conscious- adjective- aware of and responding to one's surroundings; awake. Directly perceptible to and under the control of the person concerned

subconscious- adjective- the part of the mind one is not fully aware of, but influences actions and feelings

unconscious- adjective- not conscious, the part of the mind that is inaccessible to the "thinking" mind, but affects behavior and emotions.

Nonconscious- Past conscious actions frequently and consistently chosen in particular situations- now triggered automatically without conscious thought or intent

That last word is a new one for me! I came upon it as a result of a current news item titled, "First-born kid a tad brainier than siblings, study says". Being a first born kid I had to read more, so I did a search. After getting my fill of "birth order" info, my eyes wandered.

An article in "Science Daily" caught my eye, Failure At Nonconscious Goals Explains Negative "Mystery Moods" And boy oh boy, it helps me understand the origin of peculiar behaviors and feelings. The way they explain it, after consciously making choices to achieve a goal in a situation over and over, eventually they become automatic in similar situations- they get triggered without thinking.

It really got my mind going, what are my nonconscious actions, and, of course, whatever wacky "mindless" stuff other people around me do that doesn't make sense in the here and now. Hmmmmmm...

PS. Yippee, tonight is the shortest night of the year, which means that every night afterwards the days get shorter and shorter, my favorite time of year is on the way. Yay Winter- long dark nights work for me. Although I gotta say, so far this summer has been on the cool side. Hopefully I didn't jinx it by typing that!