The boundary between the unconscious and consciousness is elusive.  It’s more of a moving threshold rather than a specific classification of elements.  This threshold varies with our focus, attention to detail, energy level, and integration with our environment.  The elements constantly change from conscious to unconscious and back again.  It is much like the water cycle that fuels the weather.

The central part of our inner world is the ego, the sense of “I” that organizes our thoughts and feelings.  The decisions that emanate from the ego drive the mental weather patterns.  Our decisions give energy and motion to our genetic drives, core beliefs and inspirations.  This movement forms our thoughts like water forms the clouds.  Out of our thoughts and beliefs our action gives way to experience which feeds the reservoir of self-reliance.  This reservoir in turn feeds both unconscious and conscious elements and thus the cycle continues.  This cycle constantly adapts to uncertainty.  Like the weather there are storms of anger and periods of utter calm.

The analogy of weather to our internal mental patterns is no doubt over-extended.  However, it is useful to realize that our internal system is a cyclic process made up of our mental patterns that continually adapts to randomness external to us as well as within us.  This can help us when we communicate to others. Recognizing we may not be aware of all of our surroundings due to our focus, attention to detail and energy level, we can allow ourselves to ask questions and  clarify information.  We don’t have to be so stuck on ourselves.  We can tolerate others to be a mixture of conscious and unconscious elements. We can allow for miscommunication and misinterpretation.  In doing so we enable ourselves to be more patient with the people in our lives.  We become more patient with ourselves.

So take some time and watch the weather that cycles within.