Thread by @m_ashcroft

I have a talking point that I want to bang on about more in different ways

that is "you can only respond to what you notice"

not being able to notice something (if it lies outside your awareness) renders you choiceless

expanding your capacity to notice things gives you agency

"expanded awareness" is experienced spatially, but extends just as effectively into conceptual spaces

if you can't notice the bus coming, you can't step out of the way

if you can't notice the belief you hold, you can't question it

if you can't notice your emotional responses, you will either be taken over by emotion, you will miss important information from your embodied self, or more likely, both

if you can't notice all the ways you could make a choice, you will default to the choices that feel familiar

the choices that feel familiar are, by definition, choices you have already made a lot

being unable to make unfamiliar choices, therefore, is symptomatic of being stuck

adding the Alexander Technique idea of Faulty Sensory Appreciation is interesting here

"the things that are familiar will feel 'right', even if they don't map onto reality"

so things you do repeatedly 'feel right', even if they're wrong, and you can't notice the way out

all this expansion of awareness stuff gives you the capacity to notice when:
- choices feel familiar or unfamiliar
- to notice what's actually happening in the world despite how right or wrong it feels
- to stay in the unfamiliar space and allow a transformation from a new choice