Intuition Interrupted

External Validation, AI, and the Discomfort of Uncertainty

One of the most common ways we interrupt our intuition is by outsourcing it. We want reassurance and confirmation, and when the stakes feel high, we seek these things outside of ourselves. Sometimes this looks like polling friends and family before making a decision or searching social media for consensus.

More recently, many people have shared with me that they check their intuition against AI. I understand the impulse. We all want good information, and it makes sense to use the tools available to us to find it.

But intuition becomes harder to recognize when we constantly interrupt it.

Our brains and nervous systems love repetition. The more often we second guess ourselves, the more we reinforce the habit of seeking reassurance before trusting what we feel. Over time, this can make self trust more difficult.

Being well resourced is not the same as outsourcing. Having a friend to talk things out with or a good therapist can be incredibly supportive. The best mediums, healers, or tarot readers will validate your intuition and send you back to yourself.

Intuition is like a relationship. It needs our care and attention to grow stronger. The problem with checking our intuition against external sources is that it deprives us of uncertainty. The discomfort of not knowing teaches us how to stay with ourselves.

In the space of uncertainty, we gain clarity around our desires.

If we rush the process from uncertainty to answers, we can’t be in relationship with our intuition. When we immediately gain external validation for the choices we plan to make, we might feel temporary relief—but that’s not the same peace that we feel from building self trust.

Intuition works best when it’s based on internal validation. Remember a time when you did something well, something you were proud of. It doesn’t matter if anyone else knows or sees because you are content and secure in your abilities.

This is the kind of intimacy that is possible with our intuition. The kind of self knowledge that can come from building trust and limiting the external interruptions.

I’m not talking about instincts—the kind that keep us safe and alert us to danger. Instincts can influence intuition, but their primary role is survival.

Intuition comes from our soul. There is a mystical wisdom component to it. A directional desire that subtly influences us through ideas, inspiration, and a sense of “I just know.”

Your relationship with your intuition is deeply personal. This inner world lets you spend time with a version of you that is authentic. You get to know this version of you when you are not presenting your energy to another person.

Other people are not you. They have limited information when it comes to the desires of your soul or the blind spots we all have.

So, what do we do instead?

Have a conversation with your intuition. Notice where you feel it in your body. Is it low in your belly? Warm in your heart? A subtle energy running up your spine? Ask yourself some questions about your current situation and imagine different scenarios. Notice any nervous system responses: fight, flight, fawn, freeze.

Nervous system responses are helpful information, but they are not intuition.

Intuition is often subtle—more steady than urgent. Notice how your intuition feels as you imagine different actions or choices. Is there a color, pressure, temperature, or emotion? Gather this information and pay attention to what stands out. Ask your intuition for a sign that you are moving in alignment with yourself. Remember that you are building a relationship, and relationships are built on trust.

A few thoughts on interrupting intuition with AI:

Apps like Chat GPT function like trained answer machines with enough information to soothe your nervous system and sound intelligent. But AI cannot compete with the wise and loving awareness of your soul. Human beings bring memory, emotion, contradiction, symbolism, and lived experience to the process.

If we were to ask AI to interpret a tarot card, as a client recently shared with me, it looks up at the traditional meanings and symbolism. It pulls together messages from the internet from a variety of sources and it would likely sound pretty good. Often, the response sounds insightful because it reflects familiar patterns and popular interpretations. The language is designed to feel reassuring. But something essential is missing from that process. By immediately reaching for an external interpretation, we interrupt our own intuitive response before it has the chance to unfold. Over time, this can dull our intuitive awareness.

When you allow your intuition to freely interpret a tarot card, a dynamic human process unfolds.

Ace of Swords from The Fountain Tarot

I pulled a card for myself this morning. As I look at the Ace of Swords, immediately my eyes go to the hint of a periwinkle blue color on the right. I remember years ago—a mentor shared with me that for them that color represents a deep spiritual cleansing—the kind that comes from releasing self criticism.

They shared that self criticism is like cancer to the body and that the color of periwinkle blue is the treatment that shrinks it and draws it out. I remember how my eyes filled with tears when I heard this. I remember how the tile in the kitchen of my childhood home was this color and that I loved it so much that I stretched my budget to include it in my first home when my kids were little. I feel warm with the memory of wanting my kids to have this color in their childhood home.

Now, I am on an emotional journey. My neurons are firing and my memory has been activated. My brain, body, and spirit are lighting up. I feel the subtle weight of a hand on my shoulder. I look down and see that my sweatshirt is the same shade of blue. I feel warmth spread through my chest and I have the thought: letting go of self doubt lets us see clearly.

And I know what this card means right now—in this specific moment. I feel a specific way that I will never feel with my phone in my hand, or waiting for a computer to spit out an answer.

We deserve to feel the closeness of our intuition, and we need to make space for it. To be in relationship with the kind of knowing that unfolds when we stop interrupting ourselves.

Thanks for being here.

With love,

Sheryl

P.S. An Evening of Spirit Messages is tomorrow night, Thursday, May 14th. If you’d like to attend, you can reserve your spot here.

Here are more ways to connect with me:

Buy a copy of my book 📚 or check out these free articles

Book a reading with me 🕊️

Where else you can find me:

Website: sherylwagnermedium.com

Socials: Instagram Facebook