Your Book of Life, Written by You (2): Intelligence
What we think of as intelligence may just be a tangled ball of yarn
Dear you, my friends,
How are you doing these days? Is life like a cruise ship for you, sunny Caribbean islands and Piña Colada unlimited refill every day? Or is it throwing baseballs at you, nonstop, and you hit some and miss some and almost trip over some? Or maybe not so extreme, it’s all but same old same old? No matter what life feels like for you at this moment, I send you my warm thoughts from here, this humble keyboard.
This week, we come to the second chapter of our life book, Intelligence. What feeling does this word bring up in you? I ask because I recently found out that not everyone felt the same positivity I feel toward this word. A friend told me that when people talked about “intelligence”, she felt disrespected and misjudged. She thought those “intelligent” people spoke to her as if she was stupid and didn’t know better.
Interesting.
I never thought of it that way. I confess that throughout my upbringing I had been praised as an intelligent kid thus I felt pretty good about myself in that regard. This very intelligent friend made me realize something else. What was the message she received from her surroundings when she was growing up that made her feel so misjudged?
The word “intelligence” used in our everyday language often implies the ability to articulate an opinion and to reason logically. It’s an ability to think.
Thinking is speakable, therefore more visible (audible), and therefore is recognized as intelligence. But there are invisible and unspeakable forms of intelligence as well, namely, Feeling intelligence and Doing intelligence. Remember the time you feel you must do something for no reason - it just feels right? That’s the unspeakable intelligence working for us. It is unspeakable, so it’s harder for other people to understand. Sometimes people think we are crazy when we follow our unspeakable intelligence.
I learned about this from an anthropologist:
Our ability to reason did not evolve from our need to make good decisions. It evolved from our need to convince our fellow tribesmen to follow us.
Isn’t it revealing?
These three sisters are my intelligence pack.
Look at Thinking. She’s all tightened up. She’s got her reference books, her calculator, her laptop, her notepads… waiting for the next meeting, the next interview, the next challenging moment… ready to rise to the occasion and solve everything.
Feeling is hanging out a few steps away, quietly watching Thinking putting on the show. And farther out there is Doing: laid back, chill, carefree. She likes wandering around with no specific purpose. She gets distracted by butterflies and earthworms.
I wasn't aware of all three sisters in my House of Intelligence until recent years. Thinking did all the talk in my life and I thought she was the only one there. I had noticed the existence of Feeling for sure, somewhere confined in the shadow, but I didn’t trust her. Growing up, I was told Feeling was something to be controlled. If I let Feeling run the show, I would be perceived as irrational, moody, and unskillful.
I know better now. If I don’t let Feeling out of the shadow, she will disturb Thinking with all of her tantrums and Thinking will eventually collapse and refuse to work. Doing will become scattered, sluggish, and even lethargic. In other words, it’s not that Feeling is irrational or untrustworthy, but suppressing Feeling makes Thinking irrational and Doing untrustworthy. Who can blame them? They are sisters after all.
These three sisters are what I believe now about Intelligence. I believe the highest intelligence is to get to know each one of the sisters very well, understand their unique language, and listen to what they are trying to tell me.
My friend, have you started writing your life book since our previous convene? How did the first chapter, Body, go?
Ready to move on to the second chapter, Intelligence? If you feel triggered by its judgmental connotation, as the other friend did, or if you feel proud and confident, as I did… your Feeling intelligence is probably trying to tell you something worth digging.
Again, should you need the prompt to aid your writing:
Beliefs: What do you believe about Intelligence?
Here’s mine: I used to believe my intelligence was my ability to think, read, and write, but now I believe that there is speakable intelligence and unspeakable intelligence. Attaching words to the unspeakable might help our understanding of it, but don’t equate understanding with knowing. Intelligence is knowing. My thinking, my feelings and my doing could all inform my knowing.
Purpose: Why do you believe it?
Here’s mine: Ultimately we are part of the intelligence of this universe. My thinking mind is only one small representation of it. It would be a huge waste if I refused to acknowledge other forms of intelligence.
Vision: What do you see in yourself when you hold your beliefs firmly?
Here’s mine: I am whole. When I truly connect with all forms of intelligence around me, I am one with the Creation.
Actions: What are some actions you can take, or lifestyles you can adopt, in order to reach that vision?
Here’s mine: I have developed a habit of reading, learning, journaling, and meditating… which are all good practices to open up channels in my body to receive non-mind-created intelligence. My mind is already loud and busy, so I shall be more vigilant not getting more tangled in the speakable intelligence. Slow down my thinking mind, and leave more empty space in my head, so that I can become more aware of all the unspeakable intelligence.
What would you write in your life book?
Today’s newsletter is dedicated to Flaco the Owl. He escaped New York Central Park Zoo last February, charmed so many parkgoers in the past year, and unfortunately bumped into a building and died a few days ago.
Did you spot the little owl perched at the top of the tree in my three-sister drawing?
Thanks for reading and sharing your thoughts with me! Much love!
Until next time.