The Sixth Sense No One Taught You to Trust
Do you remember a time when people talked about intuition, or a "sixth sense," with skepticism, as if it belonged somewhere between superstition and wishful thinking? Most people believed you either had it or you didn't.
And yet, almost everyone has had the experience.
For example, you walk into a room and immediately feel something that tells you to pay attention. You meet someone and know - without knowing how you know - that this person either matters, or doesn't.
For those who haven't yet nurtured this ability, these moments are usually treated as lucky guesses, convenient accidents. But what if they aren't? What if this so-called sixth sense isn't mysterious at all, but deeply familiar and long ignored?
For years, I’ve depended on my own intuition. When I was teaching energy medicine, it was a natural extension to teach intuition. And it was always a special moment when students expressed their relief as they realized intuition (or sixth sense) wasn’t a special talent reserved for a few. It wasn’t something to summon or strain for. It was something already happening, all the time. The problem wasn’t access. It was trust. Most of us are taught—subtly, steadily, convincingly—to prioritize explanation over experience. In other words, if it can’t be justified, measured, or easily replicated, it’s dismissed as a legitimate way to function.
Here’s where art-making gives us an invitation to find out for ourselves.
When I’ve wielded a paintbrush or marker or camera without a specific plan, a different kind of intelligence takes over. My hands respond before my mind does. I know what works, and what doesn’t, without needing to explain why. I just know. And that’s what happens when I share this experience with others.
We’ve all had the experience of knowing when something is complete, or whether there’s something else required. Over and over again, I’ve heard students say they wish they knew how to use this same intelligence in their lives.
After teaching others how to develop their own sixth sense, I’ve seen real changes in how they navigate their lives, especially in those moments when logic alone isn’t enough.That’s the moment when creativity offers an alternative. What I know from years of experiencing it directly is that art-making doesn’t create intuition. It removes the interference from a capacity we all have.
This is especially important when we’re considering making a change in our lives—choosing a different path for ourselves, wondering what it would take to feel more alive and engaged with life. The more I rely on this magical tool for navigating life, the more I begin to relax, be present, and open to ideas I normally wouldn’t allow myself to consider.
Haven’t most of us had the experience of the body knowing before the mind has time to form an opinion? Maybe we get goosebumps or chills or feel a certain kind of “rightness”. That’s why I hear people often saying things like, “I don’t know why I did that, but it felt right.” Or, “I saw something I’ve never seen or even considered”. They say it with surprise, as if something unusual occurred. But nothing unusual did.
What happened was that they gave themselves permission. Then again, giving ourselves permission might be unusual!
I’ve found that this kind of attention doesn’t want to be confined just to the page or the canvas. It finds its way into our conversations, decisions, boundary setting, choices that don’t make sense on paper but turn out to be the right ones.
The gift of this sixth sense is that the more often you experience yourself ‘knowing' what’s true for you, without having to force or strain, the more appealing it becomes to use that ability in other parts of your life.
The sixth sense isn’t an extra sense at all. It’s simply what happens when the other five senses you already have are allowed to work together without mental interruption.
Art-making, being creative in whatever form is calling you, is one of the easiest and most enjoyable ways to discover what’s right for you. Not because creativity is unique or special. But because it’s a form of freedom and exploration that can take you places you’ve never known were possible. And because it asks you—again and again—to trust that deeper intelligence within before you feel the need to explain it.
And yet, almost everyone has had the experience.
For example, you walk into a room and immediately feel something that tells you to pay attention. You meet someone and know - without knowing how you know - that this person either matters, or doesn't.
For those who haven't yet nurtured this ability, these moments are usually treated as lucky guesses, convenient accidents. But what if they aren't? What if this so-called sixth sense isn't mysterious at all, but deeply familiar and long ignored?
For years, I’ve depended on my own intuition. When I was teaching energy medicine, it was a natural extension to teach intuition. And it was always a special moment when students expressed their relief as they realized intuition (or sixth sense) wasn’t a special talent reserved for a few. It wasn’t something to summon or strain for. It was something already happening, all the time. The problem wasn’t access. It was trust. Most of us are taught—subtly, steadily, convincingly—to prioritize explanation over experience. In other words, if it can’t be justified, measured, or easily replicated, it’s dismissed as a legitimate way to function.
Here’s where art-making gives us an invitation to find out for ourselves.
When I’ve wielded a paintbrush or marker or camera without a specific plan, a different kind of intelligence takes over. My hands respond before my mind does. I know what works, and what doesn’t, without needing to explain why. I just know. And that’s what happens when I share this experience with others.
We’ve all had the experience of knowing when something is complete, or whether there’s something else required. Over and over again, I’ve heard students say they wish they knew how to use this same intelligence in their lives.
After teaching others how to develop their own sixth sense, I’ve seen real changes in how they navigate their lives, especially in those moments when logic alone isn’t enough.That’s the moment when creativity offers an alternative. What I know from years of experiencing it directly is that art-making doesn’t create intuition. It removes the interference from a capacity we all have.
This is especially important when we’re considering making a change in our lives—choosing a different path for ourselves, wondering what it would take to feel more alive and engaged with life. The more I rely on this magical tool for navigating life, the more I begin to relax, be present, and open to ideas I normally wouldn’t allow myself to consider.
Haven’t most of us had the experience of the body knowing before the mind has time to form an opinion? Maybe we get goosebumps or chills or feel a certain kind of “rightness”. That’s why I hear people often saying things like, “I don’t know why I did that, but it felt right.” Or, “I saw something I’ve never seen or even considered”. They say it with surprise, as if something unusual occurred. But nothing unusual did.
What happened was that they gave themselves permission. Then again, giving ourselves permission might be unusual!
I’ve found that this kind of attention doesn’t want to be confined just to the page or the canvas. It finds its way into our conversations, decisions, boundary setting, choices that don’t make sense on paper but turn out to be the right ones.
The gift of this sixth sense is that the more often you experience yourself ‘knowing' what’s true for you, without having to force or strain, the more appealing it becomes to use that ability in other parts of your life.
The sixth sense isn’t an extra sense at all. It’s simply what happens when the other five senses you already have are allowed to work together without mental interruption.
Art-making, being creative in whatever form is calling you, is one of the easiest and most enjoyable ways to discover what’s right for you. Not because creativity is unique or special. But because it’s a form of freedom and exploration that can take you places you’ve never known were possible. And because it asks you—again and again—to trust that deeper intelligence within before you feel the need to explain it.