Making Sense Out of Nonsense
Addressing Challenges of the Open Head Center in Human Design
Welcome to this week’s edition of The Soul’s Journey!
Lately I’ve been struggling with some of my old wounds and conditioning, so I decided to start digging back into my own Human Design chart and revisiting the core wounds and struggles that have been themes in my life.
As I learned long ago, personal development and healing is not a task to be completed, but an ongoing journey. Join me as I walk my path in this week’s edition and share some insights into dealing with open centers.
Here’s to the journey! ✈️
~Suzanne
I’ve struggled much of my life with taking on other people’s sh*t and either trying to solve the problems of the world or creating a story in my head that distorts the information and plays into conditioned insecurities and old wounds.
It’s all nonsense!
So let’s talk first about the open centers.
In Human Design, open centers are where we take in the energies of outside world. It’s where we are open to conditioning because the open center is like a receptor to the influences around us (as opposed to the defined centers where we have consistent access to that energy within ourselves and we broadcast it out to the world).
The open centers are inconsistent and impressionable, leaving us subject to the influences of unfiltered garbage. For example, the open Head center may feel compelled to come up with answers for every problem presented. It’s also open to overwhelm with all the possibilities presented. Jenny is going to massage school, maybe I should go to massage school. Angela is working with a coach, maybe I should work with that coach. Bonnie is taking up Pilates, maybe I should do Pilates too.
Another trick of the open Head center is to distort the facts or create a story around facts based in conditioning or wounds we have. One of these that has plagued me since my youth revolves around body image and self esteem. At first it was airbrushed models in magazines, and then perfect lives depicted on Instagram, and now with AI generated images of what beauty is, my open head center takes that input and creates a comparison about how I don’t measure up.
Logically, I know better than this. I know it’s nonsense, but the challenge is real to keep it in check.
The Head center and Ajna center work together.
When you combine the open Head with an open Ajna, the challenges are compounded. The Ajna is where we process information from the mind. So when we begin with inconstant messages from the mind and then have an inconsistent means of processing those messages, we can end up with quite a story of unfiltered garbage floating around in our minds.
So now what?
Beginning with the open head center and what comes in, we need to first discern what is ours and what belongs to other people. Is that my problem to solve? Is that an interest I want to pursue? Is that simply a story I’ve made up around a fact? It’s a constant game of making sense of it all.
For me, this is an ongoing and conscious process.
If I’m tired or hungry, it’s more difficult to separate facts from stories which allows old wounds and conditioning to take over. I can process better and have more control when I’m grounded and in a good space (one more reason to stay healthy and well rested!)
But it’s not all bad news.
There are benefits to having open centers. They are flexible and fluid and can offer great insight! Those of us with an open head center are flexible thinkers. The open Ajna allows us to process ideas in a variety of ways. So when we can get past the conditioning and pain points, our open Head and open Ajna offer the capacity for thinking and processing very deeply, and can access both the left and right brain for brilliant insights.
Retraining your mind and breaking through the past conditioning takes time. The best tools for this are your strategy and authority. For me, as a Manifesting Generator with the strategy to respond and inform, I need to look at each thought that presents and decide whether to respond (Is this about me or is it a story?) or how to respond (Do I really want to do Pilates?) based on my sacral authority. Then with my added Emotional Authority, I need to just sit tight and wait for a steady emotional state to make a final decision.
A Manifestor, Projector, or Reflector with their strategies and without the sacral authority will find different ways to maneuver and make sense of their open head center nonsense.
As I’ve gotten better at using my design to recognize when my mind is running amuck, stopping the stories and idea overwhelm from taking over has gotten much easier.
If you’d like to explore your design and how you operate in the world, read more about your Human Design here and see how it might help you find the tools you need for creating the peace and calm we all need in life.
With printable pages for each of your explorations, this downloadable journal is customizable and is as unique to you as your design. And now you can get it for just $2.22! Read more about the new Living My Design Journal here.
Oh, I love this! just diving into Human Design. Exploring and leaning into how I can honor being a Mani Gen. I so appreciate you breaking down Human Design in a beautiful and approachable way. 💖😘