A Journey of Listening to my Intuition -Interview with Jamie Butler
Quieting my mind and tuning into my heart
Hello!
I want to be more vulnerable and open with you.
(Darn you Brene’ Brown! -J/K I love you, and am so thankful for your leadership in whole-hearted living!).
It’s such an honor bringing all of me more fully to life and the work I’m so grateful to do with you every day.
Take a look at this interview with the inspiring Jamie Butler-The Everyday Medium. To see how I’ve spent the last 5 months in a mentorship program led by her where I share how I leaned in, listened to my intuitive abilities and empathic nature and brought all of it into life and work.
Watch for some tips on your own space and life. You’ll also see some raw truths of my journey. I also share how I’m pulling my gifts alongside with the psychology of design and biophilia into the work I do every day!
Resonate with the science and research? We’ll focus on that in our collaborations. Resonate more with the woo? We’ll lead with that in our work together.
It’s such an energizing mix of tools. I’m honored to be able to bring them all to our connections and collaborations as it resonates the most for both of us.
It’s my commitment to show up fully as my most authentic self throughout it all.
And it feels so FREAKING GREAT to share these gifts out loud with you beautiful people!
Hello world!
Bonus! What’s really cool too is there’s a science of what’s happening biologically and neurologically with intuition. (of course I found the science of it! lol!) Many inspiring leaders use intuition and their own connection with the energetic world outside what we let ourselves “see” in their lives and work too!
Want more details on the journey?
Here is an open share about my journey on tapping more fully into my intuition and empathic abilities.
I’m feeling pulled to share because:
1) It feels so dang right and aligned deep in my heart
2) It may help others on their own journey. (In which case, for me to stay quiet and small would not be very cool.:)
What is Intuition?
Ya’ll probably know intuition by many “names”. “Listening to that gut reaction”. “Those thoughts that seemingly come out of nowhere”. Listening to that “knowiningness” that helps you pretty instantly say “HECK YES” to one person/opportunity and “SEE YA BYE” to another!
Likely, we’ve all felt an intuitive ping and taken an action based on it at some point in our lives.
Big take away, for me- is a YES! Keep listening to those intuitive pings. Keep listening to those visual downloads and taking aligned action from them. They’re here to help.
For me, since tapping in more fully to the information beyond what I used to let myself “see” and acting on them, I’ve been more grounded, comforted and energized.
For me, it’s a big ‘ol- Oh MY GOODNESS why have I not been listening and then acting on this beautiful connection and knowledge more fully all along?!?
Smooth sailing from here…right?
So I’m on this incredible wave of “knowningness” and alignment with my heart’s deepest path. THEN come the nerves.
As I sit down to write this post - I hesitate…
There can be so much in our world saying to dismiss that intuition. A lot in our life that puts the growth, that’s actually inside us all, outside of ourselves. You’ll be accepted IF you buy this, say this, dress like that, don’t say that. etc. etc.
I’ll be honest, I’m nervous as I type this because of those societal “norms”.
What will people think? Will they take me as seriously as before? I’ve worked so hard for the past 20+ years with education and my professional work. Will they respect me professionally? Personally?
Deep breaths-doing it anyway!:
Then I realize, for me, it’s really all about listening to what feels most aligned within myself. And let me tell you, this feels really really beautifully aligned.
To those all present nerves, I see you. I thank you. I appreciate you keeping me alive for so long. I’m where I am, in part, because of you. Thank you.
I now release you.
This integrated approach of tapping into intuitive messages + science of design + research in biophilia (the healing science of nature) may not resonate with some people and that’s ok.
There are so many incredible people who can support your growth journey within yourself and the spaces that surround you.
Please, always listen to what resonates most with you and go with that. Follow that which makes your heart say a resounding HECK YES! I’ll be working hard every day to do the same!
How did I listen to my intuition and lean into my empathic abilities more fully?:
Over the past 5 months I’ve been continuing my education through an amazing mentorship program led by Jamie Butler-The everyday Medium! The focus of this education, is a bit different than my other educational experiences… and I could not be happier!
(It’s important to note -I love my traditional learning experiences. I love science and research and all things knowledge. I learned so much during my undergraduate and graduate school experiences discovering and researching about the psychology of design and personal growth. More importantly, I learned so much about how to combine the two to support growth in people’s lives.)
(Heck! I love the “traditional” learning environment so much that I continually prioritize balancing being a part-time professor with my client work.)
With that being said, the past 5 months have been beautiful and have shown so much growth. It’s safe to say this educational route is exactly what I needed.
I’ve focused heavily on listening more deeply to my intuition and fostering my intuitive empathic sensing abilities.
Throughout the 22 weeks I was honored to be alongside 10 other incredible lightworkers on their own individual journey. The program was wonderful!
We had 22 weekly educational video sessions, 3 books to read, 22 weekly meditations and 22+ journal activities along with a 20 weekly buddy assignments where we explored the different types of work that resonated most with us. Listening, holding space and tuning in was powerful to say the least!
The process was very intentional to share a foundation of ideas and approaches, but to let all of us decide what resonated with us for our own journey. Yes, there were weekly activities, but there was no “homework” there was nothing “required”, so to speak.
I showed up to the mentorship with an open exploring mind. I allowed myself to just be present for what appeared and showed itself for me. I appreciated this autonomy and openness. It allowed me to truly listen to what was most aligned for me.
So What happened?
During this time I was able to make sense of a lot!
I was able to build a language around it. I was able to build a healthy and grounding practice around it too which allowed me to connect at a deeper and deeper level with it.
Perhaps most impactful for me was that I was able to make sense as to why I could feel other’s emotions throughout points in my life. Oh my goodness! What used to overwhelm the introvert in me now made so much sense.
Like the one time I was at a football game in Neyland stadium (go Vols! :) walking the crowded hallways to the restroom. Then out of “nowhere” in the mix of 1,000s of people I felt like I literally was in the other person who was over 50’ away from me. I felt all of their emotions. This was a stranger and I experienced a flash of his whole life. I did not know what to call it at the time, so I shook it off, noted it but kept walking. Like that feeling you get with deja vu. Maybe they just really needed to be seen and have a hug? Maybe we knew each other in a different time? I wish I had the knowledge I have now then. I know now to listen to those connections, act on them and see what messages unfold.
Or the time I was talking to a friend about a book they wanted to write. In that instant, I got a visual of the book, the details of the chapters, images of all the people reading it and the path to get the book written via rapid visual downloads in my mind’s eye.
Or the time early on when a client asked if a space in their home should be a office or mediation space. Based on the goals of her call and how she was starting her own business, I responded with how it can successfully be both. I then went into design suggestions using the psychology of design based on her outwardly spoken goals.
In that second, I get a strong “knowingness” in my stomach that said “No, don’t mix the spaces. In this case it needs to be a space for her that’s solely dedicated to nurturing herself”.
I took a deep breath and said in my mind- “ok intuition, I hear you-thank you”. I then shared what I heard with the client and waited for her to look at me like I had 4 heads! Instead she shared a long stream of tears of relief. She shared that’s all she needed to hear but did not know how to articulate those needs.
Deep down she was going through a big transition. She needed to give herself permission that it was ok for her to have a space dedicated completely to her self-care and growth. It can be so hard to express our true needs for fear of being called selfish or insensitive or, or or! This woman was amazing! She was so incredibly worthy of anything she needed or wanted!
Her guides knew that she was so so so worthy of self-love, and they knew it was important for her to create a space to reflect that. In that moment, they shared that information for her through me. It was powerful. It such an honor to hold that space for her and be able to share the message from her guides. It’s hard not to keep listening after something like that.
How does it work?
By listening to that inner intuitive knowing, I realized I can receive beautiful levels of information. For me, this information comes from a universal intelligence that is connected to us all.
I realize this connection has been there all along, but I was just blocking it subconsciously. I was numb to it. It’d show up in vivid dreams and premonition dreams, but not in waking life.
For me, I had to create a clearer path for it to connect more easily in waking life.
Once I spent some time processing and releasing a good amount of personal numbing (what I like to call sludge) through routes like therapy, the mentorship program and overcoming some limiting beliefs, the visual downloads (clairvoyance) and intuitive “knowings” (claircognizance) came much more clearly, regularly and rapidly.
With that work, I am able to make sense of it now. I am able to articulate it to myself and others. It’s subtle. It’s soft. It’s without a doubt there.
For me, the information comes through visual “downloads” and strong emotional feelings throughout areas of my body. These are strongest while in a waking and meditative state. I also receive information through words that seem to be dropped “out of nowhere” into the right side of my mind.
In fact, Interweave People Place’s tagline “Designing for the Love of Life” was a download. It’s hard to explain, but I knew it was not my idea or from my own mind. It was as if it was a different voice than my mind’s chatter.
It was really calming and certain.
Biophilia, the specific research area I work in, literally translates as “The Love of Life”, so it made complete sense when it happened randomly while sitting listening to a lecture at an event 2 years ago!
I listened to the guidance, updated my logo and cards the next day and have been rolling with it ever since! ha!
Connecting all the pieces:
My mind wanted to keep separating these new honed gifts with my other work. It was trying to keep each thing in a neat box. My ability to connect easily with people via feeling our shared emotions. My research in the psychology of design. My ability to receive visual and emotional downloads. I tried to put them in separate paths and trajectories and it just did not feel right.
I’m realizing for me, that it’s all about integration. It’s about showing up as my full self in every area of life. It’s about supporting myself and those around me to the best I can using all of my combined experience, education and abilities.
What I’m realizing, for me, is there is so much information beyond what we let ourselves “see”.
We intuitively feel it.
We have a knowing of it often.
What I’m realizing is to go with it. To take time to quiet your mind. Take time to listen.
