assigned to more “spiritual” people, not me.  Sarah’s different viewpoint made me look at my growing intuitive abilities differently.  That word for the upcoming year that was “whispered” to me?  While I am trusting my inner-knowing that I’m not “hearing voices” like a crazy person, it’s a shift to see the option as clairaudience.

I wonder if increasing my awareness of my intuition, if developing and trusting my gut feelings as true, where it will bring me?  What adventures will happen if I start accepting I have all four types of intuition? At the moment, I believe it will help me go further following my passion, in whatever direction it takes me.

What about you?  How do you feel about your level of intuition? Does seeing it in this perspective help you or possibly it’s not your style?  What adventure could we create for you to explore this sixth sense?

Or will your sense of intuition lead you on more fun adventures?