For me consciousness and thoughts are typically consistent with trauma responses. Which sort of inverts the entire idea of a self. If our thoughts are nothing more than reactions to what is happening around us, perturbations in our little pond, are we really the ripples?
In someways, we don’t create: we hold, we interpret, we notice, we attend, we nourish. What happens is not ours, and is only indirectly the result of our efforts. That is when gratitude can appear.
Honoring someone or something establishes a separation or boundary between you or them. To hate, dislike, or dishonor removes all boundaries and separateness. Good luck.
I tend to shy away from people with “answers” preferring the company of those with interesting questions . But I suppose I should circle back to the “answer” people in a couple of weeks and see if what they left in the ground has begun to sprout.