Writing from Your Subconscious Mind

The benefit of writing from your subconscious mind is that you will have the ability to tap into a limitless resource of thought energy. Imagine your mind as an iceberg floating in an ocean of this thought energy. Your conscious mind is like the one-fifth of the iceberg that you see above the surface. But your subconscious mind is like the four-fifths that remains unseen... and is connected directly to the thought energy from which this ocean is made. So, by tapping into your subconscious mind, you not only get the energy that you generate as an individual, but you also receive a free pass to the abundant energy available in the ocean itself.

John Overdurf & Julie Silverthorn list 17 differences between the conscious and unconscious minds on page 66 of their book Training Trances: Multi-Level Communication In Therapy and Training, published Metamorphous Press, Oregon in 1994. Here are just four of those differences (the bolding is mine):

1. The conscious mind is logical. It likes things to make sense -- have a reason. The unconscious mind is intuitive and can make associations of information easily.
2. The conscious mind is linear thinking. It thinks in terms of cause—effect. The unconscious mind makes associations and connections between many thoughts, ideas and feelings.
3. Your conscious mind is only aware of the now. Your unconscious mind is unlimited in time and space. It holds all your memories and future constructs.
4. Your conscious mind has limited focus. Your subconscious mind has unlimited focus.

But there is a downside. Most of us live in our conscious mind. And our conscious mind often prevents us from accessing the power of our subconscious mind. It is the gatekeeper, the judge, the voice of doom and gloom that whispers in our ear when we are locked in the grip of writer's block.

The purpose of this blog (and the next) is to help you find ways to circumvent the conscious mind when repeating our mantra of "Thank you and goodbye" is simply not powerful enough.

"Know thy self, know thy enemy.
A thousand battles, a thousand victories."

Sun Tzu

Acknowledging Your Conscious and Subconscious Minds

In the spirit of Sun Tzu, let's take time out to consider how amazing the subconscious mind is. Its sheer capacity alone is like one of those cartoons where someone steps into a small shed and emerges into a cavern the size of California (insert your local state or province). Think about its (your) ability for unlimited focus and how it is unlimited in time and space. How it is not only able to house your memories, but your future constructs too. No wonder it is the best tool for overcoming brain freeze, the undisputed conduit to unlimited resources for ideas for any and all of your creative projects.

So, you may ask, if my subconscious mind is so all-fired wonderful, why do I get writer's block? Why is my mind such a complete blank?

You already know the answer. Your conscious mind gets in the way. Imagine the conscious and unconscious minds as two brothers: Cain and Abel or Jacob and Esau. Now think about what happened between them. (If you don't remember your bible studies, Cain slew Abel and Jacob cheated Esau out of his birthright.)

Ticket to Ride
Your conscious mind represents the practical, hard working, down-to-earth brother. Your subconscious mind represents the arty brother for whom everything turns out terrific, yet seems so effortless. Your subconscious mind comes up with the idea of harvesting the grain to make bread. Your conscious mind is the one has to wield the scythe and do the baking. And because you cannot do every single thing that your subconscious mind thinks of, your conscious mind becomes the gatekeeper or internal editor and ideas can only get by if they have a ticket or their name is on the list. The others are sent to the back of the line.

Protect and Serve
Many times your conscious mind does its job too zealously for your own good. Like your local police department, it should protect and serve. But all too often for creative types, it just protects.

Still to Come
Circumventing the Conscious Mind.

Questions?

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