Being Conscious

     As my blog is about creating our reality and or how we affect our reality, I found it may be helpful to talk about consciousness and it's meaning. Because the research I am doing explains that to be able to create our reality we have to be present, or conscious. So "conscious", as defined by Dictionary.com, is "the state of being conscious; awareness of one's own existence, sensations, thoughts, surroundings, etc." So my understanding of this definition is, not just knowing what's going on around you, but feeling it, being aware of every sound and smell, knowing how your life is going and thinking about how you are affecting others. By being so aware that we can make decisions quicker by feeling what we want, feeling what we need, and being able to name the emotion and where it's hitting us the most. "I'm scared" ok, where do you feel it? Is your heart skipping? Or your mind racing? Are you twitching or your belly nauseous? Feel your body and know what it's doing.

 In my research I found a couple books on my topic, although while I say "conscious", other authors call it "mindful" or "mindfulness". I found a book called The Miracle of Mindfulness, it's by a man named Thich Nhat Hanh, a man who published letters from a Vietnamese man named Brother Quang in 1974. In this book Quang talks about meditating and owning our feelings and reactions, and being awake or fully aware of ourselves and our minds. A paragraph stuck out to me, he is talking about a guard we create for ourselves, he refers to it as "the monkey's shadow". He calls it this because he refers to us as the monkey and our minds as the shadow, if we move it moves it cannot be detached (well, unless we die) but it's always there watching over us. Quang says, 

"While practicing mindfulness, don't be dominated by the distinction between good and evil, thus creating a battle within oneself. Whenever a wholesome thought arises, acknowledge it: 'A wholesome thought has just arisen." And if an unwholesome thought arises, acknowledge it as well: 'an unwholesome thought has just arisen." Don't dwell on it or try to get rid of it, however much you don't like it. To acknowledge it is enough. If you have departed, then you must know that you have departed, and if you are still there, know that you are still there. Once you have reached such an awareness, there will be nothing you need to fear anymore." (Hanh 39)

So be conscious by being aware of your thoughts, not by constantly thinking about them, just being aware that they are there. Once you are aware of  your thoughts there isn't anything you need to be afraid of because it's your thoughts that hold you back when you replay them in your head. So it's enough to just be aware of them.

I also found another book, You Are Here, by Thich Nhat Hanh, although by the same author, this book focuses more on Hanh's own journey and what he has learned from his own searching, instead of sharing letters from another man. My favorite quote from this book is talking about how a man who is a garbage man is still doing something wonderful. He learns how to use garbage and compost it and that compost turns into a beautiful flower. Hanh explains 

"The same thing is true of your happiness and your sorrow. Sorrow, fear, and depression are all a kind of garbage. These bits  of garbage are part of real life, and we must look deeply into their nature. You can practice in order to turn these bits of garbage into flowers. It is not only your love that is organic; your hate is, too. So you should not throw anything out. All you have to do is learn how to transform your garbage into flowers."

So again, by being mindful, or conscious, we can take our "garbage" and turn them into flowers. We choose by being conscious about our feelings. 

So to sum up this post, if we can learn to be conscious, or mindful, we can do great things. If we can learn to be aware of our own feelings and emotions and own them, we can create flowers and turn all the negative to good. It's all up to us to be conscious enough to let it happen.

Why Consciousness Matters to me

 My main question with, The Consciousness Project,  is "do we create our own reality?" Several of the articles that I will be researching suggest that we need to be conscious, to be aware that we affect our reality. There are articles about the theories of Viktor Frankl and research on Rogerian Theory that will help me present each of my questions.

I didn't always agree with the belief that we create our own reality due to lack of knowledge and understanding. I work for a company, that uses a therapeutic approach which is founded in existentialism, and trauma theory.  I started asking questions and became involved and truly interested in the practices. I have come to think differently and to be open to an awareness about myself and my own consciousness.

I think my question affects a variety of people.  On a daily basis an individual is caught up in so much chaos, hurt, and love. I often wonder how much of it I really caused, or in a better word, created. I think it's important for us to understand just how much we really do create or how we choose to create in any given situation, so we can better ourselves in our daily decisions.

So my current questions for this continuing blog will be related to: What is consciousness? How do other peoples realities affect our own? More to come as I continue my ongoing research into quantum physics.

Thanks for reading!

Welcome!

Hi readers!
Just a quick hi and introduction from me.
I'm Adriene, I grew up in southeast Wyoming, then moved to Texas for a few months, then on to Oklahoma where I graduated high school and started college, then moved to Colorado for a change in "scenery". I have always had an interest in being a therapist, I had a bad experience with several when I was growing up, so I wanted to become that therapist who actual listened and actually helped. I started taking college classes around a psychology degree and always payed close attention to any therapists I came in contact with to take notes on what I should and shouldn't do. Then once I moved to Colorado I started working for a therapist office that takes the therapy to a whole new level. The office combines yoga, meditation, and personal therapy to bring alignment back to your mind and body. I became intrigued with it all and created my question and fell in love with the topic and am ecstatic to do the research on this project. I am excited to know everyone's questions and opinions on each idea I post. I hope you enjoy reading!
Adriene