42 true things about intuition and anxiety
Because Monday is my birthday! (Don't worry, you still have time to get me that hamburger cake from Pasticceria Monteleone)
1. Intuition is, among other definitions, knowing without knowing why.
2. You can’t always show your work.
And that can make you doubt it.
But overriding intuition with rationality is the ultimate form of magical thinking.
Intuition isn’t at odds with data.
It is data.
7. It’s an evolutionary gift.
8. You don’t have to wonder whether you have it. If you are alive and reading this, YOU DO!
9. It’s pattern recognition based on expertise that happens super quickly.
10. So it’s not irrational.
11. It’s extra-rational.
12. Intuition’s urgency and desire to protect us can be confused with anxiety and fear.
13. Fear happens in the present moment.
14. Anxiety is fear about the past or future.
15. Anxiety is a dick.
16. Intuition is kind.
17. Anxiety needs answers NOW.
18. Intuition can hang out in uncertainty.
19. Intuition is the language of ourselves.
20. Intuition shows up differently for different people.
21. Anxiety is a question.
22. Intuition is a comment (shout out to Derya Altan for that one!)
23. You can develop your intuition.
24. Doing so is revolutionary.
25. Especially for women and marginalized communities.
26. We can identify what is true intuition by becoming the utmost experts in ourselves and our patterns.
27. Some questions you might ask yourself: When am I an unreliable narrator? What garbage stories do I tell myself? What garbage stories does society tell me? What makes me anxious? If you have any “intuitions” around these that ain’t intuition.
People with better interoception (the ability to read and understand internal bodily signals) often have better intuition and decision-making abilities.
Intuition is personal, but it isn’t about just us.
Intuition is enhanced by friends, community, and elders.
Anxiety is often emotionally charged.
Intuition is more neutral.
Contrary to popular opinion, you don’t *have* to act on your intuition.
Noticing how, where, and what you feel when you get an intuition is actually more cumulatively useful than one-off execution.
Start small.
Considering what your “intuition” has to do with your relationship to uncertainty can be illuminating.
Sleep on it.
Get out of your algorithm.
Go out in nature.
Intuition is never a should.
Intuition is just another piece of the puzzle.
And it can change your life.
EVERYDAY INTUITION events!
May 1: Is it anxiety or intuition? workshop in Red Hook, Brooklyn. Get your tickets here. (And there’s a cute McNally Jackson tote and an even cuter EI sticker for participants!!!)
May 6: Everyday Intuition launch party at Powerhouse Arena! RSVP here
(No but really RSVP through Powerhouse if you’re planning on coming so they put out enough CHAIRS and you are not crying about your aching BACK the next day!)
May 9: TheLi.st virtual event at lunchtime! RSVP here
May 28: In conversation with Jo Piazza at Head House in Philadelphia! RSVP here
And Barnes and Nobel is running a sick promo!
Dates: April 23-25, 2025
Link to include: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/everyday-intuition-elizabeth-greenwood/1146329408?ean=9780063375697
Code: PREORDER25
Hashtag: #BNPREORDER
Big news! My new book EVERYDAY INTUITION is available for preorder this week at @barnesandnoble where Rewards Members get 25% off all pre-orders (Premium Members get 35% off!) with code PREORDER25. Don’t wait! Offer ends April 25 so now’s your chance!
*****TRANSLATION BY LIZ’S ID*********
Why hasn’t your broke ass not yet preordered THE MOST IMPORTANT BOOK OF OUR TIME, EVERYDAY INTUITION?!?!?!? Here’s your big broke chance! Why does preordering matter? Because it creates “buzz” (bzzzbbzzzbzzzz) and shows my publisher that you like me, you really like me!!!
Smash that promo code, wow, I love a PROMO CODE!!!!! SAVINGS!!!!! GIRL MATH! DO IT! Make me feel something, anything!
Spring has sprung, have you noticed? And I’m banging the table for….
I got a lil mention in this Vanity Fair article.
Friends Helping Friends by Patrick Hoffman. A sublime beach read and an unforgettable character.
Kate Somerville Vitamin C mask which is amazing but I actually can’t use at the moment because my skin is literally for no reason dry AF is this perimenopause?! More alarming, I was hanging out with Nelly the other day and mixed up Stassi and Scheana!!! If this isn’t a marker of cognitive decline/a neurological event I don’t know what is.
The queen Margo Jefferson on criticism.
This interview with Mel Robbins had me gasping.
Anti-rec: Partiful. Enough with this app!!!!!! I want to know the location of the party BEFORE I RSVP because my RSVP is contingent upon the location!!!!