You think of someone, and next thing you know you bump into them at the store.
You wonder how you’re going to tackle a project, and then you find someone who has the exact skill and experience you need that will make your project a breeze.
I like to call these kind of intuitive nudges and happenstance “cosmic bread crumbs.” For most of my life, if I didn’t “understand” something intellectually I would simultaneously doubt that these kinds of signposts along the path of life existed (and at the same time criticize myself that I wasn’t having these kind of experiences).
We all know the story of how Hansel and Gretel laid a trail of bread crumbs out to help guide them out of the deep, dark woods and back home safely. Great plan, but not optimal execution. Unfortunately for them, the bread crumbs were left out too long and the birds ate them up, leaving them in the woods and the clutches of the witch.
That’s a great metaphor for us too! When we get those impulses or inclinations, and don’t take action on them, the bread crumbs can easily disappear.
Here’s an example of what can happen when you follow a cosmic bread crumb. Many years ago when I was in the early years of my divorce, I read a book by about divorce by some woman I’d never heard of named Debbie Ford. Two weeks later I got a very strong intuitive message that told me to check out her website. I ignored it (because having a soft quiet voice speaking to me from my belly didn’t make a lot of sense to my brain.)
But then that quiet voice piped up again with the same encouragement to visit Debbie’s website. Same exact words, same exact intonation. My whole life was in quite a bit of turmoil and chaos at that point, so I relented figuring hearing voice coming from my gut would just be a funny scene if my life was ever made into a movie.
BIG cosmic bread crumb. It turns out Debbie who lived over 2,500 miles away was in Toronto that very evening, speaking at the Learning Annex on that very book. I signed up, went to the downtown hotel (where I managed to find an empty parking spot with a broken meter right outside the front door), met her and ended up studying with her and working for her for several years.
Paying attention and acting on that cosmic bread crumb led to so many things. A book. A new career. Meeting amazing people. Having some incredible experiences. Creating a new business. And on and on.
Here’s an example of NOT following up on a cosmic bread crumb. Over a year ago I made a decision to embrace the world of graphic recording and facilitation. My joy, creativity and business are delightfully exploding and I haven’t looked back since.
Here’s the thing though. For as long as I can remember I have been drawn to color. I’ve used colored pens to take notes in workshops and classes, but never did anything visual with my notes. I’ve even been ridiculed for carrying a pencil case stuffed with colored markers in to seminars when I was over the age of 18. But that pull and love of color has always been there. Color in paint, in yarn, in clothing, in scenery. So many beautifully colored cosmic bread crumbs along the way that I didn’t fully notice.
In this case, I let my brain talk me out of that nudge from the universe that was whispering to me “There’s something here that will be fun for you!” I listened to my intellect that told me I wasn’t artistic, I can’t draw, I won’t be taken “seriously”, or I can’t make a career with markers and on and on. Now that I’ve taking markers in hand and putting this form of my expression out in the world, I feel in so many ways that I have done a full circle and am coming home to an authentic part of myself that I wandered away from for a long time.
This quote from Rumi says it all: “Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray.”
Here are 3 tips to help you make the best use of your own cosmic bread crumbs to you can tune in and unleash your brilliance!
Tip #1 – Come to Your Senses
Cosmic bread crumbs aren’t something that our linear mind is skilled at detecting. Your intuition and physical senses have a better radar for finding the next clue in your own soul’s evolution.
Take time to notice when you have those inner pulls or intuitive hits that gently point you in a particular direction. You might feel an impulse to do something or call someone. Cultivating a practice of stillness helps to quiet down the monkey mind so you can be more in tune with your own inner compass. Activities like you like meditation, yoga, journaling, drawing, or just getting out in nature can help develop more inner calm which makes it easier to notice those inner tugs.
Tip #2 – Hold Your Bread Crumb Lightly
Just as a fire needs good kindling and air flow to keep growing, so does tapping in to your natural flow of brilliance. When you get an intuitive or creative spark, the best way to keep it flowing is to take action. Just think of how many times you had an inner knowingness that something wasn’t quite right and ignored it, only to have things escalate and get hit by a cosmic 2-by-4 later on.
Don’t overthink things or get overly intellectual and strategic. That’s the equivalent of picking up your bread crumb and dissecting it to see how it all fits together. Just like birds had time to eat Hansel and Gretel’s bread crumbs, your path can become obscured by all the mental chatter and info overload we are exposed to all the time.
Tip #3 – Feel The Wonder
When you stumble across your next cosmic bread crumb, you’ll probably feel like a little kid full of wonder. I thank my own inner little girl every day for whispering to me so long and so patiently to go and explore this thing called graphic recording.
You feel connected to something much larger than yourself that is guiding you forward. Joseph Campbell said it beautifully, “If you can see your path laid out in front of you step by step, you know it’s not your path. Your own path you make with every step. That’s why it’s your path.”
Life will still be full of ups and downs, challenges and victories, but you approach your choices with more light-heartedness and sense of adventure.
STEP INTO YOUR BRILLIANCE
Write the three tips on an index card and post it where you’ll see it this week. Take 15 minutes to journal about this concept of cosmic bread crumbs. Looking back, what were some cosmic bread crumbs you discovered and what choices did you make? Which of the 3 tips were present for you in those situations? Were there other indicators that help you know when you’ve tuned in to your intuition and inner compass?
