Moral of the Story: Even the most mundane things in life (such as grocery shopping) can yield brand new insights.

On my way to Whole Foods tonight, I stopped for gas, which caused me to get a bit turned around. Rather than taking main roads as per usual, I found myself driving through a dark residential area. I’ve been to the Whole Foods area of town dozens of times, so I knew in which general direction I wanted to go — but the curvy roads weren’t taking me there! Soon enough, I realized that my internal compass had given up (and, to top it off, I couldn’t see any street signs). Fortunately, a little voice spoke up…

Voice in my Head: Don’t worry, you’ll get there. Trust me.
Me: Okay, fine, but the lack of street signs is a little disturbing. Which way?

A left turn here, a right turn there, another right…

Me: What *@$# street is this!?
Voice: Simmer down and make a right.
Me: But- Oh. *sheepishly* I know exactly where I am now.
Voice: Told ya!

Insight #1: Not only is the intuition very intelligent, but it also has its own personality.

(Sidenote: Some of you may balk at my use of the word “intuition.” If so, don’t — there are plenty of suitable substitutes. I’ll be writing an article specifically about intuition very shortly.)

I actually went shopping at both Whole Foods and Schnucks (a more standard grocer), since each has certain things that I can’t or prefer not to buy at the other store. Whole Foods is almost always a crowded store with very narrow aisles compared to those at Schnucks; yet almost every person I saw was very polite about the “traffic jams.” Up front, the cashier smiled at me and started a brief conversation. She even asked whether I would like paper or plastic (I, of course, chose paper ).

The cashier at Schnucks, though polite, just didn’t seem as happy to be working tonight (not to mention that she was somewhat overweight, while the woman at Whole Foods appeared healthier in general). As I said “Thank You” and heard her mutter something resembling “Uh-huh,” the customer who’d been in front of me in line started to argue with her about getting one dollar off of an item that may or may not have been on sale. I didn’t stick around to see how that ended!

Granted, this is only one shopping trip, and the perceived differences between grocers could be explained in many ways, but my (admittedly very generalized) impression stands.

Insight #2: Hippies are happier.

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About two and a half years ago, Hypno Bro did a stage performance at my university. If you’ve never seen a hypnotist, they usually invite several people from the audience to come on-stage and participate in the show, and will sometimes encourage the audience to try and participate in the trance as well. I wasn’t picked to come up front, but I’d never been hypnotized and I really wanted to try it, so I just sat in the audience, following the hypnotist’s relaxation chants, and hoping for the best.

“Relax every muscle in your body, from your head to your toes…” (Disclaimer: I’m paraphrasing.)

“Concentrate only on the sound of my voice…”

“10… 9… 8…”

“As you wake up, you realize that it’s getting kind of warm in here, isn’t it?”

Huh? Wake up? B-b-but, I haven’t fallen asleep yet!

“It’s getting really hot now; you’ll need to fan yourself!”

Did I even– Naw, I definitely don’t feel anything…

“It’s like a sauna up in this place!”

Umm… no it’s not. I guess I’ll just keep trying to relax and hope something comes out of it.

The next thing I knew, someone was bringing me up to the stage. I remember uttering some initial protests. “But- But I’m not-” Oh well, I thought, he obviously knows more about hypnosis than I do. Maybe I really am in a trance and don’t even realize it.

There were no empty chairs, so Hypno Bro laid me down on the floor — center stage! At that point, I knew I had no choice but to pretend I didn’t know what was going on. Maybe he would notice soon and dismiss me (like he’d done earlier for some folks who weren’t really “into it”).

But he didn’t notice, and very soon I felt like a huge phony… but it sure was fun! I felt like I had total control over my actions during the entire show, and I remembered every bit of it afterward. There were even a couple of things I didn’t want to do (such as dancing ballet), so I spent that time doing stretches. You’ve got to stretch first to prevent injuries, don’tcha know? My friends were also surprised at my ability to use reason even while seemingly “under a trance” (I wasn’t too surprised at this, obviously). At one point in the show, we were told to speak to Kim Jong-il on our “phones” (shoes). While everyone else started chatting away, I walked right up to Hypno Bro and asked him if he spoke Korean. (No, he didn’t.) Then I pointed at one of my friends in the audience and asked the same question (and got the same answer).

While I did feel as if I was acting the entire time, I had an argument with myself over it later…

Self: There’s no way I was actually hypnotized. I had control over everything!
Other Self: But you don’t exactly have anything to compare it to, now do you?
Self: I still felt like I was acting.
Other Self: Oh, c’mon. You couldn’t act if your life depended on it!
Self: … Good point.

So, readers, what do you think? Genuine trance? Hidden talent? Or something in between?