I have never really considered what counter intuition might be simply because I am a highly intuitive person. Much of my decision making is based on intuition and gut feel. It is something I highly value and trust.
Speaking to a designer about a project yesterday, I was taken by surprise when she said: 'Oh, yes! That's counter intuitive thinking. I love that!'. My project entailed doing the opposite of what would be deemed acceptable in a high-end exhibition. Up to this point I had not really considered that such a decision or action might be a conscious approach, but rather just going with my gut.
Counter intuition is in fact doing the opposite of what may feel right. It can be harnessed as a psychological tool that can eventually bypasses the survival brain which loops around in cycles of anxiety and fear. Listening to a TED talk by Lindsay Bira I also realised that the creative jumps made recently might also have been counter intuitive. Applying for the Aesthetica and Arte Laguna Prizes have been conscious actions that may have allowed me to move into the discomfort of creative anxiety. According to Bira the 'counterintuitive approach is sometimes simply to acknowledge the struggle. To stretch, grow and break negative patterns.' The trick, it would seem, is to observe it and be attentive of the behaviour without judging it.
2019 will certainly hold its fair amount of challenges, but challenges are also opportunities to expand, to grow and to stretch. I am ready for residencies that are able to be the holding spaces for this to happen and am once again reminded of the OtherLands,OtherSounds Residency - hosted by Curiosa - which I participated in in Portugal in 2018. Click here for a short clip on a collaboration between myself and musicians where I was challenged to create shifts. Bira puts out his challenge: 'What is the one counterintuitive shift that you can make today that will help you go against your brain..?'
For me it is to take large, confident leaps.
