Long before I became a student of Human Design, Sam delighted in laughing in the face of anyone who tried to sway me with logic.

“The mistake you’re making right now,” he'd say mid-laugh, “is that you’re trying to use logic with her. But Keely doesn’t make decisions with logic. So you’re essentially wasting your breath.”

And it would delight me. There are few things I enjoy more than feeling seen, heard, and understood, and Sam’s “lemme give you a lesson in Keely” tidbits made me feel seen, heard, and understood.

Because Sam was right. Logic doesn’t factor into my decision-making.

I make decisions based on how something makes me feel.

…end of story.

And, if you felt a little offended on my behalf when you read Sam saying, “Keely doesn’t make decisions with logic,” please feel the opposite way. Because my beloved hubbalicious wasn’t making a dig.

Rather, he was loving me in the best way he knows how – by showing complete and total acceptance. Bewildered acceptance, sure. But that’s pretty much my favorite kind.

I don’t make sense to him. And, if you’re in a yin-yang relationship like us (where your relationship works because you and your partner are so different from each other), then I would guess that you frequently don’t make sense to your partner.

So here’s a little crash course on Human Design from someone who loves it because it put words to—oh, a million?—things that were already true in my life.

In Human Design, which is an astrology-based system designed to bring more flow and ease into your life, each of us has a specific way to make aligned decisions. And by “aligned decisions,” I mean decisions that are most likely to make you delighted with your life. Decisions that put you on the fast track to your most fulfilling, purpose- and meaning-rich life.

Decisions that, in other words, work for you.

And does anyone have a guess what Human Design says about my way of making decisions?

It says, “Forget logic. That’s not going to get you anywhere. Have you considered making decisions exclusively based on how you feel?”

Because I have an emotional authority. And people with emotional authority (roughly 50% of the population) are built to make decisions based on how we feel. Not with pros and cons lists. Not based on the path that seems most likely to make us millionaires. Not on logic or a little voice speaking up inside of us or talking things through with a therapist or coach.

And, back when I used to make decisions with logic because that’s what society taught me to do, I landed in rehab at age 22, lost my twenties to chronic depression, and generally felt like life on Earth was a tedious, overwhelming, horrible chore.

But when I stopped listening to what I was “supposed” to do and started trusting my inner guidance—well, read some of my previous musings. I’m obnoxiously satisfied with my life and feel no shame in my game talking about it. Because the origin story that I freely share (my devastating dissatisfaction from ages 8ish to 27ish) makes it so I’m not some jerk who’s always felt good talking about how easy it is to celebrate the human experience. I’m someone who’s been lucky enough to find a path out of misery and now spend my days sharing what I’ve learned. Just like a shaman I trust told me to do. Just like my inner guidance says yes to…day after day after day.

So, that’s what I’m contemplating today. How much I love systems that give me words for something I’ve already found to be true. How much I love Human Design. And how much making decisions based on how I feel has resulted in a life I love.

In Human Design, there are 7 different authorities. Emotional is the most common, followed by 2) sacral, 3) splenic, 4) ego, 5) self-projected, 6) mental/sounding board, and 7) lunar.

If you feel like the decisions that you make aren’t resulting in a life that over-the-top delights you, it could be worth digging in. I offer Human Design readings, but only in the afternoon, so they’re generally inconvenient for people in the US (I live in China). If you want a reading when I’m in your time zone, fill out this form.

Xo,

Your friend who doesn’t make a single decision with logic

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Morning Musings is a delight-first writing practice where I make a cup of coffee, dance around my house a little bit, then put my fingers on the keyboard and see what comes up.

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