Brains or Guts?


By: Talyn Terzian Gilmour

What do you think is the most important organ in your body? Is it your brain – after all, it is the command centre. How about your heart? Surely the largest organ, our skin, plays a significant role too as it holds everything together and protects us from the elements? Since this is not a scientific inquiry…at least, not really, I’m going to say it’s the organ that stretches like a rope to about the length of a swimming pool…your guts.

There’s no arguing that the brain is our CPU – or central processing unit. Here is borne logic, reason and analysis. The way we see and interpret the world and how we in turn interact with it – it all comes from the brain…or does it?

Last month I touched upon the subject of “gut feelings” – while these may give rise to superstitious behaviours, I’m beginning to appreciate these “feelings” for their other capabilities. In trying to navigate through life, I sometimes lose my way. But I’ve been told that while I may think, analyze and use logic, in many situations (particularly important if I want Mr. Niceguy to “hear” me), I should also be consulting with my gut. And lately, I’ve been doing just that.

Today I stand perfectly square and centred at the crossroads of mid-life. In determining which path to take, I am trying to quiet the noise and listen more closely to what’s inside me… to my gut. Most recently I passed up an incredible work opportunity – a decision I struggled with a great deal as it felt like this chance was handpicked for me…or who I think myself to be. At this crossroad, however, I am weaving my chrysalis and am in transition and what I think I want may not actually be what I really want.

Oufff! Why can’t we all be handed a map?!

Ingrained in many of us is the mentality, “when opportunity knocks, answer the door.” The idea that it’s wrong to let opportunities slip through your fingers – if you don’t grab it, it’s gone forever. But is that true? Is the universe not much more benevolent than that? Isn’t that just “Fear” talking? Fear that IF I do or don’t do something then I’ll land in a stinky pile of regret. I’m transported back to my Grandma’s living room in St. Catharines to countless episodes of The Price is Right and when contestants pass on the first showcase showdown (even though it’s a trip to Tahiti and a new car!) expecting the prize behind

door number 2 to be better but no, all they find is a Sea Doo and a new washer dryer combination – a whole lotta “no thanks” for someone from Kansas.

Well, when I was faced with this recent choice, I quieted those automatic “GRAB IT!” fear signals from my brain and listened to my gut. The payoff was not immediate. Left muddling through feelings of inadequacy, cowardice, and like I’ve let down the modern female woman for not trying harder to find a balance, or the more traditional woman in me, for even entertaining something that would put my children second…I trust that my gut led me in the right direction.

In my search for greater fulfillment, perhaps my gut is leading me back to a time when practicality was not the key driver. To a time when what people thought, and their expectations of me, was less important. Perhaps my gut is leading me out of, and away from, attracting the same kinds of opportunities that made me stand up and (quietly) demand something more…only I’m starting to hear that voice inside me a little bit louder…a little bit clearer…and while I’m frustrated that I can’t always hear what it’s saying, or trust that it has my good intentions at heart.

Sometimes, stepping out and trying something totally different makes you realize just how big the world is. I’m on a journey…

So where am I headed? Wherever that inner tide will take me…and it’s scary to trust that it will all work out. The world is big and full of opportunities – and experiencing it in new and different ways takes courage. It takes fearlessness. And feeling fearless, even for just a moment like when I, today, for the very first time in my forty-something years went to a movie all by myself, can become more of a habit. That example tells you just how measured and analytical I can be…perhaps you were expecting that I bungee jumped? Oh no…

The key, you see, is that feeling like I’m a small part of something so much bigger seems to make all my cares and concerns that much more manageable. I guess it’s like finding religion…terribly appropriate for this time of year.

***I will add this as an addendum to the above. While “mid-life questioning” applies to both men and women, I believe that women often don’t listen to their gut questioning and muffle that inner voice, after all, who can hear with all the noise? We struggle with maintaining careers and families, struggle with feelings of inadequacy when we choose one over the other, and oftentimes, shelve our inner “artists” for the needs of others. This can also happen at any time in one’s life…mid life age not necessary. Yet, while I’m old enough to know that I can’t have it all, I refuse to give up on myself. It’s time to trust in my gut and take my cobblestone path…be sure to get out and find your own in this big, big world!