My Attic

I think of all the things I've learned in life, the most important one is to follow my intuition. It seems like such a basic concept... if something feels right go with it, if it feels wrong don't. However, I've found, as I'm sure we all have, it's not as simple as all that. I think that's partly because sometimes we don't have enough information about the situation, we end up in situations where we have to make quick decisions, we don't take the time to go off alone and search our soul for the right answer, and we give in to social and cultural pressures instead of doing what our instincts are telling us to do. When I look back on my life I can see I've done all of these things, even when something in my gut was telling me to slow down and think things through first. I also know there's been many times I've looked around at society and culture and known something was wrong, but didn't have the words or voice to express it. Whenever this happens I usually stay quiet, locking it up inside my mind and going over and over it until I figure out what's bothering me. I can usually get to the bottom of it, but it's usually my intuition that gives me the answers, I don't really have proof that my conclusion is right.

Recently I've had a few instances like this where something's felt wrong, but I couldn't completely explain why. I'ts things I observed that have been normalized in society so I tried to brush them aside thinking I was being too critical. Even then I couldn't help going through it in my head, trying to figure out why my instinct was telling me different. As usual, I came to some reasons why I was so bothered, but this time, out of the blue and to my delight, I also came across some scientific answers for the problem. I'm always listening to podcasts on health, relationships, spiritual growth, self awareness, etc, so it wasn't a surprise that it came in this form, but the answers themselves were a complete surprise. It was like finding the missing pieces of a puzzle that proved my intuition was right. 

I wonder if we all do this? We instinctively know right and wrong, but push those feelings aside because society and culture are telling us we should be doing something different. We let things happen or follow along because this is what everyone else is doing. What would happen if we let our intuition take the lead and we followed that instead of following other people? What if, by doing this, we end up trusting ourselves and find ourselves in the place we need to be to grow and contribute to the world. And what if we were brave enough to speak up about it even if we were the only ones that felt this way?

One of my favorite lines in the series Schitts Creek is when Moira says to Stevie in admiration, "You just stand your solid ground, refusing to be anything but you." So maybe the goal is to stop worrying about what others will think if we take our own path and let our intuition be our guide. And maybe for me, this experience was encouragement and a challenge not to be afraid to let people see inside My Attic...

"I will give you all my secrets, if you promise you can brave my attic..."