Unconsciously Conscious

"We accept the reality of the world with which we're presented. It's as simple as that". 

- Christof from the 1998 film The Truman Show

"We accept reality so readily – perhaps because we sense that nothing is real,"

- Jorge Luis Borges

Are we unconsciously conscious, or consciously unconscious?

Even though we are aware of certain things happening around us, our body sensations, and our feelings, we are mostly passive participants in our consciousness.

We go about life in a rather automatic way. Our brain and neurological system have developed integrated patterns of habitual firing that allow for unconscious facility. Imagine how dysfunctional it would be if we had to think about planting one foot in front of the other so to walk. Not so different with thoughts and feelings: they just come up.

We don’t make a conscious choice as to what to think or feel. We very much accept whatever surfaces as legitimate, and identify them as our ‘selves’. In other words, our consciousness is largely unconscious, guided by a program we hardly understand. While it makes for great efficiency this unconscious system becomes a huge problem when it comes to negative thoughts, emotions and addiction.

Is there a way out of this labyrinth?