~Samantha Hirtler

As the saying goes, when you know you know…And I knew it was the right time for me to join the IFGT team as a volunteer.

My intuition hasn’t always been that strong, though.  In fact, in my youth and throughout my young adulthood I questioned whether intuition really existed at all.  I constantly found myself perplexed in discerning whether I acted from “gut feelings” or my intellect.  How could I tell the difference?  This distinction plagued me and seemed impossible to clearly recognize in my experiences.

I can say now, in retrospect, that the pieces of the puzzle have started to come together.  I have become more familiar with my inner voice – the eternal captain of the ship guiding my life experiences.  It expresses through pure knowing, peace, love, nonjudgment, and unification with The Oneness of All.  I certainly still have many moments of not knowing, but that space has become comfortable to me as an invitation for continued change, growth, and connection to the creative force within.

When I first came upon IFGT, I was intrigued and joyful.  This was about 2 years ago when I found myself feeling misunderstood in almost all of my relationships, whether professional, platonic, intimate, familial, or with Self.  In the early spring of 2020, I decided to introspectively reflect after coming really close to losing a dear friendship.  At that moment I realized I was the common denominator in all of my relationships, and I strove to understand what about me contributed to their status.  I committed daily to self-studies, gravitating toward subjects such as astrology, metaphysics, tarot, dreams, psychedelics, mindfulness, and ultimately meditative practice.  The intellectual pursuits bolstered my ability to understand abstract concepts, which I then balanced with embodied presence, silence, listening, and demonstration.  The Divine Essence of Love seemed to pour through me in a way I had never experienced in all my prior years.  As my understanding of Self opened, so too did my intuition, trust, gratitude, patience, compassion, and sense of belonging.

In attending IFGT presentations and discussions, I found them informative, inviting, comfortable, inclusive, and overall attractive.  The team members were enlightening, open, gracious, relatable, respectful, and curious.  I kept going back for more.  Several weeks ago, I participated in conversation and was offered a volunteer role in the organization.  I felt confident accepting the position as the Newsletter Editor because I knew I felt ready, and I knew I aligned with IFGT’s values and mission.  I just knew I belonged.