The Whispers of Intuition: Learning to Listen When Your Gut Speaks

Have you ever had one of those moments when you had an unexplainable urge to do something out of character, and you did it anyway, and it turned out to be a really good thing for you? That’s you following your intuition.

One day, many years ago now, I was with my quartet in New Orleans. We had an incredible night of dinner out, drinks, and enjoying music. We stopped on a street corner and sang a few songs, and people threw money! Finally, we really needed to use the bathroom, but none of the establishments would let us use theirs unless we were customers.

As we walked up the street toward the trolly stop back to our lodging, we saw a little walk-up bar. It was really cute and had maybe 5 or 6 bar stools down the long skinny bar, and 3 or 4 bar stools across the front. It maybe sat 10 people, tops. The bartender stood in the middle of the L-shaped bar that anchored the wall, and there was a very narrow walkway the length of the bar to access the seats, and for the bartender to enter the serving side of the bar. And there was a small door on the long wall opposite the bar, toward the back of the room. There were only a couple of people there at that time. One sitting in the front, and one sitting along the side of the bar.

We wandered in and asked if we could use the restroom, and he said they didn’t have public bathrooms, only one for staff. We offered to sing him a song if he would let us use it. I think it was his curiosity that led him to say, “Ok, let’s hear it.”

We started a song, a few people walked along, stopped to listen, then a few more did the same. A few came in and sat down, and ordered drinks before we finished, and a few more were standing at the “to-go” spot, also listening while ordering. Before we even finished the tag, the bartender had lined up 4 shot glasses of Tropical Schnaps for us. (Who knew they even made a Tropical flavor?)

He allowed us to use their facilities. It was a tiny one-person lavatory in the basement, accessible only by a very narrow and dark stairwell that might as well have been a ladder, it was so steep. We had to go one by one. After each of us had our turn, the bartender asked us to sing another, which we happily obliged.

We spent the rest of the night singing our entire repertoire, packing the tiny room to capacity, and it was standing room only across the sidewalk and spilling out into the street. The bartender kept those Schnapps coming, and we lost total track of time having the time of our life, taking requests, woodshedding (harmonizing by ear) songs we didn’t actually sing in our repertoire, and finally leading a sing-along when we ran out of material.

One of us looked at our watch and realized that it was nearly time for the last trolly back to our room, so we said our goodbyes and ran off down the street, a little more than tipsy. We made it to the stop in a few minutes, after much discussion of which direction. While we stood there laughing and recounting our fun night, I noticed a very old woman standing across the street in front of the Hyatt hotel, holding two heavy looking shopping bags. I was so curious about why such an elderly woman would be standing alone at 1am with shopping bags from stores that had been closed for hours. I knew there had to be a story there, and I wanted to know.

And here’s the part where it was out of character…I rarely, if ever, talked to strangers back then. I’m not great at small talk, and I don’t like to have to chat it up with people I just met, and I wouldn’t have just introduced myself to someone. I’d wait to be introduced. So, for me to have crossed the street to talk with her was really weird. But I had an odd hunch that I didn’t want to be standing where we were standing, and my curiosity got the better of me.

“Hi, I’m Jonni. My friends and I are visiting from out of town. We’re waiting across the street for the trolly to the Garden District, and I saw you standing over here. I’m so curious about why you’re standing here so late at night carrying those heavy bags.,” I said. She backed up a little bit, cautiously eyeing me, while saying, “Because it’s safer to wait here than over there.,” she said, pointing toward the Trolly stop.

At which time, I heard my friend scream. I whipped my head around to see one friend sprawled crying on the ground, surrounded by the spilled leftovers from our meal earlier that night. My other friend was running up the street chasing two clean-cut, well-dressed young men who had grabbed our friend’s purse. She was running and swearing the entire way. When I looked back at the old woman, she was gone. Vanished. It was the weirdest thing.

I helped my friend off the ground, and took off after our other friend, thinking it wasn’t safe for her to be chasing thieves. By the time I reached her, she had taken off her shoes and was throwing them at the retreating purse snatchers, calling them unmentionable names.

The security at the Hyatt hotel was very nice, and they helped us file a police report, cancel credit cards, etc. And in the end, they got away with a little cash and not much else. The credit card company cancelled the card in time to decline the use of it at a nearby gas station, and the police found her empty purse in a dumpster. Aside from feeling a bit vulnerable and unsafe, nobody was harmed.

The Voice Within: Understanding Our Intuition

That experience in New Orleans has stayed with me for years. It was one of those crystal-clear moments when my intuition spoke, I actually listened, and it potentially saved me from harm. What’s fascinating is that I had absolutely no logical reason to approach that woman. In fact, everything logical pointed toward staying put with my friends. Yet something deeper—something I couldn’t quite explain—pulled me away from that spot just moments before the purse snatchers arrived.

Intuition isn’t some mystical power or supernatural gift. It’s actually our brain processing information beneath our conscious awareness. Our minds are constantly absorbing details from our surroundings—subtle facial expressions, barely noticeable changes in body language, patterns of behavior that don’t quite fit the norm—and intuition is what happens when our subconscious mind connects these dots faster than our conscious mind can articulate why.

Scientists call this “thin-slicing”—our ability to find patterns in events based on very narrow windows of experience. Malcolm Gladwell wrote about this extensively in his book “Blink,” explaining how we often know things without knowing why we know them. Our brains are incredible pattern-recognition machines, often working faster than we can consciously process.

When Intuition Speaks: Recognizing the Signals

So how do we know when it’s our intuition talking and not just random thoughts or fears? In my experience, intuition has its own unique fingerprint. Here’s how I’ve learned to recognize it:

1. It arrives suddenly and completely. Intuition doesn’t gradually build like logical thinking; it arrives whole, as if someone just flipped on a light switch. That night in New Orleans, I didn’t reason my way to approaching that woman—the idea simply appeared, fully formed.
2. It often defies logical explanation. If someone had asked me why I needed to talk to that woman, I couldn’t have given a reasonable answer. Intuition often points us in directions that don’t make immediate rational sense.
3. It manifests physically. For me, intuition comes with distinct physical sensations—a tightening in my stomach, goosebumps, or what feels like a gentle push from behind. That night, I felt an almost magnetic pull toward the other side of the street.
4. It’s quiet but insistent. Unlike fear or anxiety, which tend to scream for attention, intuition often whispers. But it’s persistent—like a tap on the shoulder that won’t stop until you turn around.
5. It feels different from fear. Fear is about known threats; intuition often alerts us to things we don’t consciously recognize yet. Fear is reactive; intuition is proactive.

Many people describe intuition as a “gut feeling,” and there’s actually science behind that description. Our digestive system contains an extensive network of neurons sometimes called our “second brain.” This enteric nervous system communicates bidirectionally with our central nervous system and plays a role in our emotional responses. That’s why we get “butterflies” when we’re nervous or a “gut feeling” when something seems off.

Learning to Trust Your Intuition: My Journey

I’ll be honest—I haven’t always been good at listening to my intuition. For much of my life, I prided myself on being logical and analytical. I’d dismiss gut feelings as irrational and force myself to follow the path that made the most sense on paper. And you know what? I regret almost every time I’ve ignored my intuition in favor of pure logic.

Like the time I accepted a job that looked perfect on paper but felt wrong from the very first interview. My gut was screaming “no,” but the salary and title were exactly what I thought I wanted. Six miserable months later, I finally admitted what my intuition had known immediately—the culture was toxic and the role was all wrong for me.

Or when I agreed to collaborate with someone despite a nagging feeling that something wasn’t quite right. All the references checked out, their portfolio was impressive, but something felt off. Three months in, they disappeared with half the budget and left our team in a bind.

These experiences taught me an important lesson: intuition isn’t infallible, but it deserves a seat at the decision-making table. It’s another form of intelligence—one that accesses information our conscious mind hasn’t fully processed yet.

How to Develop Stronger Intuition

Like any skill, intuition can be developed and strengthened with practice. Here’s what’s worked for me:

1. Create quiet space. Intuition speaks softly, so you need to quiet the noise. I’ve found that even five minutes of meditation or simply sitting quietly can help me hear those subtle internal cues.
2. Pay attention to your body. Start noticing how your body responds in different situations. Does your chest tighten around certain people? Do you feel energized in some environments and drained in others? These physical reactions are often intuition’s way of communicating.
3. Journal about your hunches. I keep a small notebook where I jot down intuitive feelings, then later record what actually happened. This practice has helped me identify patterns and distinguish between genuine intuition and ordinary worry.
4. Practice with small decisions. Before checking a text message, try intuiting who it’s from. Before opening your email, guess what the first message will be about. These small exercises help you recognize how intuition feels when it’s working.
5. Review past experiences. Think about times when you had a strong gut feeling. Did you listen? What happened? Learning from these experiences helps build trust in your intuitive capabilities.

Following Intuition Safely: Finding the Balance

Now, I’m not suggesting we all start making major life decisions based solely on gut feelings. The key is balance. Intuition works best when paired with critical thinking, not when it replaces it entirely.

When I get a strong intuitive hit now, I follow a simple process:

1. Acknowledge it. First, I simply notice the feeling without judgment. “I’m feeling uncomfortable about this situation.”
2. Get curious about it. Instead of dismissing the feeling, I ask questions. “What exactly feels off here? When did this feeling start?”
3. Check for fear-based thinking. Is this genuine intuition or just fear of the unknown? Fear tends to be about catastrophizing future outcomes; intuition is more about reading the present moment.
4. Look for supporting evidence. While intuition can pick up on things before conscious awareness, evidence often exists if we look closely enough. In New Orleans, the woman’s caution about the trolley stop was actually evidence supporting my hunch.
5. Take appropriate action. Sometimes this means walking away from a situation. Other times, it means proceeding with extra caution or putting additional safeguards in place.

The night of the purse snatching, my intuition didn’t tell me specifically what was going to happen. It just urged me to move away from where we were standing. I followed that feeling, and it kept me safe. But notice what I didn’t do—I didn’t walk down a dark alley or put myself in danger. I approached a well-lit area in front of a major hotel where security was visible.

That’s the key to following intuition safely: listen to the message, but implement it wisely.

The Gifts of Intuition in Everyday Life

Learning to recognize and trust your intuition doesn’t just help you avoid danger—it enriches your entire life. When we’re connected to our intuition, we make better decisions about relationships, career moves, and creative projects. We waste less time on paths that aren’t right for us. We recognize opportunities that logic alone might dismiss.

Some of the most meaningful moments in my life have come from following intuitive nudges—like the time I felt compelled to call an old friend out of the blue, only to discover they were going through a major crisis and needed support. Or when I took a seemingly random detour while driving and ended up discovering my favorite café, where I later wrote some of my best work.

Intuition is like having a wise internal advisor who sees the bigger picture when you’re too close to the situation. It’s not about abandoning logic but about integrating all forms of knowing—analytical thinking, emotional intelligence, and yes, those gut feelings that sometimes know things before we do.

Have you ever had an experience where your intuition tipped you off, and you actually listened? I’d love to hear your stories and how intuition has guided you in your life. Comment below, and tell me about it.