Practical Intutition

An interesting happening, as of late.

Yesterday, after ransacking my uncle Michael's bookshelves a second time, looking for knowledge to consume, I came across a book called "Practical Intuition," by Laura Day. The book is all about connecting to your instinct, your inner voice, your cosmic Jiminy Cricket, if you will, and apply it in every day life. It looks like and essentially is a self-help book. Which I will admit I have a distaste for, though I'm not sure why. I'm all about helping myself. I'm my best friend, doctor, psychologist, interpreter, personal trainer, etc. If I need something done in my life, I'm the best person to do it, right? Welp, it makes sense to me at least. So why should I be so turned off by a self-help book? Really, this is immaterial to the posting. I'm simply relating my initial hesitation as a leafed through the paper-back pages.

One of the first exercises in the book was simply to answer the following associative questions immediately, without any thought or analysis. Here are the words and my associations:

1. A man's name: John
2. A woman's name: Karen
3. The name of an animal: Panda
4. The name of a river: Ganges
5. A location: Purgatory
6. A length of time: 10 days
7. A food: Avocado
8. A color: Green
9. A weapon: Machete
10. A cure or remedy: Herbal
11. A wish: Love
12. A fear: Darkness

After completing this exercise, I flipped the page and was told that I had just performed my first intuitive exercise, and the question I was intuiting for was "How will my life be different one year from now?"

"Great," I thought. "Purgatory, machetes, darkness... Can't wait for all these things to enter my life!"

So I continued reading a little while longer, and eventually got bored with the book. I felt ideas building up in me and I was becoming mentally congested, really psychologically heavy and weary. I knew that if I persisted with the book, there was going to be a headache, nap, or book burning. As I walked to put the book back on the shelf, a voice inside my cried: "Nooooo!"

"Quiet Jiminy," I responded, and put the book back in its proper place.

Later that evening I was on craigslist searching through the "rideshare" section of the Denver, Colorado page. I had already secured a ride to Sante Fe, NM with a very nice herbalist lady named Lisa, but we were scheduled to leave on Friday, and I was much too eager to wait that long. I came across a posting someone made about driving from Denver to Arizona, taking I-25 and then cutting across on I-40. "Perfect! Right through Santa Fe," I thought. So I called the number that was listed, and another very nice sounding lady answered. She asked me all sorts of questions about what I was doing, how long I had been farming, where I had gone to school, and so on. It was quite an interview, I must say.

In the middle of the conversation I began to wonder whether or not I should just stick with Lisa, the herbalist. Not that the mystery lady was annoying, or rude, or anything negative at all. I just had the doubt creep into my mind. In the end, we decided to leave either Wednesday night or Thursday early morning.

"Okay," I thought. "I'm sure it will be fine, I would like to leave early so this is the best option."

As we were saying our goodbyes, I realized that she hadn't even told me her name. "Oh, pardon me, what was your name again? I don't seem to remember you telling me..."

"Oh, I beg your pardon, Karen, my name is Karen." (see list above).

I immediately smacked my forehead, "Ah-hah!" After explaining the intuitive association exercise, we had a good laugh, followed by good feelings. I felt comfortable that I was making the right decision, and she seemed to resonate the same state of mind. She also mentioned that her father's name is John. Of course, I had just talked to my good friend Jon Lowell the day before, so I'm not sure about that one. But Karen? Could this merely have been a coincidence? I have no Karens in my life to speak of!

I guess it doesn't really matter one way or the other. Coincidence, intuition, what's the difference anyways? It seems that coincidence implies random chance, while intuition implies some sort of deeper connection or meaning. Of course, come to think of it, "coincidences" make me feel just as good as this experience did, which Mrs. Laura Day was telling me was my intution. So for all practical purposes, whether I am calling an experience the result of random chance or a deeper connection, the end is the same. Comfort, good feelings, & the perception that I'm making a sound decision.

Needless to say, I went back to the bookshelf and grabbed the self-help book. And Jiminy Cricket thanked me.