A Sixth Sense

I believe that everyone, without exception, is born with the ability to perceive things outside of the realm of the ‘5 senses’ that we all grew up learning of. I believe that human beings were designed as receptors for information that we have yet to understand.

Over time, during our childhood development, one of two things happens to most people. The information received is miscomprehended and discounted as ‘junk’ by the perceiver; they therefore learn to deny themselves the perception. They fail to understand what their own mind is telling them, and in effect, learn to distrust themselves.

The other option is an attempt to adhere to normalcy. From the time we were small children, we have been taught that ESP does not exist. As far as we have been told, there is no such thing as a true psychic or oracle; anyone claiming to be so is a charlatan. We have been brainwashed into trying to fit into society’s standard of the truth, and never learn to hone the gifts that we have.

When I talk of ESP, or extra sensory perception, I am not speaking of crystal balls, palm readings, or tarot cards. You cannot teach someone to sense something that they were never designed to sense any more than you can teach a blind man to see. ESP shows itself in bits and pieces, not necessarily the flashes of clairvoyance that we have been accustom to seeing on our favorite TV shows.

If you have ever had a moment of instinctual discomfort that threw you off guard you might know what I mean. Let me explain.

As long as I can remember, I have had a seemingly randomly occurring feeling of distress. There is nothing in particular that triggers these feelings in me, no words, and no events. It can only be described as ‘bad vibes’, and places just one thought into my head… “Get Out.”

This flight response is something I consider to be extra sensory, not cause by what I see or hear but something that I feel. Something I cannot describe. At first, I discounted the feelings as irrational like most people would, that is, until I started to see things happening around me after I was feeling this way. The sensation has kept my friends and myself out of trouble, and has brought us trouble when we have denied it.

There was one instance in college when I was discounted as ‘just being paranoid’. I had just walked out of my friend’s apartment building on our way to a party with him and his girlfriend when a feeling of malaise hit me like a diesel train.

“You look like something’s bothering you Jake, what’s up?”

“I just got really bad vibes, maybe I should go home…”

“Don’t worry about it dude, just try to relax and stop being paranoid…”

Imagine my surprise when 20 minutes later when his girlfriend and I watched him being handcuffed and placed into the back of a squad car. That was the last time I ever felt weird for feeling that way, since then, it has kept me out of a lot of trouble.

Four times at college parties, with a ton of underage kids, I had this feeling sneak up on me. Four times, I left the events, with our without my friends. Four times, I drove past the parties as I was leaving to find 3-4 police cruisers in the driveway or the parking lot.

There was one specific instance when I was having a rather lighthearted conversation with a friend of mine, laughing and joking around. The flight response was triggered and a palpable unease set in.

“What’s wrong Jake?

“ I don’t know, I just got really bad vibes.”

No more than two minutes later, another friend of mine walks over, leans in, and whispers in my ear.

“We need to get out of here, RIGHT NOW…”

“Can you at least tell me what’s going on?”

“In the car, dude…”

I jump in the car and start driving, not knowing where or why I am going, just that I am.

“Can you explain what the problem is NOW?”

“Dude, they’re making crack in the kitchen!”

Sitting at a bar once, it hit me like lightning. I HAD to leave; my brain gave me no choice. The way my friend described it, it was like a scene from ‘Roadhouse’. About a minute after I left, people starting swinging pool cues, beer bottles, and bar stools at each other. The cops showed up only a few minutes later after some of the patrons subdued and held down the ones who started the brawl.

Call it ESP, call it intuition, or a subconscious ability to see things as they are going wrong. I believe that everyone has inherent abilities that we deny.

You know what they say about your first instinct.