Waiting to Respond
I’m going through (yet another) binge of Human Design study, and it’s just fascinating, especially for a detail-oriented person.
The first thing anyone learns about their own Rave Chart is their Type, Authority, and Strategy; go to the HD page for further articles on each of these concepts. I am a pure Generator, split definition, with Sacral Authority, and (like all Generators) my Strategy is to ‘wait to respond’. Because I have Sacral Authority (rather than, say, Emotional Authority), I get to learn how to make decisions from the nonverbal gut (Sacral Center) rather than waiting through the emotional wave. So I’ve learned to listen for that immediate ‘whee!’ or ‘thud’ when it comes to deciding things… from the big picture response to discovering Geotran (or Human Design) to the daily details of breakfast, a walk, or the next knitting project. I especially use this nonverbal response to decide about working with specific clients, setting up Geotran workshops, or any writing.
Generators are the worker bees; once they commit, they will work until the job is finished. However, they are responders, and not good at initiating or pushing against the grain. Most Generators and Manifesting Generators get stuck because they have not learned to ‘wait to respond’ to correct circumstances, and frustration is their default when being their ‘not-self’, or operating contrary to their innate Type and Strategy. Generators can have Sacral Authority or Emotional Authority, but their Strategy is always ‘wait to respond’.
What does that mean as a Strategy, to ‘wait to respond’? I don’t really know. And that is the genius of it – to NOT know, to leave space for learning, to allow myself to make mistakes and bump into experiences (and people) that may be unpleasant and ultimately unsuccessful, but that are still correct for me in the moment. Something has to come up for me to respond to, and then I listen to the nonverbal (whee or thud) and allow that to make the decision.
The problem is that, like everyone else, I’ve been thoroughly conditioned by society, my family, my beliefs, genetic line, and so on. Society says that everyone is supposed to act like Manifestors: Just do it! Get it done! Take the lead! Ra (the creator or transmitter of Human Design) calls this the Manifestor Disease, and it especially afflicts Generators, even though Manifestors are about 10% of the human population, and Generators are something like 70%. Up to 1781, Manifestors ruled the world using the mind; since then it’s been the turn of Projectors, who guide rather than rule. The point is that trying to create, lead, or set up anything from our own initiative just doesn’t work for Generators. We have to wait to respond. To do otherwise lands us in the ‘not-self theme’, which for a Generator is FRUSTRATION. I certainly know all about that one!
Now, with a chart like mine, with a strong connection between Ajna and Throat, there’s a lot of pressure to think about things and express them; of course, this is reinforced by the emphasis on intellect I was conditioned by as a child (and adult). I guess that’s what I get for hanging out with mathematicians and physicists! That natural tendency of the mind that thinks it runs this vehicle (as we say in Human Design) is to jump in first saying, “What do we think is the best thing to do/say/feel/decide?” The last thing the mind wants is for this person to run it by the body… to WAIT and let the Sacral Center response make the decision. So we have to take it back a step, notice when the mind or conditioning kicks in, and CHOOSE to ‘wait to respond’. Argh! I just want to get it done!
What does this ‘wait to respond’ look like on the ground? A thought, concept, direction, opportunity and/or person shows up, and my Sacral gets to respond (nonverbally) with yes, no, or neutral. Let’s say I’m at a dance, my favorite social activity. If my mind is in control, I worry that I won’t be asked to dance and feel frustrated about the projection that I will be left out, and conflicted about pushing forward to ask someone to dance because sometimes the response is negative or reluctant, and I’m super-sensitive to rejection. If I allow my actual self to sit there and wait, its warm encompassing Generator aura, responsive Sacral Authority, and correct Strategy will naturally draw the right invitations to respond to. When someone asks me to dance, I consult the immediate sense of whee! or thud, and accept or decline gracefully in accordance with my Sacral Authority. This is actually much easier on the nervous system than fretting about whether I’m going to miss a dance! So maybe I sit one out… and perhaps someone interesting will come up and chat with me, someone I might not have met if I had been in the set. It’s an interesting way to explore trust: trust in myself to align with the right circumstances, and trust in the universe to provide all that I desire and require, including good dance partners who ask me first.
I’ve learned this in contra-dancing; now all I have to do is apply this Strategy in the rest of my life. And although it looks frustrating at times, it’s still easier and more natural (and more satisfying) than pushing the water upstream, which in any case I am not designed to do. So I am learning how to relax, wait for inspiration, then let my gut respond. Time to get up? Thud. Time to have a bath? Whee! Half a ripe peach in the fridge? Whee! Walk through the thunderstorm? Whee! Go find more clients? Thud. Get a job to pay the bills? Definite thud. Write a blog post about waiting to respond? Whee! That was this morning’s inspiration, so here it is!
If you’re like to find out more about your Type, Strategy, and Authority, create your free Rave Chart at mybodygraph.com, and/or contact me at drkyreadept@gmail.com for a mini-session and I’ll happily respond if my Sacral Center says it’s okay!