“Consciousness is one of the fundamental questions; it is not so much an experience of the world or relationships “as they are”, rather, it is a bizarre affair in which the colloquia of our concerns and habits prefigure the experiences we derive »in relation» with people, timelines, situations and events.

Thus it is that consciousness organizes the world of our perceived values and identities according to the concerns we bring from within our minds. What is seen then, is always a reflection of these concerns.

Broadly, however, we can become aware that some species of concerns are liberating and jovial, intelligent and expansive. Rather than dictating an ever-narrowing path for awareness and attention, they introduce novel and useful alternatives for relation, thought and learning. We can easily develop the sense of whether the form of our concern, interest and awareness is »narrowing the field of consciousness (and dictating too few forms and relations) or expanding it (thus introducing unexpected alternatives).

There are situations in which narrowing pays off, as well. Some specific tasks require narrow focus and clear attention. But where these tool-like necessities bleed over into the formative ground of our lives and hearts, we may wish to introduce species whose natures are broad, inclusive, generous… and kind.

Both basic forms always work together in nearly all of our consciousness activity; the question at hand is whether stress, fear, pain or anxiety are copiously involved in selecting which aspect is predominant, and if they are, whether or not the world that emerges to our awareness and concern in any way exists. As we become aware of this question, we may start to recognize when we are being led into a circus whose costumed others and circumstances are primarily projections from our own concerns (and psyche). This is a startling moment in our development, in which we may recover aspects of our creativity, personality and nature that are otherwise buried beneath such projections and our fear of discovering this.

The simplest thing I wish to convey is that consciousness has endless forms, and many of the thought-like forms derive not so much from the world or experience as what concerns us; our concerns drive the derivation of categories for objects of experience, and this derivation is deeply informed by the purposes for which our concerns emerge, and find expression in thought, speech, judgement, description, evaluation and … love.”

— an anonymous informant