Uncomfortable. Okay, I've got a random one for you, but then again when are my musings not a little off the wall? Have you ever been in a place or situation where you get the feeling that it's not safe? I'm not talking obvious danger signs like exposed cliffs or the bad part of town. I mean a perfectly ordinary location, but something just feels a little off and you can't put your finger on what it is. I recently had a weekend to myself in Arkansas and I had this idea of camping somewhere in the northern part of the state, only when I got there and began driving the forest roads it just didn't feel right. I have no idea what it was; I was there for some leaf-peeping and it was a beautiful area and by all accounts a great place to spend the weekend, but I was edgy and generally dissatisfied with everywhere I stopped to consider as a camp site, so much so that I added extra hours and miles to drive to a place where I felt a whole lot more comfortable. Even though that meant I set up camp in the dark. And ended up dealing with a thunderstorm and a leaky tent. How in the world do I explain that I felt more safe sitting in a leaky tent while in the middle of a midnight downpour with almost immediate flash-booms of lightning and thunder echoing off the mountains around me, than I did in broad daylight in a forest just a few hours distant from where I ended up? How do I explain that one time I felt more safe sheltering in my tent as an electrical storm razed the desert around me, whipping sand under my rain fly and coating every one of my possessions, than I did taking a guided tour to a set of ruins that I ended up bailing out of early? Perhaps I could explain it away as familiarity with one location over another, but that doesn't explain why one backcountry campsite feels safer than another one less than a mile apart in a place I've never camped before. That doesn't explain why I crave to visit places I've never been.
My mom always taught me to go with my gut feelings, my instincts, and to her credit, my gut has never yet been wrong. Sure, I've ignored what my gut (subconscious?) was trying to tell me on more than one occasion, and I ended up paying the price, in whatever form it took, when things turned out badly. I've taken to listening to my gut a whole lot more as I've gained years and knowledge, so when it tells me to not stay in one place, because it isn't safe, then you'd better believe I make for friendlier territory. On the note of mother-to-daughter wisdom, I was curious to know whether this phenomenon of listening to your gut was a female-related instinct. I can't say I have a huge sample size, but when I broached the subject with my husband he said he gets those feelings occasionally as well, and tends to listen to them. So, it's human nature to want to go somewhere they feel safe, but what is the deciding factor on what exactly "safe" is? How does my brain tell me what is safe vs what is not, compared to what my husband's brain tells him? Of course, I don't really expect answers, though I suspect it has something to do with experience.
I'm interested to know if any of you out there experience this kind of feeling, and if so, in what situations? Guys especially, do you follow your gut? Leave me a comment or message me directly, I'm burning to know!
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