Finally Friday Week 15: What is Intuitive Writing?

Intuitive Writing class at Kalani on The Big Island of Hawaii

"We are more connected than we think. Our innermost, private thoughts that flow out through the intuitive writing process are not strange or weird, or unfit to share. Instead, they are often universal thoughts, feelings, emotions, concerns and even ideas."—Katherine Jenkins

 Since I am currently teaching an intuitive writing class to a group, I thought I'd try it out here. Usually I use pen and paper when I practice intuitive writing, but you can also type. There seems to be more connection to the page and the words and the innermost thoughts when there is direct contact to pen and paper, so this is an experiment. There are no rules in intuitive writing. It's stream of conscious writing. You get to let loose on the page and that can be very freeing. The other part about intuitive writing is that once you start you can't stop. It does not mean that you have to write very fast, but just continue to keep your hand (or in this case hands) moving. If you stop, you will think, ponder, critique, rewrite, throw away, cross out, worry, fret, give up, do something else, pat yourself on the back and a number of other things. You will move out of the STREAM of consciousness and start heading in other directions. Now you are not practicing intuitive writing.

Much of my writing, even book writing, has come from intuitive writing. At least that is where I started. I allowed myself to just write. From there things started to take shape or I gave my writing shape. It starts with an idea and flows from there.

There are no rules of grammar, punctuation or spelling in intuitive writing. You can write in another language, symbols or pictures. You can repeat words. You can doodle or scribble or write blah, blah blah. You will find that even when you think there is nothing to write, something indeed will come out—something you least expected.

Often I give my students a prompt and we go from there. When I say, "Times up!" they are usually not ready to stop. They are in the flow. I let them finish up what they are writing. Most of the time these writers are unsure of what they have just written. I then open the space for sharing. We now put words to this writing we have created. This can be scary because we are creating from a very deep place. It can be scary to share what we have written. We may feel it is too raw, unpolished, obscene, vulnerable, bad, incomprehensible, rubbish or simply too personal to share. I never make anyone share if they don't want to, but often everyone does. There's a bonding that happens with every single group. If one person is writing about standing on the edge of a cliff, I often find that others have written about this too with slightly different words to express this scene or these emotions. What happens then is that we realize we are often more connected than we think—that our innermost, private thoughts that flow out through the intuitive writing process are not strange or weird, or unfit to share, they are often universal thoughts, feelings, emotions, concerns and even ideas. They come from a place of connectedness and there is a great feeling that comes with being connected on a deeper level.

I am merely the guide in these classes. I provide and create the space for intuitive writing to happen, but it's the group that writes and creates. I am also one of the people in the group who is creating and sharing.

I feel fortunate to have taught these classes as an artist-in-residence at Kalani on the Big Island of Hawaii and at Edmonds Community College as part of their Arts Now program. Currently I teach these classes from my home. I feel this is the best space to teach these classes as it feels nurturing to be in a home around a table with comfy chairs, cups of teas, journals and pens.

When I hear the clicking of pens on paper, it brings me joy. How many times have you sat in a circle of people in silence and practiced writing without thinking? How many times have you let go of where your writing should go (or where you should go for that matter) and just let the words fall out on the page.

I just did that here. I just practiced intuitive writing for this blog post! How about that?

Have you ever practiced intuitive writing? Choose a prompt and set a timer for 10 minutes and just write. I promise you that you'll discover amazing things if you do this for just 10 minutes a day!

Finally Friday Week 6: Fear of Organized ______________.

"When we unplug from intuition and spontaneity, our body, mind, spirit go on autopilot. We start to look outside ourselves for all of our cues, even if these cues no longer represent who we feel we are. We start to move in the same circles and patterns, comparing ourselves with others and never looking deeper to find our true paths."—Katherine Jenkins

I can't believe I got here on Friday! Amazing. Usually I'm so excited that Friday is here that I'm busy doing this or that and have no time to post. Today I seem to have ample time. It's one of those lazy, slow moving Fridays. I did get out and walk around Greenlake and here I am writing this blog post, so it's not a completely unproductive day.

Lately I have been thinking about the term "team player." I don't think I'm a team player at all. In fact, the word "organization" or "organized" anything (organized religion, organized team sports, organized dinner engagements, organized group tours, organized work parties, organized charity events, organized labor) makes me want to run for the hills.

I'm not afraid of the word organized by itself. In fact, I strive to be organized, but it's not one of my strong suits. I have an aversion to "organized ______________."

So I decided to look up the word organized in the dictionary and here's what I found:

1. Functioning in an orderly way or according to a plan.

2. Affiliated in an organization, especially a union.

3. Having the ability to plan and accomplish things in an orderly fashion.

Number three seems okay, but number 1 and 2 sort of make me cringe.

I think it's the rebel in me. It's very strong. My intuition is definitely my strongest suit. I'm often spontaneous and like to have much of my schedule "unplanned" in order for the spontaneous to have space to move. I rely on my intuition about 85%-95% of the time. It has NEVER let me down.

Having things too planned or "organized" is the antithesis of spontaneity, but I do believe that organization and planning do have their place. If we didn't have them, we'd never get anything done. However, if they become the rulers of our lives, we've just squashed intuition and spontaneity...completely. When we unplug from intuition and spontaneity, our body, mind, spirit go on autopilot. We start to look outside ourselves for all of our cues, even if these cues no longer represent who we feel we are. We start to move in the same circles and patterns, comparing ourselves with others and never looking deeper to find our true paths.

Large organizations, groups, religions, etc. scare me. Have you ever seen a zombie movie. I think there was one out recently with Nicole Kidman called The Invasion or something like that. Everyone starts speaking the same, moving the same, talking about the same things, mimicking each other.

Workers of companies and businesses do this. They start talking in acronyms that no one outside the company understands. Religions do this too. In order to understand the acronyms, lingo, literature, you need to be initiated into the group or "programmed." It happens very subtly. Soon you find yourself speaking, dressing, behaving in a certain way. For a while, it can feel good to be "part of the team," but I'm positive this is what most often leads to mid-life crises.

To be truthful, I could use a little more organization in my life. Not the kind that makes me move like a robot and blankly stare into the distance, but the kind that clears space and puts things in order...declutters....so that spontaneity and intuition have space to move around.

I hope that spontaneity and intuition are always the rulers of my life and organization and planning are the servants. When it's the other way around, that's when jobs, life, family and even spirit or one's faith become tedious, at least for me.

Do organization and planning rule your life or do you allow intuition and spontaneity to lead you?

365 Inspirations—361: Completely Unplugged

"The more ways we have to connect, the more many of us seem desperate to unplug."—Pico Iyer

Have you ever completely unplugged from all your gadgets for one whole day? How about 10 days?

Today is DAY TWO of my 10-day silent Vipassana meditation course. I've written many posts about Vipassana, but you can read more about it here.

This is a prescheduled post, so I wrote it ahead of time.

I'm out by Yosemite at the Vipassana center near North Fork, CA.

I don't have a phone or computer.

I'm without books and writing materials.

My life here will be rather simple.

I will meditate, sleep, eat and tend to calls of nature. That's about it.

After writing blog posts for almost 365 days straight, I am so looking forward to this time of being completely unplugged.

Have you ever unplugged completely for any length of time? How long?

365 Inspirations—357: Peace

"I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in."—John Muir

Today I felt a lot of peace. I walked around Greenlake with my husband and the lake, sky and SUN all felt like a big, warm hug.

I didn't feel the busyness of the holidays. I felt a letting go........

Maybe my body is already preparing to go inward.

I have so much to do, but perhaps I have to just let some of it go and believe that things will work out for the best.

I'm heading off to a meditation retreat on Wednesday and I won't be able to bring my work with me.

I will let go and sink into the peace.....

Do you feel peace around the holidays or stress?

365 Inspirations—310: Tension Tamers

"There must be quite a few things that a hot bath won't cure, but I don't know many of them."—Sylvia Plath

They were having a sale on Celestial Seasonings Tension Tamer tea at my local supermarket. $2.99 for a box. I noticed right away that nearly the entire shelf had been emptied. I guess people are feeling a little tension this time of year. There were a few boxes left, so I bought one.

 We are getting into the thick of November and lots of holidays are approaching. The weather is changing, people at school were hacking and coughing from one bug or another. I tried to stand clear, but it's hard to escape what is all around you.

The teacher's office where I often do work felt like a pressure cooker.

I got home from work at 10pm. I felt like my head was being squeezed. I immediately made a pot of Tension Tamer tea and drew a hot bath in which I poured Kiss My Face Anti-Stress Relaxing Bath and Shower Gel with Woodland Pine and Ginseng.

Calgon, take me away!

I needed all the 'tamers' I could get today.

I stepped into the hot bubbles with a steaming cup of tea and instantly felt my body relax. My headache is gone and I feel refreshed. I felt like I was catching something, so I also drank a big glass of Emergen-C. I always take it when I feel like a cold is coming on.

Now I'm in my office all cozy in flannel pajamas and slippers. Time to get a good book and head off into dreamland.

What do you do when you feel the pressures of the season or a cold coming on?

365 Inspirations—288: My How Things Can Change in 24 Hours.....

"What I've come to realize is that change is much like a muscle being stretched. However far something contracts, that much it will expand."—Katherine Jenkins

Yesterday, my husband was wandering the streets trying to wrap his head around the fact that he might have to close up shop on Monday and today we have a business advisor, a lawyer and a real estate agent—all people we know who want to help—standing by our sides with LOTS of advice, information and ideas! It's amazing what people can do when we all collaborate!

He's still going to close up his yoga business at his current location, but it might not be as soon as we thought. I no longer see this as a 'bad' thing or a crisis because I'm suddenly looking beyond the wall that blocked me from seeing anything yesterday but doom.

What I've come to realize is that change is much like a muscle being stretched. However far something contracts, that much it will expand.

The contracting part is not fun. It feels like you are in a pressure cooker and the heat is ON!

But how boring life would be if we all knew what would happen every single day and if life was just a cookie-cutter version of the day before.

I say, "Bring on the challenges!"

Last November, when the rain was getting to me in Seattle, I spontaneously applied to be an artist-in-residence at Kalani, the largest yoga retreat center in all of the Hawaiian Islands. I had a phone interview and I got the residency! Not only that, but they asked me to come for 10-days during the Hawaii Yoga Festival, with 30 other participating teachers.

I let them know all about my husband. I told them he was a former monk and now he is a yoga teacher in the Seattle area and they are going to feature him too. He'll teach yoga and be part of an evening lecture series.

So last November, I was in the rain applying for a writing residency and this November we'll be in Hawaii at the Hawaii Yoga Festival as featured presenters. I will be teaching a two-part class called First Thoughts: Intuitive Writing for Greater Clarity and Purpose.

This is where I see the expansion happening. I see a lot of sharing and collaborating. I see that we will meet lots of people, like we already have. I now realize that where we are headed is no longer limited to ONE location.

I will be unveiling lots of new things in the coming year and as much as the process of growth can be painful, messy, and chaotic, there's a purpose for it.

This is my realization for this evening at midnight.

Stay tuned for what's next and thanks for being here friends. I appreciate each and every one of you!

Have you ever noticed that when things feel unbearable, life shows you another side you've never seen before?

365 Inspirations—233: Letting Go

"Some of us think holding on makes us strong; but sometimes it is letting go."—Hermann Hesse

This post comes to you from fellow blogger Amanda of ARTiculation. Check out her blog here.  She's got lots of wonderful words to share and she's on a journey of her own that has been interesting to follow. I read this post and there was so much heart in it and such a powerful message that I asked her if I could repost it. Please be kind and leave a comment or visit Amanda on her blog. Here's her lovely post:

The other night, after working all weekend and going to a much deserved vegan buffet with a coworker, I came home to see a couple neighborhood cats stalking my walkway. This was strange, as it hasn't really happened before, but I pet the cats nonetheless, and began to head inside. As I was about to go through the gate, I looked down in front of me at a blue bird on its back looking up at me. I was stunned, literally stopped in my tracks, as I looked down at this bird, still fluffy with youth, bleeding from its leg, crumpled and badly wounded.

I threw my things down in my apartment and came back to look him over. He was still breathing, very much alert, and without doubt in tremendous pain. I scooped him up with cardboard and moved him away from the swarming cats. I was desperate to save him. I called three or four animal clinics, but considering it was about 7:00 on a Sunday night, my calls met answering machines and the resounding realization that I could not save him. My neighbor came out to walk her dog, and she sympathized and advised me to put him out of his misery.

That was my first thought, as well, but... I've never been the one to have to make that call. I've never had to be the executioner. I sat for a few minutes just staring at him while mosquitoes devoured my blood, unable to move for fear that there would be no good decision. I was paralyzed with sadness over the inability to help him. I still don't know how it happened. My theory is that this teenaged bird, ready to fly (or to try) leaped from the nest and was unable to make the ascent, plummeting to the concrete where feline foes hovered over his body.Or, as my neighbor informed me, one of the cats, a boy named Sasha, is an expert bird killer, and he likely was the culprit in bringing him down.

 Either way, I can't be mad at the cats—this is what they do. So what could I do? All I could do was bury him. He would try to move his smashed legs, to stand, to fly, to show me 'Look! Look! I can make it! I can get better!', but he could not move. He could not fly. He would not get better. My neighbor offered to do it for me, but knowing that I'd have to learn how to let go, I took on the task.

Alone now, I funneled the bird into a paper bag, and began sobbing as I looked into the bag at his crumpled body, his eyes still blinking, his heart still beating, and I just sobbed. I sobbed as I dug a shallow grave for him, and sobbed as I pressed the bag, warm with his fading life, into the dirt, his bones likely breaking as surely as my heart with each heave of my hands. I sobbed for him, apologized that I couldn't save him, and asked God to let him die quickly.

To most people, this experience likely seems trivial and inconsequential, but to me, it was like The Tell Tale Heart. I wept as I washed dirt from under my nails, distraught that this bird with dreams of flying will never know the rush of wind between his feathers or the comfort of a nest ever again.

Despite all of the sadness, the experience taught me that no matter how painful, sometimes, we just have to let go. We have to forgive ourselves, bury the past, and move forward with the understanding that we did the best we could with what we had, and that the rest is left for worms.

Have you ever had a similar experience of letting go of something or someone? What did you learn from this experience?

365 Inspirations—204: Humility

"Enter the ruins of your heart, and learn the meaning of humility. Close both eyes and see the mysteries of your inner eye."—Rumi

Humility is a trait I admire and it's one I wish I had more of. In a world of Facebook and Twitter and blogs and instant communication, it's a hard trait to find.

I wonder if humility is going extinct.

Instant status updates at the click of a button is a way of letting everyone know what we are doing. This information used to be reserved just for close friends and family. I am not exempt from these updates. I do them too.

In a way, I think maybe something is getting lost. Instead of connecting, maybe there is a disconnect. Maybe we are forgetting how to simply be, how to develop our own merits silently and quietly without the world knowing every twist and turn we take.

Not too long ago, before Facebook and other social media platforms, I think humility was a good friend of mine. When I lived overseas, the blogosphere hadn't even been thought of yet. I lived alone in a tiny apartment in Japan and taught English. At times I felt so isolated and extremely lonely. I felt like I'd fallen off the map. I had to pinch myself on several occasions to make sure I still existed.

With the invention of the internet and social media, I was able to connect with so many people. It's been amazing and the positive side of it all is that I was able to meet many, many more people than I would have ever been able to before. Some of the people I've met via internet, through my blog and other platforms, I've had the opportunity to also meet in person. I'd never trade this for anything in the world.

But lately I've felt like disconnecting again. I've felt like closing my Facebook account, discontinuing Twitter, letting my fanpage go and packing up this here blog.

What is that all about?

I don't really know actually. It's something I need to explore, I guess.

Part of me fears what will happen if I close up shop and disconnect. Will I disappear? Will I fall off the map never to be heard from again?

I really don't know.

To tell you truthfully, when I start something, I usually try and finish it. I am committed to this blog and I've committed myself to writing 365 Inspirations this year.

So chances are, I won't close up shop. But I do hope to find my old friend humility again. I really miss her. Here are some words I like about humility by Krishnamurti:

"To learn about oneself one needs a great deal of humility. If you start by saying, “I know myself”, you’ve already stopped learning about yourself. Or if you say, “There is nothing much to learn about myself because I know what I am—I’m a bundle of memories, ideas, experiences, tradition, a conditioned entity with innumerable contradictory reactions”—you’ve stopped learning about yourself. To learn about oneself requires considerable humility, never assuming that you know anything: that is, learning about oneself from the beginning and never accumulating. The moment you accumulate knowledge about yourself through your own discovery, that becomes the platform from which you begin to examine, learn, and therefore what you learn is merely further addition to what you already know. Humility is a state of mind that never acquires, never says, “I know”."—Krishnamurti

 Do you feel that social media and blogging has perhaps made the world less humble? Do you think there is a lack of humility as a result of these outlets?

365 Inspirations—126: Struggle

"Opportunity follows struggle. It follows effort. It follows hard work. It doesn't come before."—Shelby Steele 

 Can struggle be an inspiration? Can I learn anything from it? I think so. I'm struggling right now with something and I can't go into details. I'm at the end of something.

End of my rope, perhaps.

I'll get through it, but I don't want to struggle through it anymore.

I want to let go.

I will let go.

Struggle is my inspiration because it is struggle that brings us to that new level of awareness. Afterall, we are really just struggling with ourselves.

The signs are there that things will change.

Today I met a friend for coffee. I only met her once before. The first time was after she read my book and then recognized me on a walking path and said, "Are you Katherine Jenkins?"

I met that person in a coffee shop today for the second time. She had just quit her job and has no plans of what to do next, but she felt this strong pull to completely let go, despite all her fears about it.

Basically, she jumped.

And she met me for coffee after she jumped.

Perhaps I'm the first person she's talked to in-depth since she jumped.

And then a friend called out of the blue....

Something about synchronicity...about the fact that we all are here for a reason...that we all have a purpose. We had talked about it last weekend and the very same subject showed up in her life two more times in one week! She called me to tell me that. She called to tell me that it was important.

And then, in a DAZE driving home from a 5-hour late-night teaching stint tonight, I saw a sign that read:

Your New Home is Closer Than You Think....

I have no idea what that means. Isn't home where the heart is? If it's a new home, does that mean I've had a change of heart?

Not sure what is going on friends, but I'm not much of a struggler. I'd just as soon let go, but I'm facing some fears right now. I don't know how it's going to all work out, but these friends that showed up in my life today assured me that sometimes you have to leave the "how" out of it. You have to ask different questions. Here's my question for you:

Have you ever let go of something despite all your fears of what would happen to you?