“The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gifts.” ~Albert Einstein
When one reaches for words the memory of your intuitive gift lies in waiting. For it is the poet who lifts a wrapped box to their ear and listens for clues before they rip metallic paper from tape.
The writer hears the quiet voice rising not from their thinking mind but with a drop down through their heart straight to the gut, the gentle nudge delivering a mighty force.
Your intuition is what drives your unique voice throughout the written word and the ability to recognize its appearance is “sacred.” How easy it is to dismiss the triggers revealing your deepest truths.
“Intuition is the supra-logic that cuts out all routine processes of thought and leaps straight from the problem to the answer.” ~Robert Graves
If you are stuck, you must make room for this “supra-logic” by desiring its power. Your commitment to write is your strength, and your desire alone can empower you to receive. Perhaps you need reminding of your own intuitive sensations. While thinking of a piece of writing, recollect your experiences from the following:
Intuition as Physical
-chills
-gut twinges
-raised arm hair
-goose bumps
-heart flutters
-energized
Intuition as Emotional
-tears
-warm or soothing
-confidence
-trust
-relief or a letting go
Intuition as Spiritual
-deep knowing
-in alignment
-sense of calling
-completion and wholeness
-a higher voice
Intuition as Subconscious
-memory recollection
-vivid images
-knowledge
-psychological insight
“Intuition is a sense of knowing how to act spontaneously, without needing to know why.”
~Sylvia Clare
When you recognize your own unique way of experiencing intuition your writing will flow and will not be swayed. The slightest wisp of knowing fuels the streetlamp of your momentum moving miles along a well-lit path.
Intuition is consistent; for it recognizes the same thing the same way every time.
Your sense of like or dislike without being able to explain why must be validated as pure intuition. When your written word is guided by intuition it floats on a fluffy cloud amid a full sky , however, you have strayed when you feel the poke of a sunray glaring at something not feeling quite right.
Intuition plays a crucial role from beginning to end of a writing project, from accepting a muse or rejecting an entire paragraph during edits.
The well-educated poet, E.E. Cummings, is not guided by his Harvard degree, but is remarkable for his intuitive grammar which shapes his poetry’s inventive personality. Open yourself to engage in this creative trust.
I leave you with the last three stanzas of one of my favorite poems by Cummings with the first line, “anyone lived in a pretty how town…” This is a poem to read aloud over and over again, to feel its cadence until it flutters your belly and gives rise to your own inspiration.
…one day anyone died i guess
(and noone stood to kiss his face)
busy folk buried them side by side
little by little and was by was
all by all and deep by deep
and more by more they dream their sleep
noone and anyone earth by april
wish by spirit and if by yes.
women and men (both dong and ding)
summer autumn winter spring
reaped their sowing and went their came
sun moon stars rain