Hi Susan,
I wanted to respond to your request to write about how one consults one's intuition to strengthen our internal perceptions of a situation.
This has been a really important question for me. Especially around the issue of following your dreams or following your heart. I have sometimes felt like I didn't know what my dreams were, or what my heart was expressing, or how to distinguish what was my heart and what was my head, because I have a great mind that likes to be in control and I often override subtle signals from my inner voice or intuition.
I have worked with many process and practices. The one I am learning and using now is a Sufi practice called "remembrance". It is very straight forward, easy and can be done anytime and any place. Remembrance is essentially a process of sitting and reflecting. It is similar to meditation, in that you use a word that has a positive connotation for you and you repeat it. But it is different from meditation in that the focus is to locate yourself in your heart and to listen and observe what emerges.
I have found that doing this practice regularly, even for a few minutes, helps reinforce the ease of accessing that place of quiet wisdom, even when I am in a crises. Usually, when in a crises, I feel myself tighten and constrict in the stress of the situation. But, in practicing remembrance, I am able to relax into an expansion of myself and to access perspective and guidance that comes form a wiser aspect of myself. I have often received guidance on what to do that I would never have 'thought' of, yet it is surprisingly simple, straightforward and obviously appropriate.
I have attached a link to an article about Remembrance that is posted at the Lion Heart Consulting web site. I learned the practice through them in a year long leadership program. http://www.lionhrt.com/theremembrance.htm
I hope this is useful. Please let me know if you would like additional information, or want to talk about this, we could set up a phone call.
Warmly,
Patricia
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Consulting Experts
Thank you for your comments Susan.
As I am reading them, I hear several interesting issues in your statement and question, so I probably will respond with multiple entries as I delve into the observation and question.
I actually hadn't intended to communicate that I thought consulting experts wasn't helpful. It actually was very helpful. As I think I mentioned in an email to you several months ago, I think finding good knowledge experts and advisers is critical when having to make decisions in areas you have no prior experience in. Actually, I think the selection of good experts can be critical in many cases even when you do have prior experience. The topic of how to pick good advisors is one that I have often thought would be a fruitful area to explore more thoroughly.
Since this project was in an area I had never been involved in before, it was absolutely critical to gain as much information as quickly as possible. And, because I think I have made mistakes in the past in choosing some advisers in last minute crises situations, I wanted to be particularly careful.
As I progressed in this process, I ended up talking to several people about any one topic or area. I found that different people were able to provide different perspective and knowledge on the same topic. In many cases they were instrumental in educating me about what were the important and significant parameters I need to consider in any choice.
However, particularly in the beginning, I also had to discern which experts were speaking from a more 'neutral' perspective, providing valuable information and which were providing a biases perspective, either because they wanted to sell me something or because they themselves hadn't kept up with the changes in the technology and materials. So, in a way, this became a vetting process. In addition, I had to learn what my own esthetic 'taste' was. No expert could give me that.
So I would say that consulting experts was necessary but not sufficient. No expert is going to live with the consequences of my decision making. Only I would. I found that trusting my gut and that 'nudge' or uneasiness was a valuable addition to my rational decision making. In many cases it caused me to do additional rounds of questioning and information gathering, asking nuanced questions that I hadn't asked before. Those questions opened up whole new possibilities that hadn't been presented in the first rounds of investigation. And it resulted in making choices that I am now really satisfied with and excited about living with.
I hope this is a useful clarification. If this isn't clear, or somehow I have missed your point let me know and I will add more.
I also will respond to the question in your comments that has to do with sharing information on a way or ways to access ones intuition in another entry.
Thanks Susan.
:) Patricia
As I am reading them, I hear several interesting issues in your statement and question, so I probably will respond with multiple entries as I delve into the observation and question.
I actually hadn't intended to communicate that I thought consulting experts wasn't helpful. It actually was very helpful. As I think I mentioned in an email to you several months ago, I think finding good knowledge experts and advisers is critical when having to make decisions in areas you have no prior experience in. Actually, I think the selection of good experts can be critical in many cases even when you do have prior experience. The topic of how to pick good advisors is one that I have often thought would be a fruitful area to explore more thoroughly.
Since this project was in an area I had never been involved in before, it was absolutely critical to gain as much information as quickly as possible. And, because I think I have made mistakes in the past in choosing some advisers in last minute crises situations, I wanted to be particularly careful.
As I progressed in this process, I ended up talking to several people about any one topic or area. I found that different people were able to provide different perspective and knowledge on the same topic. In many cases they were instrumental in educating me about what were the important and significant parameters I need to consider in any choice.
However, particularly in the beginning, I also had to discern which experts were speaking from a more 'neutral' perspective, providing valuable information and which were providing a biases perspective, either because they wanted to sell me something or because they themselves hadn't kept up with the changes in the technology and materials. So, in a way, this became a vetting process. In addition, I had to learn what my own esthetic 'taste' was. No expert could give me that.
So I would say that consulting experts was necessary but not sufficient. No expert is going to live with the consequences of my decision making. Only I would. I found that trusting my gut and that 'nudge' or uneasiness was a valuable addition to my rational decision making. In many cases it caused me to do additional rounds of questioning and information gathering, asking nuanced questions that I hadn't asked before. Those questions opened up whole new possibilities that hadn't been presented in the first rounds of investigation. And it resulted in making choices that I am now really satisfied with and excited about living with.
I hope this is a useful clarification. If this isn't clear, or somehow I have missed your point let me know and I will add more.
I also will respond to the question in your comments that has to do with sharing information on a way or ways to access ones intuition in another entry.
Thanks Susan.
:) Patricia
Friday, September 5, 2008
Curiosity
The wife and 2 1/2 year old son of Caleb, one of the young men working on my house, came over to have lunch with him today. Logan, Caleb's son, was running all around exploring, asking about everything and continually saying "beautiful", "beautiful". This was as he was looking at dry wall hung on the walls and in nooks and crannies of the house.
It struck me again, how wonderful curiosity is. I think it is one of our greatest assets as human beings. It keeps us asking questions and learning new things. If we foster it throughout our whole lives, it propels us forward on an adventure of exploration and discovery. It challenges our assumptions and keeps us from getting calcified in our thinking. It enables us to expand our understanding of each other and the world.
Based on what we are learning about neuroscience, it seems to me that curiosity is a key ingredient in taking advantage of our brain's plasticity and our ongoing ability to lay down new neuro-nets. I also wonder if this might be a contributing factor to the avoidance of dementia as we age.
Because curiosity is a catalyst to expanding our learning, it fosters our life long ability to reinvent ourselves again and again, enabling us to grow into our own unlimited potential.
It struck me again, how wonderful curiosity is. I think it is one of our greatest assets as human beings. It keeps us asking questions and learning new things. If we foster it throughout our whole lives, it propels us forward on an adventure of exploration and discovery. It challenges our assumptions and keeps us from getting calcified in our thinking. It enables us to expand our understanding of each other and the world.
Based on what we are learning about neuroscience, it seems to me that curiosity is a key ingredient in taking advantage of our brain's plasticity and our ongoing ability to lay down new neuro-nets. I also wonder if this might be a contributing factor to the avoidance of dementia as we age.
Because curiosity is a catalyst to expanding our learning, it fosters our life long ability to reinvent ourselves again and again, enabling us to grow into our own unlimited potential.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Honing connection to intuition and heart
One of the things I realize more and more, is that everything I take on, can be a source of life lessons. For example, for the last three months, I have been emersed in an extendsive, intensive, remodeling project, that has encluded the removal of major walls, adding walls of windows and remodeling my kitchen.
Even though I have been working with a contractor and a designer on the side, I was still in the role of primary designer and general contractor. I had never done this before and I did not even know what my preferences were for the end result. It's been exciting, stimulating, stressful and exhausting.
In order to manage this, I found myself having to have a crash course to learn everything I could about making the best decisions for each element that went into creating a kitchen: the overall layout, electrical and plumbing choices, cabinets, counter tops, fixtures, etc.
There have been many life lessons learned.
One of the key lessons has been my own decision making process, particularly, learning to notice and pay attention to my intuition and deeper heartfelt preferences. Because I had never done this before, I needed to search out experts or talk with several vendors in order to understand what the parameters were for making decisions that would result in high quality, cost effective and esthetically pleasing choices. I started noticing that there were often times in this process when I would be aware of an internal 'nudge' or leaning in one direction of choice over another; or when I would start to feel uneasy when an expert would urge me to make a decision based on what everyone else does in a similar situation, and yet it didn't feel quite right to me.
In the beginning, I would override that 'nudge' or sense of uneasiness and would instead, go with what the expert suggested, only to get home and notice that the uneasy feeling would be growing. In each situation I 'went back to the drawing board' and got more information and asked a lot more questions; not only gathering more relevant information, but in the process, uncovering the intuitive wisdom that was embedded in the signal that those nudges, and uneasy feelings were about. I was uncovering my own preferences and true choice making from this intuitive signaling. This has been important leaning for me, because, while this has been like a giant 3-D art project, the consequences of the choices are ones I will have to live with for a long time.
Learning not to over ride my own wisdom and intuition and learning to listen to my hearts preferences has been an important journey as an adult. There are many times in the past, when I did not pay attention and overrode that signal and had to live with unintended consequences.
Buying this house was an example where I did not listen and there were big consequences.
Ten years ago, I was looking for a new house. Based on all appearances, this house looked like a great buy. It is an architecturally designed contemporary house with vaulted ceilings, great space, great views and a prime location. Everyone said it was a fantastic buy.
And yet, I had an underlying uneasiness. I double checked with all the experts who confirmed it was a great buy. So I bought it. What I discovered three years later, was that the bushes on the neighbors property below me, that I assumed was a hedge, were actually cedar trees that are destined to be 75 feet tall. They have already cut off a major portion of my spectacular view. What I learned 6 years after buying the house is that there was an unreported, ongoing leak inside the walls of a downstairs bedroom. When we finally opened the wall, we discovered dry rot that had been going on under the surface for so long, beams that were 4inches x 20inches were totally rotted through. This required major reconstruction and resulted in major costs.
So, even though everything looked good on the surface, some part of me knew intuitively that there was a major problem. I don't know exactly what I woud have done differently if I had paid attention to the gut feeling of uneasiness. I don't know if I would have investigated further, found the problems and renegotiated or just walked away. Whatever I would have done,
I would have saved myself a LOT of grief, sleepless nights and money.
So, learning to pay attention to my intuition has very practical applications and can have significant consequences when I do and don't listen. This has been true in many aspects of my life. That is why it is so important to me to continue to hone my ability to notice an listen to that inner signal and wisdom.
I am wondering what has been your experience with your own intuition?
Are you aware of it?
How does it signal you?
What have been the results of following or disregarding that signal?
I would love to hear from you.
Patricia
Even though I have been working with a contractor and a designer on the side, I was still in the role of primary designer and general contractor. I had never done this before and I did not even know what my preferences were for the end result. It's been exciting, stimulating, stressful and exhausting.
In order to manage this, I found myself having to have a crash course to learn everything I could about making the best decisions for each element that went into creating a kitchen: the overall layout, electrical and plumbing choices, cabinets, counter tops, fixtures, etc.
There have been many life lessons learned.
One of the key lessons has been my own decision making process, particularly, learning to notice and pay attention to my intuition and deeper heartfelt preferences. Because I had never done this before, I needed to search out experts or talk with several vendors in order to understand what the parameters were for making decisions that would result in high quality, cost effective and esthetically pleasing choices. I started noticing that there were often times in this process when I would be aware of an internal 'nudge' or leaning in one direction of choice over another; or when I would start to feel uneasy when an expert would urge me to make a decision based on what everyone else does in a similar situation, and yet it didn't feel quite right to me.
In the beginning, I would override that 'nudge' or sense of uneasiness and would instead, go with what the expert suggested, only to get home and notice that the uneasy feeling would be growing. In each situation I 'went back to the drawing board' and got more information and asked a lot more questions; not only gathering more relevant information, but in the process, uncovering the intuitive wisdom that was embedded in the signal that those nudges, and uneasy feelings were about. I was uncovering my own preferences and true choice making from this intuitive signaling. This has been important leaning for me, because, while this has been like a giant 3-D art project, the consequences of the choices are ones I will have to live with for a long time.
Learning not to over ride my own wisdom and intuition and learning to listen to my hearts preferences has been an important journey as an adult. There are many times in the past, when I did not pay attention and overrode that signal and had to live with unintended consequences.
Buying this house was an example where I did not listen and there were big consequences.
Ten years ago, I was looking for a new house. Based on all appearances, this house looked like a great buy. It is an architecturally designed contemporary house with vaulted ceilings, great space, great views and a prime location. Everyone said it was a fantastic buy.
And yet, I had an underlying uneasiness. I double checked with all the experts who confirmed it was a great buy. So I bought it. What I discovered three years later, was that the bushes on the neighbors property below me, that I assumed was a hedge, were actually cedar trees that are destined to be 75 feet tall. They have already cut off a major portion of my spectacular view. What I learned 6 years after buying the house is that there was an unreported, ongoing leak inside the walls of a downstairs bedroom. When we finally opened the wall, we discovered dry rot that had been going on under the surface for so long, beams that were 4inches x 20inches were totally rotted through. This required major reconstruction and resulted in major costs.
So, even though everything looked good on the surface, some part of me knew intuitively that there was a major problem. I don't know exactly what I woud have done differently if I had paid attention to the gut feeling of uneasiness. I don't know if I would have investigated further, found the problems and renegotiated or just walked away. Whatever I would have done,
I would have saved myself a LOT of grief, sleepless nights and money.
So, learning to pay attention to my intuition has very practical applications and can have significant consequences when I do and don't listen. This has been true in many aspects of my life. That is why it is so important to me to continue to hone my ability to notice an listen to that inner signal and wisdom.
I am wondering what has been your experience with your own intuition?
Are you aware of it?
How does it signal you?
What have been the results of following or disregarding that signal?
I would love to hear from you.
Patricia
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)