“It is always with excitement that I wake up in the morning wondering what my intuition will toss up to me, like gifts from the sea.
I work with it and rely on it. It’s my partner.”
Jonas Salk

Last week I sent you out to play with your passions. This week I’m urging you to take a solo adventure leading into your deep, rich, creative potential. You’ll be guided exclusively by your intuition. Throw out the road maps (and any tendencies toward logic). Stay open to the possibilities (and intuitive promptings) and you’ll make some amazing discoveries!  All you need is a pen and a journal or notebook. Keep them with you at all times. You’ll need them to capture the intuitive clues, coincidences, and insights you discover.  

Before we get started, let’s cover the ground rules:
#1. Everyone is intuitive.
#2. Intuition is present at all times.
#3. There is no way NOT be intuitive. It shows up anytime you have a choice to make.
In Holistic Approaches to Creative Problem Solving class, Dr. Cyndi Burnett taught us a simple ‘check in’ system which looks at all questions through the lens of facts, feelings or hunches when we are collecting data, and head, heart, and gut for those times we’re narrowing down choices.  When it comes to creative actions this week – take every opportunity to follow your hunches (another name for intuitive prompts)! Just trust the process & take baby steps.

“It is through science that we prove, but through intuition that we discover.
Henri Poincare

 Photo caption: Here’s my terrific teacher, Dr. Cyndi Burnett (in the black & white top) with classmates in Holistic Approaches to CPS last semester. I’m the silly one wearing sandals! We joined hands and heads to create a ‘living mandala.’  

  “Intuition is a way of knowing about the world through insight and exercising one’s imagination.”
Valerie J. Janesick

Intuition is a very effective problem solving and creative action tool which can be used individually and in groups, personally and professionally. Dr. Valerie J. Janesick, professor, chair and doctoral program director in the Department of Educational Leadership and Organizational Change at Roosevelt University, explains intuition as: “…immediate apprehension or cognition”. She compares creativity and intuition to dancers who are so connected they move as one, and adds: “Intuition is connected to creativity, for intuition is the seed, so to speak, of the creative act.”

In the 2010 Cambridge Handbook of Creativity, creativity scholar Dr. Ruth Richards’ chapter titled: “Everyday Creativity: Process and Way of Life – Four Key Issues” states intuition is “…quick and global” and an “…alternate way of knowing” which plays a key role in the creative process.  Are you getting the idea intuition is real and important?  It most certainly is!

“Intuition is the supra-logic that cuts out all the routine processes of thought and leaps straight from the problem to the answer.”
Robert Graves

If you are interested in developing your intuition, you may find this DVD helpful. It teaches you how to feel the difference between impulse and intuition, includes an intuition in business segment, and shares tips for learning to trust it. Click here details.  Does the word ‘intuition’ bother you? If so, consider re-naming it: Muse.  A muse is a source of creative inspiration. You can ‘call in’ your muse or simply ask your muse for creative guidance. Award-winning writer, photographer and lecturer, Jan Phillips, wrote a wonderful book titled: Marry Your Muse: A Complete Course in Creative Expression. It’s all about “making a lasting commitment to your creativity.” My muse (Mr. Lizard) highly recommends it!

 Intuitive Prompt #1:  Let’s try a little experiment.  All you need is your journal or notebook and a pen. Take a minute to examine the collage below.  Write down the first thought which comes into your mind when you read these questions:   What did you notice first?  What did you notice next?  What did you like?  How does it relate to your life?  Ask yourself, “What’s the story here?” and write a sentance or two.

Did you get a strong insight or did you feel you were ‘making things up’? Either way – it was intuition at work.  Your brain picked up visual clues. Those clues triggered memories. The memories got projected into a story using your imagination. Every single word you wrote was triggered by an intuitive prompt. Congratulations!  You’ve just collected your first prize: an awakened imagination!

 “The more you trust your intuition, the more empowered you become, the stronger you become, and the happier you become.”
Gisele Bundchen

Intuitive prompt #2:  Do you haiku?  Haiku is a form of poetry from Japan which is only three lines long. The 1st line has 5 syllables, the 2^nd line has 7, and the 3^rd line has 5. You can use punctuation or not, capital letters or not. It’s all up to you! Let your intuition (and my poetry muse Sharon) guide you through the process of creating your first haiku.

a blank canvas awaits
edge of imagination
 artist paradise
 Sharon Pacione

Sharon Pacione is a dear friend and prolific poet who has written hundreds of haiku. I’ve picked a few of my personal favorites in hopes you’ll find both guidance and inspiration.  The beautiful image was taken by her talented daughter Andrea during a recent visit to the Atlantic-side of Florida. Thank you Sharon & Andrea for all the ways you share & care!

 a blank canvas awaits
edge of imagination
artist paradise
Sharon Pacione

 thoughts on paper dance
words feel at home in the heart
release to know more
Sharon Pacione

Intuitive prompt #3:  Take a mindfulness break with your journal and a pen at your side. Close your eyes. Relax. Think about a question you’d like to ask your intuition. Write the question in your journal. Now switch the pen over to your non-dominant hand and write the answer. Sometimes the answer will come into your awareness before you even finish writing the question. Other times you will get the impression of one word and then the next. Allow the experience to flow without judging. Repeat as often as you like.

 “For whereas the mind works in possibilities, the intuitions work in actualities, and what you intuitively desire, that is possible to you. Whereas what you mentally or “consciously” desire is nine times out of ten impossible; hitch your wagon to a star, or you will just stay where you are.”
D. H. Lawrence

 Intuitive prompt #4:  Plan an intuitive collage ‘play date’ with yourself.  Create a sacred space – light a candle, gather a few precious-to-you objects for inspiration, and meditate for a minute on an intention for your next collage. It may be one word, such as ‘hope’, or it could be something concerning a challenge you are facing. Record the words or impressions which come up for you and set them aside. Now quickly page through magazine and cut or tear out every image you find interesting. Do not worry how it will fit in your collage or how it pertains to your intention – simply harvest images until you have about 20. Now cut or trim each image and turn it upside down. When they are all done, close your eyes and let your intuition guide your selection of images. Now open your eyes and glue them in place. If there is an image ‘calling you’ from the unselected pile, feel free to use it. When the collage is complete, reflect on it with your intention in mind and record your impressions. Come back after a week and reflect again – see what new intuitive insights are revealed.

This is the door to my room at the Grad House at Buffalo State.  Anything can be a collage!  I’m starting to get nostalgic because my Master’s program will be complete in just 39 days! It’s hard to imagine but I’ve been here in Buffalo nearly a year.  By mid-May I’ll be heading South to my sweet sacred space in Sarasota, Florida.  My intuition led me there and I’ve never regretted it for a moment!

 “It is through science that we prove, but through intuition that we discover.
Henri Poincare

How’s that for lots of intuitive homework?  I hope you make time this week to try out a few of the prompts. At the very least, consider journaling your intuitive insights and experiences. Just writing about them can trigger answers to important questions. If you have a tough issue you feel blocked about, use non-dominant hand writing in your journal and see what comes up. Your intuition has gifts to deliver, but it needs you to be open to receive. I’d love to hear about your experiences. Feel free to share them in the comments section or e-mail me directly: magicalmarta@aol.com  

 “Intuition isn’t the enemy, but the ally, of reason.”
John Kord Lagemann

 I wish you a joyful journey this week – filled with unexpected delights and intuitive insights! Thanks for visiting this blog. Come back as often as you like. Consider this an open-access creative tribe. Come here when you want encouragement and inspiration.  Take what you like and then pass it on!

 Your intuitive creativity catalyst and Chief Inspiration Officer ,
Marta Davidovich Ockuly

 P.S.  Just barely belated birthday wishes go out to both Sharon Pacione (March 31st) and Dr. Ruth Richards who celebrated her special day April 3^rd.  Here’s hoping all your happiest dreams come true!

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