I have often been fascinated with this idea of gut feeling versus logical intuition versus listening to your heart, and I have found through my 26 years of experience that all three are truly one in the same. Because you cannot make a decision with just your brain without listening to the gut and the heart. If you do, that decision lacks passion. And whimsy. You cannot just listen to your gut because without your brain and your heart, you are making an impulsive decision that generally acts on selfishness rather than selflessness. And you cannot simply just rely on your heart. Because in my opinion, your heart is a combination of logic and gut feeling to create a whimsical decision that creates joy and screams innovation but also remains careful and humble and logical. 

And I think sometimes, when we are walking around for a while and someone reacts a certain way to us, we automatically shift to either just heart or just whimsy or just gut rather than calling on all three. And often, how we react is not necessarily intuitive. Though sometimes, we are in a real moment where we stop and think to ourselves-this doesn't seem right. And then all three intuitions are called upon to think about that particular situation. Where gut and heart and logic all intersect is the true whimsy in intuition. 

It was Tuesday today and one of my students was just herself. I could not quite put my finger on it, but this student appeared more argumentative than usual, had a scowl on the face and was completely disengaged with what it is we were doing. Though nonverbal gestures were given, I finally pulled this student aside and simply said, "I just don't feel like you are yourself. Can I do something to help you?" She shook her head at first and then burst into tears. "I just. I just tried out for a soccer team. And I don't find out until June if I made it. And what if I fail? What if I don't make it?"

I nodded my head because I did completely understand and I said, "Friend. It may seem like this is the biggest thing in the world now. And it is a big thing. But if you do not make it, it is okay. You can just try again. If you make it, that is great too! But worrying about it until you find out isn't going to help anything because you cannot change anything now. You can only wait and see. But in the meantime, we still need to remember to be kind towards others even if we are feeling worried. Because chances are, those people don't even know you are anxious about your soccer. They may think you are anxious about something else!

And with that, I thought to myself. There is great whimsy in listening to the head and the heart and your brain at the same time. Because at those moments, intuition is the most whimsical. The height of whimsy is listening to all three.