Beneath the surface of our day-to-day local life is a space between, a unifying force that feeds our human life from a well of deeper spiritual wisdom. This space between is where intuition resides.
It’s that mysterious place between the observer and the observed; the space between the act of creation and the result of the poem, painting, music, or other work of art. We enter this space when we look at a work of art or read a piece of writing or hear a song that moves us. The space between is the act of looking/reading/hearing and that moment before conscious realization of how the work touches and changes us.
As we develop our intuition, we learn to pay attention to the space between, the space where our inner world of spirit and outer world of the mundane come together. As we increase awareness of the space between, our inner world and outer world meld together and we transcend the boundaries of our conscious mind. We begin to see and understand the messages that are constantly being fed to us in a myriad of forms — synchronicity, the flight of a butterfly, a phone call, and so on.
Intuition requires that we become familiar and comfortable with the space between. Here are three suggestions to help:
Step back from a painting that appeals to you. Concentrate on the beauty of the painting, the brush strokes, the play of light on shadows, and so on. Let go of conscious thought and allow yourself to enter the painting. When we do, we enter the space between.
Do this same exercise when reading a poem or listening to music.
Practice mindfulness by fully experiencing a piece of nature. Spend 10 to 20 minutes observing something in nature that appeals to you. Starting with something small, such as a leaf or stone, will be easier that starting with a panoramic view. As we meditate on the object, allowing our minds to be free of thought and giving ourselves permission to drift, the observer and observed begin to merge as one. It is within that space between, a moment before the merging, that space between the thought and non-thought, that intuition resides.
Do this same exercise with a small piece of food such as a single raisin.
Create something. When we create a work of art, write a poem or a song, or other act of creation, we begin with conscious thought, but somewhere during the creation process we move beyond thought into the space between, and the art creates itself. Begin to create something while repeating “let go, let go, let go,” and allowing the work itself to take over. It is here in this space between where something magical takes place as the work reveals itself without our conscious thought.
It’s in this space between where our intuition reveals itself, and as it does, we’ll marvel at our newfound insight and wisdom.