“Beware the stories you read or tell,” poet and novelist Ben Okri writes, “Subtly, at night, beneath the waters of consciousness, they are altering your world.”
One benefit of practicing writing is that you become more attuned to your consciousness. You begin to see that, ah, this is what I’m thinking about, this is how I’m feeling. Being aware is critical, because a life without awareness is like walking dead.
The stories we tell shape our consciousness. Each of us has a few underlying narratives that we tell ourselves repeatedly throughout our lives. Very often these narratives were instilled in us where we were young with our upbringing. They can be helpful or unhelpful, so it’s important to pay attention to them.