Balancing logic with intuition

I’ve spent a lot of my life believing that logic is king. That we should gain as much knowledge as possible, think things through and arrive at rational conclusions. And, between the ages of 19 and 49, I spent a total of seven years at various universities developing my intellectual capabilities. I learned to assimilate, analyse and argue in both the arts and more logical subjects. I became a professional thinker and I loved using my brain constructively.

I still do enjoy structured thinking and I still believe it’s important. But I no longer believe that it’s everything. Being able to think energetically and independently is a vital skill which gives us individual freedom and the power to contribute to society, but I now think it’s a mistake to assume that every problem can be solved intellectually, or that our lives are best run totally on rational lines.

Apparently, the left hand side of our brain handles our logical thinking. But that’s only one side. The right hand side is creative and intuitive. Sometimes these two ways of thinking are characterised as ‘masculine’ and ‘feminine.’ That’s not to say that all men think – or should think – entirely logically and all women think more creatively and intuitively. We all need a balance of both. Some of us will be more disposed to logical thinking and some of us feel more comfortable being creative and intuitive. I’d just gone too far into logic, further than was really comfortable or right for me.

When I’d finished a long piece of academic work in 2011, I expected to carry on working and writing in the same rigorously intellectual fashion. And in a sense I have, and my professional practice demands a high level of logical thought. I couldn’t escape the fact, however, that my dissertation had been described, in addition to its academic value, as ‘creative’ and ‘original.’ And I started to realise that, in my professional work, I need to use all sorts of qualities as well as my knowledge and analytical abilities, such as compassion, creativity and even humour. I was beginning to balance out my belief in logic with an understanding that, to manage life, we need to employ a measure of intuition. I also started to see a role for emotion, even in a line of work that is traditionally perceived as completely literal and rational. And interestingly, my writing has taken an unexpected turn towards more heart-centred subjects.

I may have a way to go before I achieve a really comfortable balance, but these days I listen to my ‘gut instinct’ and also to my seemingly irrational reactions. If I don’t feel comfortable with someone, I no longer assume that there is something wrong with me; perhaps there is something I need to understand or perhaps I just need to keep my distance because we are not suited to each other. Of course, a lot of the time I still need to think rationally about the hunches and feelings that I’m now taking notice of, but I try, at least some of the time, to get my traditional thinking and my intuition working together harmoniously.

Since, in as part of my effort to let go of worry, I started to learn to think a lot less, I’ve noticed that space has opened up for ideas and creative thoughts. Because I have let go of trying to solve everything myself, wrestling with problems and thinking, thinking, thinking, there is more stillness and silence than ever before in my life. And I’m getting used to all sorts of thoughts just ‘popping’ into my head. (Rather like the rosemary in the photograph – it has seeded itself in my garden wall and seems to be growing out of nowhere.) Sometimes these thoughts are helpful, sometimes creative, and sometimes very enjoyable. The main thing is that they are not a result of what I would consider a proper rational train of thought and just seem to arrive by themselves.

So what’s the point of this long personal story? As usual, there is a lot of relevance to letting go of worry. Part of a multi-faceted anti-worry stance has to be a willingness to let go of compulsive rational thinking, and of the belief that we must try and solve our problems this way. Or that it’s the only solution. If we do let go of our tight hold on logic, then we need to bring in more trust (see yesterday’s post) and remember how to be aware of intuition.

I use the word ‘remember’ deliberately. It seems to me that, as our society has become more and more industrialised and more dependent on technology, we have forgotten how to use some of our natural abilities. We’ve overridden the ability to know without deducing, and the trust we had in this ability, with a blind faith in logic and rationality. Perhaps we’ve gone too far in depending on logic all the time. I know I had, and as a result I found myself caught in chronic worry.

Just a few thoughts. I’m privileged to know some amazingly intuitive people. Both men and women who seem to have achieved that harmony between logical thought and intuition. Are you there? Or could you possibly make more space and time for thoughts and ideas to pop into your head all by themselves? What would that be like and what would you have to do in order to let it happen?