We have conscious thoughts all the time. And then we have our subconscious thoughts.
You know both of these things.
Conscious thoughts are basically the thoughts that result from our awareness. They are the deliberate processing of information in the mind.
When we have a conscious thought, it involves our ability to reflect, reason, and make decisions. “I’m going to get up out of this chair, go into the kitchen, and fix myself a big old peanut butter and banana sandwich on soft, squishy white bread.” Like that.
Essentially, conscious thought is the mental activity that we are aware of happening in our minds. Like right now. It’s like when we actively think about something, or when we analyze a situation, or engage in problem-solving. And we do these things based on all our interactions with the world around us. All our perceptions and memories, mostly.
And then we have unconscious thought. The background brain, I think. It refers to mental processes that occur without awareness. These things are our automatic behaviors or instincts.
The subconscious mind is responsible for many automatic or habitual behaviors, such as walking, breathing, and even driving, which we perform without conscious effort.
It plays a significant role in shaping our emotional responses. Those times when we have reactions to various cues or situations. Again, it is often based on past experiences and our associations with them.
The subconscious mind stores a whole big lot of information. This includes memories, beliefs, and learned behaviors. And these things influence our actions.
It houses our beliefs, attitudes, and values, which can impact our self-image, confidence, and behavior.
Many psychologists believe that dreams are a window into the workings of the subconscious mind. And through these dreams of ours, things like our hidden fears, or our desires, or unresolved conflicts, are often revealed.
Some people believe that their intuition or gut feelings are the result of subconscious processing. That is when the mind makes rapid assessments based on past experiences and knowledge.
I like to consider the things of our subconscious minds. You know.
Like when a particular smell sparks a past memory, like the scent of vanilla might bring back some childhood baking of cookies.
Or when we have some other emotional trigger. For example, if someone criticizes us, our subconscious might automatically recall past moments when some sort of criticism led to pain. And then this causes some sort of emotional response in us. And we might not even know where it came from.
Then there are those moments when we have a bias about something. We subconsciously prefer one group or person over another. And we have no idea why. But somewhere along the line, something has influenced us, like our past experiences. And this has now shaped our thinking.
Or how about when we all of a sudden have some sort of fear or anxiety about something? We get a sense of dread or nervousness about an event or situation. Out of the blue. We’re not consciously aware of the root cause, but something happened somewhere that made us feel this way, and it is all churning around in the subconscious mind.
Yeah. I like the little mysteries of the subconscious.
It keeps me guessing.
Like, yeah. It does.
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“Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” — Carl Jung
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“The interpretation of dreams is the royal road to a knowledge of the unconscious activities of the mind.” — Sigmund Freud
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“Your subconscious mind is a powerful force. It works while you are awake and while you are asleep.” — Joseph Murphy
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The subconscious. The background of it all.
