The Sacred Wave: Living with Emotional Authority
the emotional wave.
I used to think clarity was a lightning bolt.
You know—clean, fast, dramatic. Maybe accompanied by a song lyric or a suspiciously well-timed meme. But living with Emotional Authority has taught me that clarity isn’t a flash. It’s a tide. And it rarely comes when it’s convenient.
Welcome to the wave.
If you’ve got Emotional Authority in your Human Design, you already know: it’s not about being emotional. It’s about riding your emotions without building a beachfront condo on every high or low. Your truth doesn’t live in the excitement. Or the despair. It waits until the waters settle—and you’re not just reacting to the wave, you’re riding it.
And riding it, by the way, is a practice. Not a performance.
The Impulse Isn’t the Answer
Let’s talk about the moment your kid asks if they can sign up for something that sounds suspiciously like a logistical nightmare. Or your partner casually mentions moving across the country for a “new vibe.” You feel the YES rise like a tsunami—or the NO hit like a gut-punch.
But with Emotional Authority? That first hit isn’t the truth.
It’s the weather.
I’ve learned (the hard, messy, meltdown-y way) that jumping from the peak of emotional energy—whether it’s joy or panic—is like trying to plant a garden in a thunderstorm. Just because it’s loud doesn’t mean it’s clear. Emotional clarity asks you to wait until the storm passes. Until the sky doesn’t lie.
And that waiting? It’s not passive. It’s sacred.
Sleep on It. And Then Sleep Again.
I used to hate the phrase “sleep on it.” Like okay, cool, but what if I feel it now? What if it’s a hell yes right now? What if I’ve already mentally redecorated the house, married the person, started the business?
But that’s the trick of the wave—it makes everything feel realer than real in the moment. Until it doesn’t.
I’ve trained myself to wait for emotional neutrality. The quiet. The pause where the “yes” still feels right, but it’s no longer screaming for attention. Where the “no” doesn’t feel like a panic button, just a simple truth. If I can sit with the decision through the highs and lows and it still feels right when I’m calm?
That’s my green light.
Clarity Isn’t Certainty
One of the hardest parts about having Emotional Authority? The clarity that comes isn’t always 100%. It’s not a spreadsheet. It’s not a Pinterest board. It’s a gut-sigh, a feeling of I can live with this. I can move with this.
That was disorienting at first.
But then I realized: the emotional wave is here to bring wisdom, not guarantees. My wave has carried me into heartbreak, rebirth, business pivots, and cross-country moves. Every single one of those choices came after I sat with my feelings long enough to know they weren’t leading—they were just informing. And when I finally moved?
It felt like relief, not just excitement.
The Mundane Is a Mirror
Want to know how my wave really shows up? It’s not in the big decisions. It’s in dinner plans. It's in whether I text back. It’s in how I feel while folding the same damn laundry for the third time this week. Emotional Authority lives in the micro-moments, the mundane.
It asks me to pause before I say “yes” just to keep the peace.
It asks me to cancel the playdate when I realize I said “sure” in a good mood but I’m now emotionally fried.
It reminds me that my timing isn’t everyone’s timing—and that’s okay.
Living the Wave
If you live with Emotional Authority, you’re not meant to move on impulse.
You’re meant to feel your way through.
You’re here to normalize the pause, to de-romanticize reactivity, and to teach your people—your kids, your friends, your clients—that emotions are sacred data, not problems to fix or flee.
So next time someone asks you for a decision and your emotional tide is rising?
Say: “I’m not clear yet.”
Say: “Let me sit with that.”
Say: “I’ll get back to you after the storm.”
Because you’re not slow. You’re sacred. You’re synced with a rhythm that teaches patience, compassion, and the kind of truth that only comes when you stop chasing clarity and start allowing it.
And that?
That’s emotional wisdom.
Thanks for coming to my emotional wave TED talk.
— Jenn