As we establish our library of familiar patterns they evolve into potential stories where we have a certain expectation of the outcome. But sometimes, instead of being able to deal with something new based on the experience of accumulated patterns, we find ourselves experiencing a sudden and unfamiliar change. This change often manifests itself in the form of an unexpected and apparently unpredictable crisis. It may seem as if the crisis has suddenly arrived out of nowhere, but our dreaming awareness has usually registered an impending crisis before it registers in our conscious mind. We notice seemingly trivial clues … [Read more...]

The bigger picture continuously created by our unconscious awareness is not a huge masterpiece set in a gilt frame hanging flatly on a wall to be contemplated from a distance. Instead, we naturally construct an immersive and dynamic world from the countless tiny pictures that we unconsciously notice and absorb in waking and dreaming. These tiny pictures are not discrete and isolated data points but deeply connected fragments that we hold as meaningful patterns in our memories, stories and rhythms. We have evolved to store patterns rather than data points because most data is meaningless without a specific context. In our … [Read more...]

As we unconsciously search for our identities and gravitate towards what we value, we find ourselves on a journey that transports us through a variety of different viewpoints and perspectives. By shining our awareness out from these vantage points we begin to form beliefs about what we see being reflected back to us. So much of what we see can be confusing and conflicting so rather than trusting our own judgement we become filled with self doubt and uncertainty. Instead of exploring our own uncertainties we often copy the beliefs of others because they seem more certain and tangible. Some beliefs are small; that if … [Read more...]

As we become more aware of our actions and the purpose that emerges from them, we begin to realise that we find some intentions and identities more meaningful than others. The more meaningful something is to us, the more we need it. And the more we need something, the more we value it. In the same way that our identities reflect our intentions, what we value reflects our needs. Like our identities and intentions, our needs and values are usually experienced unconsciously and so we often become disengaged from what we really need and truly value. Instead, we allow pervasive advertising to convince us that our lives are … [Read more...]

As your unconscious sweeps your beams of awareness into the rich unspoken spaces all around you, you are just not shining randomly. You are looking for something unique that is of great significance and uniquely meaningful to you. In all that apparent mystery and confusion you are looking to find your own self. To make sense of who you really are. To truly identify yourself. Your identity rarely reveals itself by just passively waiting to be discovered in a random sweep of awareness. Instead you actively discover your identity through your intentions and actions. Depending on our small talk skills and social … [Read more...]