indi

Recently, whilst talking with some friends on the subject of intuition I was reminded of something that happened to me - or I should say didn’t happen to me in the early nineties when I had come to Melbourne to live and work for a short while. I thought I would relay the story to you guys to see if anyone has had similar experiences.

In 1992 I was 25 and I had come to Melbourne for a change of scene from my home-town, Perth. I got a job through a contact of mine in a bar/restaurant on Flinders Lane and was doing regular shifts 4 or 5 times a week. I got to know the regulars pretty well during this time; it was an up-market type of place, the clientele were mainly business folk and Yuppies.

During a shift I was asked by one of the patrons if I would consider doing some photographic modeling for him. At 25 I was tall and slim and very attractive and I had done various modeling jobs in the past, however I had also seen enough of the world to be wary of strange men in bars wanting to photograph me. I declined the offer and he presented me with a business card should I change my mind. As he was a regular I saw him frequently, he was a nice enough guy around the mid-thirties and each time he came in he renewed the offer. My boss overhearing one day encouraged me to do the gig telling me that she knew he was a legitimate photographer who often had work in the major magazines. Other staff also assured me of this man’s credentials so the next time he came in we arranged a shoot for the following Sunday.

That morning I felt a little anxious about the shoot and my flat-mate asked if I wanted him to accompany me but as he had a lot on I told him not to worry. Driving to the appointment I felt more and more anxious about it, but I was unable to pinpoint exactly why. I arrived at the address he had given me, a residential street in North Melbourne. The street was completely deserted which only served to unsettle me more. As I sat in the car every instinct I had began to scream at me not to go into the house. I chose to listen to my instincts and started the engine and drove away. The further I got the more I became convinced I had done the right thing.

The following day at work the photographer came in, monumentally annoyed with me for not having turned up for the shoot. I felt bad as I do not like to let people down but at no time did I regret my decision. A few weeks later I decided that I wanted to go back to study and returned to Perth giving no more thought to the incident.

About a year later I ran into my old boss from the bar in a cafe in Perth. I was absolutely stunned by what she told me; the photographer who I had so nearly worked with had just been jailed for drugging, raping and photographing women in his studio.

“Good thing you never went” she said lightly.

A good thing indeed.

This incident made me appreciate just how important our instincts and intuition are and to this day when they speak I listen. That my instincts were confirmed for me too, when I met my boss in a random cafe, in another city also seems quite remarkable, as if the universe wanted to affirm my actions.

So how about you? Does intuition play a role in the decisions you make? Call it what you will - foreboding, precognition, instinct, do you believe?