When you enter a room and don't know why you feel uneasy...

When you bring a name to the tip of your tongue but can’t recall it...

When you meet someone and immediately feel "you don't like them," but can't explain why.

All these "meaningless" reactions might actually be silent whispers coming from the depths of your mind. Psychology has been seeking to recognize and understand this voice for years.

Have you ever suddenly felt antipathy toward someone without knowing why? Or have you noticed that an event from years ago is still influencing your decisions today? Perhaps this is a sign that the unconscious, the unseen yet powerful player of your mind, is at work.

What is the unconscious and why is it so important?

We all think we operate only with the conscious part of our mind. But this is like seeing only the tip of an iceberg. Beneath it is a massive structure: the unconscious. This concept, first systematically defined by Sigmund Freud, includes everything from our childhood memories to suppressed desires and fears. Interestingly, even though we are unaware of them, these contents guide our daily decisions, relationships, and even our dreams.

Silent Waves Rising from the Depths of the Mind

Imagine this: You dream about your ex in the morning, and by the afternoon, an inexplicable feeling of melancholy overwhelms you. You can’t quite decipher its meaning, but the feeling still lingers. Could this be the unconscious "trying to tell you" something?

According to Freud, dreams are the language with which the unconscious speaks through symbols. Carl Jung, on the other hand, believes that these dreams carry traces not only from the individual unconscious but also from the collective (societal, cultural) unconscious. In other words, dreams are the mind's letters to you. But in code!

_{An image representing the reflection of the unconscious mind. (Pexels)}

 How Does the Unconscious Affect Our Daily Lives?

We can illustrate how the unconscious influences our daily lives with a few short examples:

• Slip of the tongue: Saying "goodbye" instead of "good morning" to your boss. Could it be that, deep down, you want to leave your job?
• Decision-making moments: Why do you keep engaging with someone who doesn’t feel right?
• Emotions: Why does someone you hate remind you of your father?

All of these seem a bit familiar, right? The unconscious casts the shadow of the past onto the present. But sometimes, these shadows are so subtle that we don’t even notice them.

What Does Science Say About This?

Today's neuroscience and cognitive psychology also acknowledge the existence of unconscious processes. Our brains process thousands of pieces of information every second, but only a tiny fraction of that reaches our consciousness. The rest is automatic decisions, intuitions, and habits... For example, judging a face as "dangerous" in 0.03 seconds... This decision might not be yours, but the result of a deep algorithm in your mind.

So, How Can We Connect with the Unconscious?

• You can take note of your dreams: Write down the dreams you remember each morning. Over time, you'll notice patterns in your mind.
• You can observe yourself: What could be behind sudden outbursts of anger or irrational fears?
• You can engage in art: Painting, writing, music... The unconscious expresses itself through symbols.
• You can undergo therapy: Psychotherapy is a gateway to discovering the unconscious.

In conclusion, the unconscious is not the graveyard of repressed thoughts; it is the place where your emotions, desires, and past whisper to you. Listening to it can be difficult, sometimes striking, but most often healing.

When you begin to hear the silent whispers of your mind, you start to meet the deepest part of yourself.