subconscious

Affirmation Hesitations

| againstthedream

A comic strip about mindful self-talk and our subconscious.

All images by the author

I’ve been playing around with affirmations this week. I had an idea to make affirmation videos, so I started writing some. It turns out it’s pretty easy to do these badly and send the wrong message to our subconscious.

As I wrote some bad ones, I noticed they sounded like how I would talk to myself when I first tried to stop drinking. It was a bit of an aha moment. I’d say to myself things like, ‘I WON’T drink’, not realising my subconscious would erase the ‘won’t’. I kept telling it, ‘I drink’.

It’s a fascinating subject, and this artwork is my very amateur exploration of it. I wish I’d understood this better at the beginning of my sober journey. I think it would have helped.

I haven’t been online much in the last week or two, so I hope everybody’s well and heading into a lovely weekend x

Subconscious Sabotage

| againstthedream

A comic strip about doing the opposite of what we say we’ll do.

All images by the author

I’m frustrated by how much I sometimes self-sabotage, but I’m thankful I no longer do it with alcohol. My most obvious failures are around trying to eat healthily and exercise more. I can also be undisciplined and easily distracted when I know writing, illustrating, reading or studying would create growth-focused new options. I know I’m not the only one with these sorts of problems.

The idea of the subconscious fascinates me. I understand it’s there to help me and keep me safe, but somehow, over the years, I’ve programmed it with a few misguided ideas about how to do this. I often do the opposite of what I had planned, and I am trying to figure out why.

I hope to understand the programs my subconscious is running and find ways of changing my default reactions and beliefs. I’d like to program for positive things, such as growth over limitation, courage over fear, abundance over scarcity, and consistency over haphazard efforts.

I’ll let you know if and when I figure out how. In the meantime, I’ll try to keep my face out of a cake! If you have any suggestions for corraling the subconscious chaos, I’d love to hear them in the comments.