Meditation ~ Conscious v. Subconscious

From my own lived experience....

We take in data via our senses, upon which it is stored in our brains. There it sits, raw and undigested in the form of subconscious thought. With conscious thought comes the unpacking and integration. We may not understand our subconscious thoughts yet, but we are still reacting to them emotionally. Therefore, to access them, we start by thinking about our emotions. The subconscious is also the level at which the Holy Spirit often speaks to us.

We need time for contemplation and prayer so that we can sort through the data of our lives and integrate it into our conscious thought, where that data becomes operative. The subconscious can also be a powerful source of objectivity insofar as it is unprocessed data.

Sometimes, you go through phases of life that emphasize living (gathering data), contemplating (analyzing that data), or course-correcting (practicing wisdom).

In a sense, youth, middle-age, and old-age follow that arc. Youth (gathering data), middle-age (analyzing data), old-age (course-correction, wisdom).