There is a hashtag in social media that describes a recent, though hardly novel concept: #WOKE. In this current context, being “woke” is a description of a politically charged state of consciousness, above and beyond previously normal states, that entails a new level of hyper-awareness of the social and political climate, particularly regarding the plight of underrepresented and oppressed minorities and the economically powerless. It entails a new understanding of, and a new attitude towards, the underlying inequities in our global socio-political arena. It is an implored call to action in relation to those inequities. It also entails the previous state of not being #WOKE, of not being aware at this preferable level.
Our purpose in the universe is to be aware of it, and to share that awareness with as many other conscious beings as possible in order to grow, advance, and develop the quality and depth of understanding among us all.
I would like to submit that we should all enter a new state of being #WOKE; but not simply politically or socially or economically. We need to be woke in a much more profound and universal sense. We need to be woke to the essential and imperative activity of all conscious beings. We need to be woke to the fact that consciousness, itself, is our raison d’être—that our purpose in the universe is to be aware of it, and to share that awareness with as many other conscious beings as possible in order to grow, advance, and develop the quality and depth of understanding among us all.
This is, of course, a sisyphean task. For as beings of both flesh and fancy, matter and mind, we are so easily lulled and seduced into countless states of unconscious and semi-conscious distraction. Through a constant onslaught of intrusive stimuli from an endless slew of sources, we are forever prodded and pulled into various states of somnambulant diversion that implore us to ignore our obligation to actively bear witness to the universe. Instead, we find ourselves lost in mindless media, high-tech gadgetry, and the burgeoning industries of amusement. As a result, we spend too many waking hours being un-woke, and too little time being truly woke. Such is postmodern life…
We are conscious beings. This defines us. This explains us. In fact, we may find that this explains everything we can ever know or care about. For it is from within our conscious states that we are aware of ourselves, the universe, and of each other. It is from within consciousness that we are able to apprehend, reflect upon, and comprehend our reality. Consciousness is where we live; so let’s make ourselves a bit more uncomfortable and get down to the business at hand: being conscious.
We are conscious beings. This defines us. This explains us. In fact, we may find that this explains everything we can ever know or care about. For it is from within our conscious states that we are aware of ourselves, the universe, and of each other. It is from within consciousness that we are able to apprehend, reflect upon, and comprehend our reality. Consciousness is where we live; so let’s make ourselves a bit more uncomfortable and get down to the business at hand: being conscious.
The simple truth is that being actively conscious is hard work. It takes focused and determined effort to purposefully enter into, and remain within, actively conscious encounters with the world and each other. And it is so very easy to slip into the habitual and ritualistic practices of following the familiar and comfortable path of least resistance. To answer each other with automatic responses; to mindlessly choose our default actions; to ignore the hard challenges before us, and instead take the easy way.
It is also true that often times when we are actively conscious, we put ourselves in awkward and vulnerable states of uncertainty and ineptitude—of fumbling and bumbling through the process of learning how to do something new; or of grasping a fresh and challenging concept; of forcing a desired behavioral change to improve ourselves; or of engaging someone within an earnest discussion beyond the normal pleasantries, in search of true understanding and deep meaning. The discomfort and energy required to engage in such active endeavors can be taxing; and we seek respite in the safe embrace of memorized habits and the warm comfort of the known.
Consciousness is truly a demanding gift, filled with the wonders of experience and the responsibilities of consequence. The immediacy of consciousness enrapts and penetrates our entire being. We are utterly consumed in those moments of focus and clarity; but our awareness in those moments can sometimes turn back upon itself, becoming critical and judgemental, causing further discomfort. Learning to live with that discomfort, and to use the critical voices inside us to help guide and propel us forward, instead of stifling and blocking our progress, demands even more energy and focus.
But while exemplary of our essential purpose, our conscious states do not fully explain, nor contain, the depth and complexity of our total knowledge, understanding, and emotion. In fact, we spend most of our energy engaged in nonconscious activities, even beyond the endless march of mundane distractions. We go through the world in various stages of unawareness of most of the activity going on within our own brains, our own minds—the depths of which contain vasts amounts of both stored and constantly accumulating data, with countless processes and meta-processes synthesizing that data into knowledge, and putting that knowledge to use. And every thought, every experience, every memory undergoing emotional valuation, to establish its priority and import within our existence. So much is going on beyond our actively conscious states of which we remain—in many cases completely—unaware.
Consciousness is where we shine (as well as where we can also shock and terrify). That is where reason, morality, and free-will thrive. And that is where we need to focus our attention in order to better understand…everything.
The precipitous and effortless transition from unconsciousness to full and present consciousness is one of the fascinating aspects of our awareness. It is that sudden feeling of wonderment we get when we are driving down a long highway for miles and miles, only to arrive at our destination with no recollection of how we got there; or that unexpected epiphany that bursts forth from the unconscious recesses of our minds. That organic flow between unconscious or preconscious awareness and conscious experience just seems to happen, even beyond our will. The natural movement from one state to another often seems to drive itself. Thoughts pop into our heads without request or demand; and we find ourselves immersed in a moment of experience or memory that was beyond our will to call forth.
But it is when we actively summon and consider those sequestered memories, that latent knowledge, and those underlying emotions—to actively reflect upon them, and purposefully use them with judgment and determined intention—that we are our best selves. Consciousness is where we shine (as well as where we can also shock and terrify). That is where reason, morality, ethical action, and free-will thrive. And that is where we need to focus our attention in order to better understand and act upon…everything.
