Intuition

Viv - of course the word "intuition" and you will be forever intertwined in my brain, so whenever I read something and find discussion of intuition, I think of your dissertation. I'm reading today my third Janisse Ray book, Pinhook. (I highly recommend the other two and think it best to read them in the order of their publication, Ecology of a Cracker Childhood, and Wild Card Quilt: Taking a Chance on Home. She's a wonderful presenter by the way.) The chapter with the quote is called Hundreds of Senses. It begins with this passage from William Wordsworth that has always stimulated my English-major mind: "The world is too much with us; late and soon, Getting and spending, we lay waste our powers: Little we see in Nature that is ours. . ."

Before the intution quote, she has been talking about using her physical senses to take in the wonders of Pinhook Swamp,then she writes:

'Nor do human sensual powers end with the primary senses. The sixth sense of intution, along with, I believe, dozens of other senses, we have neglected. Sense of direction. Sense of longing. Sense of pitch. Sense of obligation. Sense of danger. Sense of being watched. Sense of another's presence. Sense of hostility. Sense of time. Sense of place. And so on. These are our evolutionary birthrights, and I believe we are losing them as we strive diligently to sanitize and safeguad and barricade our lives, so that we are never hungry or scared or drowning or eaten alive, or even bitten or stung, or sick. In doing so, we become weaker creatures."

The last paragraph of this chapter begins with a Gandhi quote: "More is required of us than simply being swept along."

Have a great weekend. We have a wedding in Atlanta tomorrow, and Pam and I do some work with NSF in DC Sunday through Tuesday. All's well. Love, Margaret