Breakthroughs arrive in non-rational ways

If you want to understand more about how creative breakthroughs happen, check out my new book, Deep Knowing: Entering the Realm of Non-Ordinary Intelligence.
Each of us carries a vast reservoir of non-verbal, non-rational, non-cognitive wisdom—a deep well of knowing that exists beyond the boundaries of logic and language. This wisdom is always present, quietly offering its insights, but it often goes unnoticed because our thinking minds dominate the conversation.
When we loosen our fixation on what we think we know, we create space for this deeper reservoir to emerge. It’s not about discarding rational thought but expanding our awareness to include what lies beyond it. This other kind of wisdom speaks through intuition, metaphor, and felt sense, offering perspectives that the logical mind alone can’t access.
Truly innovative solutions rarely come from thinking harder. They arise when we step outside the limits of linear thought and explore the spaces where logic can’t take us. Breakthroughs don’t announce themselves with neatly laid-out plans; they arrive suddenly, often in ways we can’t predict or explain.
This is why creating space for non-linear, non-rational exploration is so essential—whether in creativity, problem-solving, or personal growth. It’s in these spaces that transformative insights and revolutionary ideas are born.
When we learn to trust this reservoir of inner wisdom, we discover that it can guide us toward solutions and possibilities we never could have imagined on our own. Breakthroughs, after all, belong to the realm of the unexpected.
If you want to understand more about how creative breakthroughs happen, check out my new book, Deep Knowing: Entering the Realm of Non-Ordinary Intelligence.
Dr. Kim Hermanson helps creatives, pioneers, and seekers break free from linear thinking and access a deeper, more expansive intelligence through metaphor. An educator and adjunct professor at Pacifica Graduate Institute, she guides people into the mind’s third space—an untapped field of profound beauty and knowing. Learn more at MetaphorMind Lab.
Many years ago, I began giving intuitive readings to friends and family. These readings weren’t about prediction or fortune-telling—they delved deeper. I worked with metaphors…
Metaphor is at the core of nearly all scientific breakthroughs and acts of genius. Celebrated scientists like Niels Bohr, Richard Feynman, and Albert Einstein relied…
Creative power is Godlike. When we’re on fire, nothing can stop us. Can a boulder block a stream? No. The stream is going to go…
Over a century ago, Rudolph Steiner predicted that the greatest discovery of 20th-century science wouldn’t be in the realm of technology but in the revelation…
In a class I taught last fall, I posed the question, “What inspires you?” The following is what the students came up with. I’ve had…
I’d love for you to join me for an awesome new class in May. It’s super inexpensive and I guarantee it will shift your way…