Perception and Intuition

Dear Reader,

What we perceive affects what we believe, and what we believe affects what we perceive! Perception, the act of selecting and taking in information and details from our environment, is not simply a mechanical act. It is not a matter of pointing the eye as a camera and “filming” whatever is out there.

We perceive selectively; we have to, given all the information bombarding us each moment. What we pay attention to is heavily influenced by past experience, our belief systems and our expectations. This selective focusing can help us in many ways – to find what interests us, to quickly find what is familiar and needed at the moment, or to overlook information that may be negative or not useful.

But to develop our intuition fully, we need to be open to unexpected information and surprising connections. So, we need to retrain the way we perceive, and learn to “see” differently. That can be a little scary (ok, sometimes more than a little scary!) and we are not always willing to let go of old ways of seeing.

A good question to ask yourself as you begin 2010, dear reader, might be: “How willing am I to see the world differently this year?”

I honor your loving heart,

John