Do you remember when you were a teenager and you were trying to rationalize to your parents why you should be a able to do the very thing that they kept saying you couldn’t do? Or better yet, when you were trying desperately to help them understand why it was absolutely necessary for you to have gone against what they had told you not to do in the first place? How did that go for you? At some point, you probably heard these words from your parent; “You should just listen to yourself!” Oh how that statement struck a nerve, whether you admitted it or not! It certainly caused you reflect.
Enough of revisiting those uncomfortable teen years, but the statement still is valid. “You should just listen to yourself.” What does that mean exactly? We can learn a lot about ourselves, and about the world around us if we would tune into that inner voice that often is sometimes one step ahead of us in understanding and awareness.
Most of us accept the fact that we have at least two portions of our brains functioning simultaneously; the Conscious and the Unconscious realms. Some researcher prefer a three tiered model of the Conscious, Subconscious, and Unconscious minds. The bottom line is, we are parallel processors! As was stated in an article in Psychology Today; “Thinking, memory, and attitude operate on two different levels: the conscious/deliberate and the unconscious/automatic.” David G. Meyers, “The Powers and Perils of Intuition” Nov. 1, 2002.
Carl Jung taught that “perception via the unconscious” was using sense perception only as a starting point, to bring forth ideas, images, possibilities, patterns, ways out of a blocked situation, by a process that is mostly unconscious.
Why is this important? There is power is parallel processing. Not just using our rational conscious thinking to make our way through life, nor relying totally on instincts and intuition, but utilizing all of the resources that we have at our disposal. Why not tap into the vast subconscious recesses of our memory and thinking capacity? Then use those to our advantage by rationally weighing reason and “the other” to make decisions. Here’s a simple way to explore some of the resources that you might not realize you have been hoarding in the past…..
Start journaling. Not just keeping a diary. No daily posts to Face Book about what you had for coffee, or how you felt about that silly looking character standing in front of you in the check out lane. Rather, deeply self-aware notes and scribbles that reflect your thoughts, feelings, hunches, and perspectives from the wide variety of learning experiences that you brush up against each day. you might try sitting quietly and just recording the thoughts that go through your brain.
Do you read? Then keep a learning journal close by and when you become aware of a stray thought that seems to bubble up into your consciousness, write it down along with a brief description of what you were reading, to add context to the note. I rarely study without one of my study journals at hand. If you have a significant experience or event that left you with lingering emotions, write down what was happening, how you felt, and what importance you intuitively attribute to that moment.
If you read the scriptures, do the same thing. As I counsel with individuals, I encourage them to read and keep a journal. Standard practice for many years in some of the social behavior fields has been to journal. It’s a great way to look for patterns, and themes. It helps to work out unresolved issues, but it is also a wonderful way to get to know your “other self.” That part of your being that can be the more creative and intuitive side of you. Oh by the way, if you get images in your thoughts, feel free to record those as well.
If you try this experiment for a period of time, you will most likely start to see a framework of substance, and patterns to your thoughts and impressions that you might not have otherwise noticed. Do some analysis, see where it leads. This can be a first step towards bringing both your conscious and subconscious brains into rapport.
Besides, its fun to sometimes listen to yourself!
Till next time.
improvements lab 