Instincts and intuition are virtues we are actually born with. They've been with us since day one when we first learn who to trust. Listen to your gut, trust your intuition, or your instincts will often lead you.
Just don't harm anyone Mary! Not yourself either. Those instincts are telling you something needs to change, not to kill.
Protect at times, YES, a strong instinct when we are in danger.
They were with us when we learned to walk and talk.
When they told us to be quiet we chattered away inside our head and they were none the wiser for all the noise we were making!
When we took our first steps those of us who were blessed with patient parents allowed us to go at our own pace, we weren't dragged along. Unless of course we were on a wild adventure and it was part of the story.
They are with us when we got sick and needed to sleep or when we suspect something is seriously wrong and we had to look for deeper answers.
They are there when we suddenly wake up hungry, hungry for answers or hungry for food because our belly is rumbling.
Even when we are uncertain of our next steps they are there, sometimes shouting so loud we simply disregard the inner voice as a foolish wish, a pipe dream.
Our intuition is there when we feel the need to connect with others.
Or when we need to be alone.
They were with me when I kept quiet and again when I found my voice.
I never really lost touch or respect for my own inner callings. I simply put some of myself on hold, MY OWN CHOICE, while I followed through on my instinct to be a mother and care for others. This wasn't a sacrifice, it was exactly what fed my soul. How many foolish people have asked "do you work?" The answer, "are you out of your mind!"
Of all the work I've done, babysitting, working with special ed kids, shops, even our business today where I haul furniture around and keep books and deal with all the details and many people, nothing was more exhausting or rewarding than being a mom or a wife. Everything else is fluff by comparison. No picture I ever paint will be as creative as the art of meeting and living with my crowd of characters. Still, I will paint it anyway, to tell my story. I will write to feed my soul and maybe shine the light on a path that's less often taken until one crashes and must find what's real again. I'll continue to read so I can see if there is a path I'd like to check out and add to my road. I'll let others teach me.
I do wonder how many others stay tuned to what it is they are called to do. I know many women on the internet who already follow their passions, they write. They give to others. They listen to their own intuition and follow those instincts.
They'd stand up to anyone to follow what they know in their gut is the way of healing. It doesn't stop there as they've then shared the way , shining a light for others. All this they give while they continue to be healing themselves. Amazing, is what they are!
Yes, there will be traps set by people who are so disconnected from who they are that they have a need to knock down others. I've met them. I've felt sorry for their way but not held down. In fact I've seen them as gifts to my soul, people who warn me away from the wrong path. It hurts to have people willfully separate from you but it's also what frees us to be who we truly need to be.
I wonder, what do your instincts tell you?
Do you listen?
Do you rest when your body says to rest and get up and get moving when it's hardest but you know it's the answer?
Do you fight when you feel called to take a stand and let it go when it doesn't matter?
Do you love when your instincts tell you to or are you afraid to love unless you are loved back?
There are so many ways we get in our own way. We are funny like that.
Today I think I am going to listen to my instincts and start clearing some of the old debris from my life. Make room for the studio even if it's really a room disguised as a loft in the mountains. Hmmmmmm
3 comments:
Mary,
I also believe that we should pay more attention to our instincts and intuition. It can be a valuable resource if we just stop and listen sometimes. Hope you keep listening to yours. I didn't know that you paint as well as write. So that's where your children get all their creativity.
I'm wondering whether a bit of mindfulness would help me to remember what my instincts ARE - too much tail chasing has led me, not so much to doubt them, as to misplace them. Go, act on your instincts Mary - you know they are right - and Hope is right too - you are one VERY creative lady.
It's really hard at times to know what it is our next steps need to be. We can be in touch with what we feel but sometimes we aren't the only ones affected. Sometimes, say like when we are chasing tail,it has more to do with our desire to .......never mind. : )
I haven't painted in a while Hope. I feel called to and I am at a place in my life where I am taking it back. I just have to get out of my own way! I need to use the other more practical side of my brain to make a space for myself to work without concern of the mess I'll no doubt be making.
My parents have both been enjoying painting recently. When my mom went to college after retirement I told her not to study paralegal work which she was aiming for, but to consider art again. She has always been glad she listened. People think of art as play but it's everywhere and it's soooo healing! If you haven't painted you really ought to try it.
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