Sunday, January 13, 2008

Insighting a Riot


Ever since I started writing HOT FLASHBACKS, COOL INSIGHTS: I have tried to remember when I first realized I was highly intuitive and how I developed this useful skill. And I do mean skill, not gift. While some of us are better wired from the get-go for transmissions from the cosmic soup and collective consciousness, I believe anyone can rewire their house.

Granted, certain hormonal events took my transmissions off that chart, but the wiring was already there and in frequent use. My complete hysterectomy just flipped the switch. It stuck ON. I sometimes wonder how I can run this much intuition without a brownout, blackout, or an electric bill so high, I’d be tempted to move to Amish Country.

One way I learned to listen to myself and put my ear to the ground of extrasensory perception, a good name for simply heightened senses: I spent a lot of time alone as a kid. (That old photo is me at three.) I was raised as an only child until I was six, during my most formative years. My brother was much older, left the nest early, but I was the oldest kid in my neighborhood. When you’re four and the kid next door is two-and-a-half, you have nothing in common after the first five minutes. Out of boredom, I would start lording it over the little kids. If I didn’t get sick of myself, their mothers shooed me away. I needed to go pick on someone my own size—except that there were only six houses within walking distance and only two of them had children.

So, I spent lots of time learning to entertain myself. Don’t remember what I did before I could hold a #2 pencil and write. (I can barely imagine such Dark Ages before written language.) I remember a lot of crayons, construction paper, blunt-tip scissors and coloring books; also being glued to the Tube. Early TV shows were so wholesome and creative. Some of my faves were Kukla, Fran & Ollie, Tom Terrific, and, of course, Ding Dong School. I annoyed my mother to tears with “time to go get your mothers.” She was busy playing Betty Crocker, doing whatever ‘50s mothers did to make homemaking a full-time career. She couldn’t have cared less about Miss Frances and her overly cheery, daily dose of what we did at boob tube school each day. I think Mom considered rewiring her, as in pulling the plug.

The late, great Betty Bethards, a San Francisco Bay Area psychic, was my first spiritual teacher in the late ‘70s when I began seeking something to fill the void when I left the Catholic Church. Like most gurus, she is a staunch advocate of daily meditation. She taught a wonderful, simple style that is great for the newbie. Whether it’s Christian contemplative prayer, Buddhist meditation, or Transcendental Meditation, so popular in the ‘70s, you have to spend time alone and much of it quiet time, to hear yourself think-- and to listen to hear Spirit or Inspiration talk back.

I believe this quiet time or any other form of being alone with your mind is the one necessary environment for developing intuition. We need techniques to let go of our own mind chatter, then to allow free-flowing input of thought forms. Some of them will be our issues sorting themselves out—but sort they will, and you’ll find the nuggets of answers versus a ball of confusion. If you’re quiet a little longer, inspiration and true genius will pop in, along with directions about what to do next to make your life work. Call it creativity, intuition, the Holy Spirit—whatever you call it, it’s the nectar of a fulfilling life. Guess you could say I believe God is in your own head; however you perceive Him/Her/It/Them. (I like the expression God/Goddess/All That Is.) Intuition is merely a pipeline to divine direction, one you can tap into by sitting still.

Another way I was lucky: I didn’t have a lot of early critics. My mom thought the sun rose and set in me, that anything I created was a masterpiece. Just like my mom, your Inner Mom has to be supportive of you, if you’re going to start reading in-between the lines of life. It shocked me that grown-ups lied so much—that I could tell they were lying. I wouldn’t dare call them on it, when a person was bigger or more powerful, even if I knew they were completely full of it. Actually, my intuition—and yours-- will lead you to solve your own problems without having to embarrass them or make them lose face. Let the law of karma take care of them while you rock on. However, once I was older, wiser, and in my own power—all bets were off. When the stakes are high, I’d have to call ‘em on their crap.

I feel a little subversive sharing these tips! Especially since, at various times, I’ve used these skills to make a living. Thank heaven there’s not a teamsters union for psychics or I’d be kicked the truck out of the place for giving away trade secrets.

Yet I figure, I’m like the Do It Yourself Network—DIY. There are those who will take the time and trouble to do it themselves. Others will hire a repairperson. I have done both, and doing it yourself when it comes to seeking direction is much more empowering. Imagine access to divine inspiration and cosmic repair 24/7!

But if you’re a do-it-yourselfer who’s dying to make your life work better, stick with me. We’ll really start to see things together. This is how I think it should be, people having this skill so highly developed, we have direct conversations with Spirit like Tevye’s chats with God in Fiddler on the Roof.

All other fabulous applications of intuition and insights aside: Imagine what a riot it would be, if everyone developed their inner lie detector.

NEXT: Believe Everything You Hear

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