Ignore Your Feelings (An Exercise in Self-Trust) by Leela Williams

Apparently, Picasso once told a friend that intuition was like having a carrier pigeon with a message land on your balcony. The important thing is knowing that the pigeon has arrived. You don’t have to unroll the message and read it. We aren’t always ready to receive the message. At other times, we might prefer to plough feet first into a lesson. We’ve all chosen experiential learning over following our intuition — at least, I hope I am not the only one!

While it’s easy to say trust your gut, it’s overly simplistic and not always helpful advice. When there are so very many feelings, and they aren’t even getting along, how do you know which ones to follow? In my experience, when you are unable to sort worries and fears from intuitions and insights, it can be helpful not to act on any of your feelings. It’s okay to take a break, and as Picasso says, not unroll the messages.

Ignoring your intuition can be a good start to nurturing it. It sounds risky. It goes against the advice of just about every self-help book out there. However, when we have more worry than insight, this type of strategy can be empowering.

When we are overwhelmed or anxious, our thoughts and feelings tend not to come as a single pigeon but as a non-stop cacophony of birds arriving with more messages than we can keep up with. It can be a relief to know you don’t have to acknowledge any of them. Not a single one. If you can picture your senses in this way, try visualising this scene as a meditation. See the birds arriving, then throw some grains to the wind and watch them fly away after it. Keep doing this until you’ve created a little peace for yourself. Enjoy that quiet for as long as it lasts.

Picasso’s metaphor reminds me of my struggles with overwhelm and anxiety when I was younger. I couldn’t act on my feelings as there were just too many of them. I decided to ignore all the ‘signals’ and developed a whole lot of little strategies to distract and distance myself from my feelings. I was able to focus on self-soothing routines that fostered inner peace and quiet. At the time, my aim was to get through each day. Rekindling my trust in my intuition came as a bonus!

When I ignored a feeling that arose from fear, doubt or worry, there was no consequence. When I ignored healthy instincts, there were. From those hard-earned lessons, I learned to recognise which feelings to acknowledge, explore and follow. Rebuilding trust in my intuition meant learning to tell the difference between mind chatter, insight and intuition. It was like distinguishing between sparrows, pigeons and owls — each with their own purpose. The sparrows can make a lot of noise, but the owl will wait calmly and patiently until I’m ready to take notice. I trust it to hoot when I need to pay urgent attention.

When you’re not sure which feelings to trust, or your internal signals feel too noisy, there are ways to connect with intuitive guidance. Oracle cards can act as a mediator between your intuition and your conscious mind, clearing a path through overwhelm and highlighting which feelings to listen to. Drawing a card is an opportunity to pause and create a pathway for the quiet wisdom that wants to reach you. When you’re unsure, they can serve as your patient owl, helping you discern which messages deserve your attention.

Luckily, reconnecting with my wiser self didn’t take too long or cost me too dearly. As a child and younger teen, I’d valued my intuition – maybe even over-relied on it. I was very happy to be able to recognise and have its support. Knowing I didn’t need to be on high alert to its every signal meant I could use it like any tool, as I chose to.

The point is that I learned to trust my instincts before outright following them. This approach served me well. It helped me find my comfort zone. Once I found that safety, it was even more helpful in supporting me to step outside it – and that’s where the fun of life really begins. Now, when a message lands, I take a moment to acknowledge its presence, purpose and urgency. Sometimes I unroll it. At other times, I simply let it be. The important thing is knowing the message has arrived.

Image features cards from Leela’s latest work, Maxine Gadd’s Zoologica: The Steampunk Oracle. Her upcoming release Zoologica: Your Steampunk Creativity & Pendulum Journal will be available in April 2025.

Connect with Leela J. Williams at https://linktr.ee/leelajwilliams. And purchase Maxine Gadd’s Zoologica: The Steampunk Oracle at Tarotopia.