You’ve probably noticed that my content, both on this Substack publication and my social media accounts, has recently changed.
For starters, I haven’t talked much about language learning for the past couple of weeks. The reason has been that I’ve been exploring my unconscious and subconscious mind. I’m using the definition of these terms from this website. Here are two examples that demonstrate the difference pulled directly from the site I linked above that demonstrate the difference between the subconscious vs unconscious mind.
Subconscious: You dimly recognize that you feel a certain jealousy toward your teenage son. Yet you don’t know why. In reflecting about it, however, you begin to realize that where this feeling stems from is that (subconsciously) you begrudge the fact that he has so many more opportunities and privileges than you did at his age.
Unconscious: You have an aversion toward asparagus. The very sight of it makes you nauseous. Still, you have absolutely no idea why. What, because it’s been repressed, isn’t available to your consciousness is that when you were 6, your father insisted you eat this (new to you) vegetable on your plate, although you protested, for its smell back then was repulsive to you. But because you weren’t permitted to leave the table until you consumed it, after a fidgety hour you tried to shove it down your throat. . . and promptly vomited. Even worse, you got screamed at for the mess you made and told you were “disgusting.”
This exploration has lead to profound changes in my life.
Simply put, I don’t view myself or others the same was as I did before. In fact, in many ways I feel like I viewed the world through a distorted filter before. I probably still do, truth be told, but my hope is that the new filter is allows me to see a less distorted world.
Here’s an example of something I’ve been doing differently. When I am listening to someone talk, I focus intently on my subconscious and unconscious reactions to what they’re saying. Next, I put my subconscious and unconscious emotions into words and say them aloud. Provided that I align myself with the spirit of good and truth, talking to people like this creates a beautiful roller coaster that the other party and myself get to ride together.
When I’m alone, I have dialogues with my subconscious and unconscious mind to determine how I should spend my time.
This also has been quite the adventure. I’ve made significant changes to my life through this process, such as:
Getting rid of about half my clothes and buying a new wardrobe
Cutting back on the number of classes I personally teach
Having conversations with people that I should have had a long time ago
Publicly journaling
I’m curious, excited, and scared to see where this journey leads.