I’m going to stop saying “the vibe is off” and call it what it really is. I’m going to stop reducing spiritual instruction to a vibe. I know that it is much easier to ignore when “the vibe is off” than it is to ignore acknowledgement of spiritual misalignment. At this big age, I’m done messing around attempting to find out what spirit I was being protected from. I’m done having the creator snatch me out of spaces by my collar when I’ve been provided ample warning to exit voluntarily and with dignity.
You know that kind of eyebrow-raising interaction you have with someone that feels weird but not bad enough to excommunicate? Or that behavior that is unfavorable towards others that hasn’t made its way toward you? That tension you feel when you walk into a room, even before anyone has said a word? These are spiritual warnings. Like caution tape not to be crossed. But many of us take it as a signal to grab our backpacks and start exploring like Dora the Explorer and making excuses for what we see. Drafting justifications for what we experience until we get that third-degree burn and realize something was off from the very beginning. You just needed to experience the pain before you could trust your internal truth.
Our energetic nudges are valid enough, but in a society that preaches proof and requests figures and data points, we can begin to doubt our own senses and negate the validity of our own experiences. We search for evidence we don’t wish to find and pay dearly for the quest. Many of us, without the ability to clearly articulate or codify the feeling I am describing, know exactly what I mean when I say the vibe is off. It is a collective experience that something unseen speaks to us without words and what follows is a collective experience of what happens when we ignore it. It is a universal experience that needs no verification.
We don’t always need research to honor the truth of a collective story. Listening and seeing common threads was and still is a valid form of knowing, despite what academia claims. After all, research is nothing more than a collection of lived experiences that are analyzed for trends. Research is often a rabbit hole that the powers that be send marginalized people on to validate our lived and known experiences, “discovering” findings often years behind conventional knowledge and centuries behind ancient wisdom.
It is silly and backwards western thinking to need evidence to trust your intuition. Research is a fairly new concept that has produced some important findings and associations; however, we must not let the need for proof override our common sense. If you hear a deep growl in a dark cave, must you explore to discover what kind of animal is there to eat you? No, the growl is sensory input meant to protect you from danger. So is that feeling you get when you’re around people with ill intentions that they have not had an opportunity to act on yet. Let it remain potential. Don’t let your foolish curiosity give it an opportunity to materialize. The western world is always calling for evidence of what ancient wisdom has proven through survival.
Now that we have entered a Lunar New Year and transitioned from the snake that slithered through the grass and explored the lowest points to the fire horse, let us be quick to follow our well-earned discernment. We can gallop away with the wisdom life has taught us in the saddle without looking back. Regardless of how you think it may make us look. Regardless of our desire to please people, and not hurt anyone’s feelings. We are listening this year to protect our own feelings—and on more serious occasions our lives.
We have to be careful not to confuse fear with discernment. The quiver you feel in your stomach when you are trying something new or stepping into a new life is not the same as that jolt you get mid-conversation or that thickness in the air that nearly suffocates you when you enter a room. The pounding heart, goose bumps and sweaty palms are biological responses to fear, not signs that you should not do hard things. Trust that you know the difference and don’t second-guess what you feel. Every lesson does not have to be bought.
Just as we can identify repellent energy, we can identify attractive energy as well. When a space person or opportunity feels right this year, we are following it, opening to it and engaging it. We are not letting fear convince us that we need additional information, further research, and whatever else we tell ourselves. We need to trust God’s guidance. Let this be the year of belief beyond material evidence. Let this year show us that good exists in this world without motive. Let this be the year of bold faith.
This MFP Voices opinion essay reflects the personal opinion of its author(s). The column does not necessarily represent the views of the Mississippi Free Press, its staff or board members. To submit an opinion for the MFP Voices section, send up to 1,200 words and sources fact-checking the included information to voices@mississippifreepress.org. We welcome a wide variety of viewpoints.