The Return of Intuition
When Did We Stop Listening to Ourselves? We got so good at being productive that we forgot how to be alive.
This is the first piece in a semi-recurring series about tuning back into my body, intuition, and inner rhythm. Part 2.
Lately, I’ve been working on being aware.
Like… really aware.
The kind of aware where you notice your highs and lows in real time and it makes you feel manic. Because instead of numbing them away, you’re actually feeeeeeling it.
I’m tuning into my intuition, my energy, my reactions, my body. Yes, including tracking my menstrual cycle (like with a basal body thermometer), sitting in meditation circles, digging into Human Design and joining a psychic practice group. I’m fumbling my way through, with a lot of help and a lot of fun.
Because somewhere between Girlboss culture and constant iPhone dopamine hits, I stopped listening to myself.
OR maybe, maybe I never really learned how.
The more my life filled up with meetings, notifications, and noise, the harder it became to hear that quiet inner voice. Silence became uncomfortable. Stillness felt like failure. Rest felt like laziness.
When I left my corporate job earlier this year, I naively thought slowing down would just… happen. Old habits would just dissolve.
Long mornings. Space to think. Breathing room. A new calmer, more evolved me.
Instead, I still wake up at 7:00 a.m., immediately rush the kids to school, then rush home, unconsciously answer emails and stare at my calendar like… okay so what should I be producing today? Gimmie that checklist!
Turns out, my nervous system did not get the memo that I quit that life. It still wants gold stars and a full calendar. Proof that I matter!
It still thinks busy means worthy.
Because if I don’t do that, I feel … itchy.
Like, okay but what now?
So the real work is this: learning to get quiet and still enough to listen to myself.
And because I live in this little pocket of magic (Serenbe & Chatt Hills), I get to learn from healers, guides, and neighbors who are already walking the talk and living differently — designing lives that make no sense on paper but feel right in their bodies.
When we stop listening to ourselves, we build lives we don’t even want to live.
So today, we start there.
How we lost our inner voice in the first place.
In Today’s Issue
🧠The Great Overriding: When Did We Stop Listening to Ourselves?
🔥The Quiet Rebellion: People are waking up to the absurdity of our over-managed lives
🤍What’s Coming Next: The psychic, the healer, the Human Design reader
📍For the Locals: 🎁 Perks, 👀 In Case You Missed It, 📅 Event Calendar
🧠The Great Overriding: When Did We Stop Listening to Ourselves?
Somewhere along the way, we stopped listening to ourselves.
We listen to Google and strangers online more than our own bodies and inner self. We download meditation apps to help us slow down, then swipe away the reminders. We collect step counts and sleep scores and forget we can simply ask our body: how do you really feel?
It is not that intuition disappeared. We just stopped pausing and getting quiet enough to hear it.
We’ve become fluent in productivity and illiterate in intuition.
Kids come into the world knowing exactly what they need. They cry when they’re hungry. They turn away when something feels off.
They don’t ask for a second opinion. They just know.
Then… school trains us to raise our hands for permission. To wait. To prove. To get A’s for overriding our instincts. To people please.
Work trains us to rationalize everything. To justify gut feelings with decks and forecasts and logic that looks good in a boardroom but makes no sense in our body. Consciously or not, we all bend the data to make ourselves look a little better.
This shows up in the body too.
Next time you’re with a baby, watch how they breathe. Their bellies puff out like little Buddhas. Nice and big.
They haven’t learned to care how big their waistline looks yet.
Adults? We do the opposite.
Most of us reverse breathe. We inhale by sucking our stomachs in. Ribs locked tight. Jaw tense.
Breathing… but also performing. Trying to appear thinner.
We forget what a full breath feels like.
Try this right now:
Notice your breath.
Now let your belly go soft.
Inhale and let it balloon forward (and yes expand out, nice and big).
Fill your ribs. Your back ribs. Your upper chest.
Release.
That? That is your original breath.
Slowly, we trade knowing for performing.
And the tragic part is that we don’t notice the shift — because everyone around us is shifting too.
I know because I lived it. My entire identity was built on gold stars. Promotions. Overflowing calendars. Being told I was “on fire,” even when the fire was burning me from the inside out.
We want our inner voice back. We are just a little out of practice.
The quiet voice never left. We just forgot how to hear it.
🔥The Quiet Rebellion
I think this is what’s happening collectively.
People are waking up to the absurdity of our over-managed lives. We’re realizing we can’t spreadsheet our way to peace. We can’t schedule spontaneity. We can’t meditate our way out of a system that rewards burnout. We can’t always be busy.
And damn, I love being busy. It feels like achievement. Importance. Safety.
Wait… Is being busy a drug? Oh god - I think it might be.
So we’re starting small.
We’re quitting the jobs that drain us. We’re parenting with more intuition and less guilt. We’re creating lives that make less sense on paper but feel more right in our bodies.
It’s not rebellion with torches and megaphones.
It’s quiet. Personal. Slow.
A thousand small acts of remembering ourselves.
🤍What’s Coming: The Return to Yourself
Over the next few weeks, I’m bringing you deeper into this journey, with the people here in Serenbe and Chatt Hills who are helping me tune back in and learn some new things. And there are no lack of people to highlight, these are just a few Im working with right now.
Here’s what’s ahead:
Whitney Price — Body literacy + cycle tracking. How I’m 36 with 2 kids and just now learning how to really track my cycle and live in my natural rhythms.
Christina Trifero — Psychic + intuition mentor. What a year of inner guidance has taught me about trusting myself (plus the psychic practice circle I joined).
Alyssa Oliha — Human Design. I’ve never felt so seen in my life and Greg doesn’t know it yet, but we’re doing a couples session soon.
Kim Ferrari — Meditation. Making space to meditate each week at SoulBarn with an incredible group of women.
Journaling in the wobble: What I reach for when my brain spirals into old patterns
If you want one of those topics next, reply and tell me and i’ll prioritize it.
📍 For the Locals
🎁 Life at Play Perks
Exclusive deals + insider offers, just for this community.
I have created an official Serenbe + Chatt Hills Local Directory and Map. The directory is for everyone shaping life here -- shops, restaurants, farms, artists, tutors, chefs, wellness instructors, musicians, makers, and whatever you dream up.
Whether someone’s a resident, visitor, or event planner, they should be able to find what you do in one trusted place. After five years of living here, I kept bumping into new farm stands, artists, and small businesses I had no idea existed. I’d think, “This is the good stuff… how did I not know this was here?” So last fall, I started a scrappy Google Sheet of local businesses. And in July, I launched a local community event calendar to keep everyone in the loop about what’s happening around here.
And today locals can claim their free directory listing or if you don’t see your business, you can create one here.
Why it matters for you: When you claim your listing, you’ll be part of the first local map connecting locals, visitors, and event planners to what’s happening here.
👀 In Case You Missed It
Quick hits of neighborhood news + updates, straight from the community.
Community Food Drive | Serenbe Farms + The Good Place Farm are collecting canned + non-perishables for Community Brickworks. Drop off at Serenbe Farms (Mon–Fri), the Farmers Market booth (Saturdays), or The Good Place Farm shed (daily).
New Little Free Library in Overlook & in Selborne outside Typo Take a book, leave a book — two sweet new neighborhood hangout for readers.
New Dermatology Clinic Opening The Skin Real at Serenbe celebrates their grand opening Thurs, Oct 30 • 12–5pm. Come meet the team. 1263 Mado Loop.
Halloween & Porchfest details can be found in my post from last week. Take me there.
Pain Relief That Lasts Julia Reyburn is offering fascia release, reflexology, and lymphatic drainage sessions in Serenbe.
Violin Lessons with Dr. Bermel Beloved strings teacher from Woodward has a few Saturday spots open. Call/text 404-232-0052.
Holiday Décor + Lights Service | Harvest & Holiday is now booking interior + exterior holiday setups, including live Christmas tree delivery and wrapping. Book before Nov 2 to get 10% off your install.
New Electric Trash Trucks | Serenbe just swapped two gas pickups for all-electric trash vehicles. Same underground bins, now cleaner, quieter pick-up.
New Daily Tastings at The Wine Shop Wed–Fri drop-in flights (4:30–6:30PM) | Sat–Sun seated tastings. $25 for three wines. More details.
Film Showcase Weekend at Art Farm Two nights of film + food + filmmaker Q&A. Friday, Nov 7 + Saturday, Nov 8. Whistleblower drama LILLY screens Saturday.
New Loyalty Cards at Halsa Smoothie & bowl fans — earn rewards every visit.
Local Election Reminder Chatt Hills residents (in Fulton or Coweta County) can vote in the City of Chattahoochee Hills Municipal Election on Tuesday, Nov 4. Advance and Election Day voting details vary by county — check your polling place and sample ballot here: mvp.sos.ga.gov
📅 Local Events
The local events worth knowing about this month.
Browse or subscribe anytime at lifeatplay.co/events
Add your own events if you’re hosting something worth sharing - submit here.
You don’t have to earn your intuition back. You don’t have to prove anything first.
You just have to notice. And listen.
So here’s your invitation: Play a little. Be curious. Follow what feels alive — even if it makes zero sense. Because that is the whole point.
The magic isn’t waiting somewhere at the end of all this. It’s happening now — in the messy middle.
See you on the trails,
xx, Gina
If you enjoyed this, forward it to a friend who is also questioning the hustle.
Feel seen by this? Tap the heart so I know what’s landing. Thank you for being here.
Love to read your relationship with your intuition is growing stronger. I don't think you're alone in that right now! There's a shift happening. Sending you so much love and spaciousness on the journey <3
Love to read your relationship with your intuition is growing stronger. I don't think you're alone in that right now! There's a shift happening. Sending you so much love and spaciousness on the journey <3