Intellect and intuition are two distinct animals. Understanding things rationally may ask me to set aside emotion, while my gut feelings lean into it. Both can be constructive on their own. When paired, they’re magical.
My studies emphasize logic and critical thinking. But, my inclinations favor the hunch. When life presents a possibility and its decision time, I’ll weigh my options. However, I ultimately trust what feels right. Ignoring the bad belly, the niggling doubt, or the emotional vampire bit my ass more than once.
When you know you know.
Cultural programming tells me common-sense is de rigueur. But is it? In an article from Psychology Today, Jim Taylor, PhD says: Common Sense Is Neither Common nor Sense.
“If common sense was common, then most people wouldn’t make the kinds of decisions they do every day. People wouldn’t buy stuff they can’t afford. They wouldn’t smoke cigarettes or eat junk food. They wouldn’t gamble.”
Dr. Taylor goes on to say that while Americans may revere this maxim, it’s but “a fallacy that has been foisted on us by our culture of ideology (any ideology that wants to tell us what we should think and do) that prefers us to be stupid, ill-informed, and poor decision-makers.”
Logic and questioning assumptions is not common-sense. Insight isn’t make-believe.
Yes, reason wants facts. Seeing is believing, and critical thinking promotes the need to analyze and evaluate an idea. Imagination calls for creativity and vision where believing is seeing. There’s a case for both.
Watching for omens and signs from the Universe is a favorite pastime. Trusting the message when it appears takes patience. That critical evaluation gives me confidence to follow my heart. In due course “the proof of the pudding is in the eating” as they say. Take the leap, enjoy life.
“Trust instinct to the end, even though you can give no reason.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson
Bill Gates and Barak Obama included the book Factfulness, by Hans Rosling on their 2018 summer reading list. I’ve been a Rosling fan since I stumbled onto his TED Talk: 
“Being humble, here, means being aware of how difficult your instincts can make it to get the facts right. It means being realistic about the extent of your knowledge. It means being happy to say “I don’t know.” It also means, when you do have an opinion, being prepared to change it when you discover new facts. It is quite relaxing being humble, because it means you can stop feeling pressure to have a view about everything, and stop feeling you must be ready to defend your views all the time.”
It was an eye-opener having a pessimistic, dystopian, fear laden counter-view shoved in my face. Ignoring the bad maybe wasn’t my best strategy. Getting gob-smacked is a bitch. Being asleep at the wheel, trusting that things will “work out” – landed me flat on my ass.