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Once you understand how your mind works, you must question the truth of what it has been telling you. This allows you to shift from a closed state of mind to openness. First, we will describe how your mind creates your story, and then we will give you a simple method to shift your view of the story it has created. Notice we did not say you created the story. Your mind did, and as you will see, you are not your mind.

The illusory sense that your mind is you is what is often referred to as the ego. Albert Einstein once commented that the ego is “an optical illusion of consciousness.” The Toltecs of Mayan culture called it the Parasitic Mind. In Zen Buddhism it is referred to as Monkey Mind. You might have also heard it called your Gremlin. Call it what you will, this parasite mind creates the interpretations that you use to create your reality. Your external world is a reflection of this illusion.

If you’ve ever felt as though you’ve been possessed by an outside entity, it’s because in effect, you have. Unfortunately, most people have completely lost the awareness that the voice in their head isn’t them; they are in a form of denial. Of course, that denial is also the parasite mind speaking. The very survival of the parasitic mind is dependent on your belief that the story it is creating is true. When you live in this state, you are what some refer to as spiritually unconscious.

So how exactly did the parasitic mind take control of your consciousness to create its story? Your parasite mind focuses on three types of objects: mental, emotional, and physical. These objects are separate from your consciousness, but the parasite mind wants you to believe they are one and the same.

Here’s a simple illustration of how the parasitic mind works. Imagine you are driving on a long, straight highway. You notice a house that you admire and you begin to think of all the things you could do in that house, your children playing in the backyard, the way holiday lights would be seen by people driving by, what you would plant in the garden. Your consciousness is drawn in to the story the parasitic mind is creating. As you think of all the possibilities, your emotions and mental reactions draw your consciousness in further. Your awareness is now in an inner movie theater watching your thoughts create a major motion picture, a story that begins to expand in your thoughts. You are no longer sitting in your car; you are focused on the inner show that’s playing, which is completely unrelated to your driving. All of a sudden, you look up and realize that you’ve passed your exit. Now you have to drive to the next exit, turn around, and head back to your destination, quite likely annoyed with yourself for daydreaming.

What occurred is that your conscious awareness was attracted to a distant thought, focused on it, and lost itself in the thought. This thought process is going on within you all of the time. It is the source of the parasite mind’s story creation. Throughout your life the parasite mind takes imprints from your experiences and creates a blueprint, which becomes what you operate from. For most of your life, this thought blueprint stays the same, because these thoughts are familiar and safe. They are what you know at the parasite mind’s level.

The emotions that arise from your thoughts are also recognizable, with fear and love and other types of feelings appearing based on your personal experiences. In this case, the annoyance arose from self-judgment for missing your exit. If you had a past experience of being punished for daydreaming, the resulting emotions might cause an even stronger reaction.

When something happens to trigger an emotion, your reaction to the event will be fairly predictable. Eventually, the thoughts and feelings will dissipate. Meanwhile, the parasite mind continues to create stories based on the mental, emotional, and physical inputs that triggered the painful emotions. As a result, you lose contact with where your thoughts actually originated. Although they were caused by an external source, they are now controlling you and the way you live your life.

As time goes by, the parasitic mind observes and records more and more objects, drawing your consciousness deeper and deeper in to that inner surround-sound theater. Your parasitic mind has gained control because you’ve lost perspective: the cause of your thoughts is not you. But your true self is always at the center, looking out at the feelings, thoughts, and physical objects the parasitic mind is focused on. You are not orbiting around those objects; they are moving around you. However, the parasitic mind has tricked you into believing that the reverse is true. As a result, you are now living an unconscious life with the parasitic mind directing the show.

When you lose your consciousness to the parasitic mind, the natural tendency is to close down because the emotions that accompany the parasitic mind’s thoughts are real, and often uncomfortable. When you make a choice to stay safe instead of recognizing that your thoughts are the cause of your discomfort, you become what you are observing and experiencing. The parasitic mind and its external focus is driving you instead of your consciousness and inner awareness being the source of your actions.

www . grand-illusions . com / images / articles /opticalillusions / dragon_illusion / dragon . pdf

*The artwork of M.C. Escher shows crazy worlds in which staircases appear to go nowhere and people “sit” upside down or sideways.

*The plywood pillar at your local museum is painted a creamy, mottled white, with deep grey veins and other imperfections so it looks like real marble.

*When you put your dinner on a 12-inch plate instead of a 17-inch one, you eat less food and feel more satisfied by it.

What do these three facts have in common? They are all optical illusions. Illusions are important in writing, too. A piece that looks great will read better than one that is visually dull or confusing.

I’m old enough to have attended college when students commonly submitted essays written by hand. But even back in those dark, pre-computer ages, I learned pretty quickly that typewriting my work guaranteed a grade that was at least 10% higher! Anyone who doesn’t pay attention to presentation is like the college student who insists on writing by hand — or the chef who slaves over a luscious five-star meal and then slops it onto a blue plastic plate. But here’s the good news. It’s easy to improve your writing presentation. Let me give you five simple tricks you can adopt.

1) Use short paragraphs. When I was in grade 7, Sister Miriam Claire tried to convince us that paragraphs were defined by their content. She used scary words like “topic sentence” and “unity” and “coherence.” Then, when I became a journalist, I learned a much easier rule: Paragraphs have nothing to do with content — they are simply a visual tool. Those lovely white indent marks not only give your audience a space to rest its eyes — they make it easier for readers to find their place. Think of your indents as little life preservers floating in the stormy sea of grey type. Use one every four sentences or so. (Note: If you are writing for a very narrow column width, or if your sentences are very long, indent even more frequently.)

2) Use subheads.Subheads are mini-headlines That appear in the middle of stories. They used to be common in newspapers and magazines but seem to be out of favour now. But they are ubiquitous on the web — and for good reason. Subheads provide extra entry points for skimmers and scanners. Just be sure to do them right. I see too many subheads that are simply “labels.” A good subhead is both interesting and specific. And it also uses a verb.

Boring, label subhead: Snorkeling

Better subhead:Swim beside jewel-hued fish

3) Highlight key words or sentences. If you’re a woman of a certain age, the salon adds highlights to your hair for a darn good reason — they make you look younger, richer and more interesting. Likewise, boldface and italics can help infuse your copy with extra appeal. Just don’t make the common mistake of over-using the highlights and becoming the literary equivalent of a bleached blonde. Many writers fail to appreciate that italics and boldface are actually harder to read than regular Roman type. These specialized typefaces should be used sparingly –a few words at a time– and not in great swaths of copy.

4) Use bullets or numbers. We human beings are hard-wired to appreciate parallel thoughts and good organization. If you provide bullets or numbers, your audience will likely continue reading until the end. Giving your readers a list is a bit like setting a bowl of pretzels in front of them. You can relax knowing that they’ll keep eating until the bowl is empty. (You may have noticed that today’s column has both bullets and numbers.)

5) Use white space generously. In addition to indenting, add other white space whenever you have the opportunity. You can use it between paragraphs, between sections, before and after graphics. Just as a mat and frame help make a photo look better and more significant, so, too, white space will dramatically improve the look of your words.

Optical illusion? Or smart writing? You decide.