Friday - Meditations and Musing - The Double-Edged Sword of Superstitution and The Need for Intuition
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Superstition isn’t just a quirky habit. It’s a survival story. Long before spreadsheets and search engines, humans used pattern-making to feel safe in uncertain worlds. Don’t walk under ladders. Knock on wood. Avoid the 13th. These rituals give us the comforting sense of control—even when the universe is doing its own thing.
The benefits:
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Emotional regulation: Rituals can calm nerves before a big moment (interview, date, hard conversation).
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Community bonding: Shared beliefs—yes, even silly ones—create social glue.
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Focus and intention: A small ritual can mark a moment as important and help us show up more present.
The dangers:
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Decision distortion: When superstition replaces thinking, we can avoid good risks or chase bad ones.
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Anxiety loops: If we believe “bad luck” is stalking us, we start scanning for proof—and usually find it.
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Externalized agency: We hand our power to numbers, signs, or algorithms instead of our own judgment.
In other words, superstition is a tool. Use it gently, and it steadies you. Let it drive, and it can quietly hijack your choices.
Intuition Isn’t Magic—It’s Patterned Wisdom
Intuition often gets lumped into the mystical bin, but psychologists describe it as fast, experience-based judgment. The classic exploration of this contrast is Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman, which explains how our minds toggle between quick, intuitive thinking and slower, more analytical reasoning.
Here’s the twist: intuition gets better when we give it space. Constant notifications, endless scrolling, and algorithmic nudges drown out the quiet signals—your gut, your emotional memory, your values. When every spare second is filled with pixels, intuition doesn’t disappear; it just can’t get a word in.
Why the Shift to Valentine’s Day Matters
Moving from Friday the 13th to Valentine’s Day is like walking from fear-flavored meaning to love-flavored meaning. Both are symbolic days. Both invite us to project stories onto ordinary hours. The difference is where we place our attention:
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Superstition asks, “What should I avoid?”
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Love asks, “What should I lean into?”
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Intuition whispers, “What do I already know, if I’d just slow down?”
Valentine’s Day doesn’t have to be about grand gestures or performative romance. It can be a reset: choosing presence over panic, connection over compulsion, and intention over impulse.
The Analog Advantage: Slowness as a Love Language
Here’s where analog earns its glow-up. Writing by hand, sketching, reflecting—these aren’t nostalgia acts. They’re attention training.
When you put pen to paper:
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Your thinking slows just enough for nuance to show up.
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Your emotions organize themselves into words.
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Your intuition surfaces without competing with a thousand tabs.
Analog is not anti-tech. It’s pro-depth. It’s how you move from reacting to choosing. And in relationships—with yourself or anyone else—choice is the real romance.
A Gentle Invitation (and a Little Treat)
If you want to turn this calendar moment into something tangible, consider giving yourself—or someone you love—a small analog ritual. A daily page. A gratitude list. A letter you don’t have to send. That’s why brands like Justmyself Journals exist: to make reflection feel accessible, beautiful, and human again.
To celebrate the shift from superstition to love, you can use the code LOVE10 for a little nudge toward more intentional, unplugged moments—whether that’s a journal, a notebook, or any analog merch that helps you listen to yourself better.
The Takeaway
Friday the 13th reminds us how easily we hand meaning to fear. Valentine’s Day reminds us we can just as easily hand meaning to love. The difference is where we place our attention—and whether we give our intuition enough quiet space to speak.
So here’s a soft challenge:
This year, trade a little superstition for a little slowness. Trade a little scrolling for a little writing. See what your intuition—and your heart—have been trying to tell you all along. 💛