What It's Like to be a Right Arrow Thinker in a Quad Left World
I had to giggle writing this headline because I’m not even sure it will land with anyone who isn’t pretty deep into Human Design – but that’s ok, because I’m here to explain! The “quads” in Human Design refer to the arrows in your chart. You may have noticed them before but there is SO much going on looking at a bodygraph that they probably weren’t the first thing that caught your attention.
As you can see here, there are 4 different arrows – the two on the left are derived from the subconscious part of your design and relate to how your particular body works. The body is often referred to as a “vehicle” in Human Design and I think of it more like a kind of plant – when you get a new plant, you need to know what type of environment it favors, what it likes to eat or drink (if it does!), and what you need to do to help it grow and thrive. That’s what’s happening in your subconscious programming. On the right side, the arrows deal with your conscious state of being and show you how your mind works. You know how to keep your plant-body happy and can learn a bit more about how it views the world. Yes, I believe plants are intricately conscious, sue me.
There is so much rich information in these arrows but for the sake of this conversation, I’m not to stick with a look into the top right arrow. P.S. if you’re intrigued and interested in diving into your arrows, I cover these in readings.
The Mind in Human Design
Human Design teaches that we’re all continuously evolving and growing as cognitive/energetic beings. Before 1718, we had 7 energetic centers because our existence was primarily focused on survival, and as such, our minds needed to focus in a very strategic, planned manner. If you want to outsmart the giant things that are trying to eat you, your brain needs to figure out the solution – very quickly. As we evolved into beings with 9 energetic centers – where we are now – our world became more expansive and we collectively pushed towards pursuits of creativity, spirituality, and innovation.
The big kicker is we all think differently on purpose. As Ra Uru Hu says, “It’s about each of us having a unique cognitive purpose on this plane.” So if we’re all meant to have a different cognitive purpose, how does this play out in reality?
If your top right arrow faces left, your mind works best with strategy and planning. You think in a more linear manner, are good with logic and patterns. This is associated with the masculine archetypal energy – you’re all about outputting “the way of thinking” and creating systems that reflect that structure. There is a TON of emphasis put on this way of thinking and learning in our society. It feels very corporate but is truly a skill valued in all lines of work and life – What’s your plan? How do you get from point a to b? What’s your timeline? That’s left arrow energy.
The right arrow is more about creativity, possibility, and operates in a more “quantum” manner. It’s associated with the feminine energy archetype and is receptive and more about letting the answers and the plan come as you go and flow with the world. It’s quantum in the sense that it trusts the answer is always just floating around in the ether and when you’re ready, it will come through. It serves to look at the structures and systems built by the left brain and highlight what is or isn’t working for us all. To me, it’s more intuition, less analytics.
Logic, Right Arrow and the Left Arrow World
I ABSOLUTELY love the conundrums that show up digging into my own Human Design chart, and I hope doing so is instructive to others. I have a right-facing arrow which means that I am a passive learner and my strengths are in creativity, explaining things, and imagining what could be. There needs to be room to move in everything I do.
While this FEELS right to me, I also have a Human Design chart that tells me logic is my dominant energy. I have 7/9 centers defined and my circuitry and incarnation cross are all about creating structure and correcting things that don’t work in systems. It comes off as a very “strategic” thinker kind of energy – but I’m meant to be creative and passive.
How the eff does that shake out?
Well, this is something I’m still learning and growing with but I have seen some pretty clear examples that show how it goes. I’ve been in a variety of different professional roles but working in strategy and operations was one of my favorite. I like having a view into the big picture and knowing what the plan is – so much so, that my resumé is riddled with strategic thinker buzz words like “loves analytics, process management, content calendars, and developing/implementing strategy!” It screams, pick me I am the most strategic thinking of them all!
But, since gaining awareness of my Human Design, I’ve noticed a trend. I don’t actually like coming up with strategies on my own. I don’t like making plans. Every time I put myself in a position of authority in developing strategy, it feels really off. I push myself really hard to stick to what I’ve been taught and hold myself accountable to rules and goals, but there is so much resistance that shows up. There’s very little room for sacral or splenic responses that make you shift gears. And unfortunately, when you told someone you were the authority on making plans … and then point out all the flaws and reasons it won’t work … and or change the plan all the time … you start to lose that power. And that really doesn’t feel good.
This is where I had to put my logical energy in park and think about it differently. If I’m so “logical” why is this not coming naturally to me? The answer is because I’m not meant to approach strategy or logic in the same way that people with left arrow minds do, even though our current society favors this path.
So I went deep into the idea of how do you apply logic in a more receptive manner? Well first and foremost, we think of logic in a way that is VERY left arrow mind. Logic isn’t necessarily a strategic or planned process. It’s just the ability to order things based on expected outcomes. The way we logic through things is subjective and arbitrary by nature – if you have a different experience, you’ll come to a different “expected outcome” than someone else. If I am meant to have a unique cognitive purpose here on Earth, why am I trying to make my brain do something it’s not designed for? Conditioning! When you grow up in an education system that is created by left arrow minds, that’s the bar you strive for. So I’m the creative rebel here to tell you it doesn’t have to be like this.
Logic can be incredibly intuitive, it’s all about allowing the right answers to channel through the mind. It’s seeing through the picture so all the 3D elements come to life. That’s the quad right magic!
We need creativity like we need to have a peripheral view in our eyes, so we can see the things that aren’t right in front of our faces. This is the feminine energy that looks to serve and benefit all, instead of catering to one primary goal. There are many nuances that come in – it’s just about being open to the possibilities.
When we’re open to what could be, we can truly use our strengths in a complementary way. I love having someone with a left arrow come in and help me build a framework so I can create more space for creativity. Someone very smart built the bones of this website I’m writing on, but I get to do whatever I want creatively with the content.
I’d love to hear your stories and experiences with this energy – left and right arrow alike! If you’re not sure what your arrow placement is, let’s talk in a session!