How to Follow Your Heart – Developing Intuition

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Learning how to follow your heart is imperative to creating your Ultimate Lifestyle.

It’s difficult to explain what it means to follow your heart, so instead I hope that by telling you a little story that happened to me just a few years ago, you will better understand what it means to “follow your heart”.

2006 was the year that A Quest for the Ultimate Lifestyle was officially launched and three blondes set off for a world tour, however within weeks chaos ensued and an unexpected turn of events saw me taking a flight from Ibiza, Spain to Las Vegas, America by myself for an infamous festival called Burning Man held in the middle of the Nevada Desert. I had a three month travel visa, a golf bag with no clubs, a credit card maxed to its limit and a heart determined to learn how to DJ. Common sense nagged at me to be sensible and stay in Europe where I had friends and an established network of support to fall back on, but that burning desire to be spontaneous and live, to venture into the unknown with nothing but good faith and a dream excited me and dared me to take the trip of a lifetime.

That three months turned into one whole year. One of the most amazing, bizarrely adventurous, happiest years of my life to date. I let life take me where I was supposed to be which apparently involved living with an Astronaut, getting married (not to the Astronaut) – then separated, appear on an E!TV Playboy Catwalk Show, get arrested for camping on military land, staying in a monastery with monks and inadvertently start a part time Massage Therapy practice which gave me the freedom to focus on DJ’ing and music while supporting myself financially. That year I was, by any definition of the word, a vagabond, a sophisticated vagabond with no fixed abode, so my strategy for learning how to DJ was to befriend local DJ’s and buy them beer in exchange for practice time on their turntables at their house. Some lifelong friends were made in the process.

That one year flew by and Burning Man was on the horizon again. It was so magical the first time and had set my entire year on course that it just felt like going again was just the right thing to do.

Another incredible Burning Man came and went. On the last day, everyone packed up all of their belongings and started the pilgrimage home. Over the course of 24 hours my entire campsite and the 40,000 strong Burning Man community disappeared around me, but I did not feel like leaving yet. It was so peaceful in the desert. I had no job to return to, or home, and no boyfriend or family waiting for me – I was free to do as I pleased, and I felt like staying. I remember the last camper offering me a lift back to San Francisco. I politely declined. He looked at me incredulously and asked if I was sure? There was nothing left out there – the showers had been taken down, the communal kitchen was gone, the shelter and shade structures were gone too – there was no infrastructure left, and 99% of the Burning Man community had gone too. My chances for getting a ride from the middle of the Nevada Desert, back to San Francisco were getting slimmer and slimmer. I understood this, but still I just did not feel like leaving just yet.

Well, that night a windstorm hit. 40 mph winds tore through the desert. It was pretty severe because all the recent activity had loosened up the first layer of sand which was adding to the intensity of the windstorm. Visibility was down to just a few feet. There were campers sporadically situated over a 5 mile area but no one near me which made me essentially alone out there at the mercy of the elements. The winds were tearing my tent to shreds, but there was nothing I could do but place my bags strategically around me so to create some kind of shelter and breathing space as my tent literally lay vertical on top of me while being hammered by the wind and dust. I lay down in my sleeping bag, put my dust mask on to help me breath and lay there for 8 hours while the winds destroyed the world around me. That night I definitely questioned the intelligence of me staying in the desert alone.

I woke in the morning to nothing but a thick, 3 cm layer of fine, dusty sand on me. I could see some big RV’s and tents in the distance, so started walking in that direction. NOW it was time I went home.

Of the few hundred people left in the desert, life had me chance across just the right group who happened to be heading back to San Francisco as well. Perfect. I was given the option of riding back in any of their three big RV’s. Two of the RV’s were full of young, good looking men, and the 3rd option was to ride alone with an older gentleman. Being 25 at the time, it was half expected of me to say I would ride with the younger boys – and normally that would have been the case, but for some reason I felt like riding with the older gentleman. I reasoned that he probably had more wisdom to impart than the younger hormonal, more easily distracted boys. Curiously, despite the incredible odds, it eventuated that he even lived in the same street as me in San Francisco.

It was a long, delightful journey back to the city. We were both the epitome of happiness and free spirits after a glorious week in the desert within a utopian society. We opened up to each other, shared secrets, laughed, listened to music, spoke about our dreams and ambitions, philosophized and theorized. He told me how he made a million dollars, lost it, and his wife in the process, and then made it all again, and gave me some insightful words of wisdom and guidance which was much appreciated. When he inquired about what I had been doing for the past year in California, I told him that I had come to learn to DJ and was on A Quest for the Ultimate Lifestyle. He was intrigued and queried about my DJ’ing endeavors within my current lifestyle circumstances, so I explained that without a permanent home base in America and without the funds to even buy DJ equipment that I was simply practicing on friends. Nothing more was said. When we finally got back into San Francisco late that night, the least I could do to thank him for the ride and the great company was to help him unpack, clean the RV’s and return them to the rental dealers. As we were saying our goodbyes, he nonchalantly told me to make a list of all the equipment needed to DJ and to meet him outside the Guitar Centre in two days time at midday. I was a little baffled. There was only one really good reason why he would want me to do that, but what were the chances of that happening? Was he really going to buy me all my DJ equipment?

It seemed too good to be true, but as promised, two days later at midday, there he was, waiting for me outside the Guitar Centre in San Francisco. I had come prepared with three options – the cheapest, bottom of the rack, older model DJ equipment that would do the trick, but certainly wasn’t professional standard, a mid price with slightly better equipment and the third tier listing the latest state of the art, industry standard, professional equipment that the tops DJ’s and clubs use. It was surreal watching him look at the list, insist of buying me only the best, most expensive equipment then ask if that was all I needed. What about a case to carry it all in? What about microphones? Headphones? etc etc. He was in a hurry and had sales assistants scrambling all over the shop supplying our order. When I asked why he was doing it, he said it was because he admired my ambition, determination and spirit, and that it felt like the right thing for him to do. He simply wanted to help me achieve my dreams. Within the hour he had spent over USD$6000 and in a puff of smoke (or was that the dust from the desert?) he was in his car and driving off, never to be seen again. He never tried to kiss me or imply that I owed him something and only wrote down his P.O. Box address details so I could send him my mixed CD’s so he could follow my progress.

This is a story which I will never forget and which always warms my heart whenever I remember. That entire situation came about simply because I learned what it meant to follow my heart. None of them were by traditional definitions, “intelligent” decisions, or were they what was expected of me. Instead, I just did what I FELT like doing without living in fear of the consequences of doing something different. I did what I felt was right for me and had faith that everything was going to be just fine.

When we learn how to follow our hearts, every step we take, every word we breath, every person we speak to, every road we drive down, every website we look at, it is all meant to be and leading us to our ultimate destination. When you hear the phrase, “listen to your heart”, or the question “what is your heart telling you to do”? It is referring to your intuition. The word intuition means “in to you” in Latin. A theologian, once said, “Intuition is the spiritual faculty that doesn’t explain; it seemingly points the way.” The sixth sense, inner voice, gut feeling, female intuition. It has many names. Unfortunately, we are so deeply entrained and established in our thoughts / thinking / mind, that when our heart does speak to us, we simply do not listen, or more precisely, we do not recognize it for what it is and then become confused by the conflicting feelings caused by heart vs mind.

Luckily for us there are a few actions we can take which will help us to develop our intuition, or help us to listen to our heart :

1. Meditate. Reconnect with that inner stillness and infinite wisdom. Become reacquainted with your spirit.
2. As a general rule of thumb, if you are having to justify your reasons for doing something – that’s your head / mind directing you. Your heart needs no excuses, it just FEELS right.
3. Live a bit more spontaneously. Break out of your normal routines, see new things, bring excitement into your life.

Elise Lebeau, M.Sc, an Intuitive Counsellor, says that
* An emotion that feels “good” (excitement, passion) is used to tell you that you’re going the right way, towards you goal.
* An emotion feels “bad” (guilt, fear) is telling you that you’re going the wrong way, away from your goal.

Ironically, sometimes we do not know what that “goal” is, but regardless of whether we are connected to that goal, or not, our intuition / inner spirit is always guiding us towards it. All we need to do is listen, follow and have a little faith.

Good luck!

What is your view on this? Share your thoughts and experiences below in the comments section.

If you are interested in Free Life Coaching, then please feel free to contact me, I will be delighted to support and encourage you to follow your heart and start to live your best life now.

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