“The past is not dead. It’s not even past.” — William Faulkner
The Past Is Our Default Setting : The Hidden Neural Loops
Most of us, most of the time, live in and through the past. But the past isn’t just what happened back then. It’s the neural networks grooved into our brains, shaped by the meaning we attributed to past events. Faulkner put it succinctly: The past is not dead. It’s not even past.
We don’t just remember the past—we live in it.
Our present-day thoughts, feelings, and actions are often echoes of past experiences, playing out in the present like an old record stuck on repeat.
The Trauma Loop: Why We Reenact the Past
The more painful the original event, the more emotionally charged the experience, the deeper the groove in our brain. And every time we unconsciously repeat the same patterns, we reinforce them.
Different partner, same ending. Change job, same toxic boss. New friendships, same betrayal.
Sound familiar?
This is why we reenact trauma.
A world that was shaped by early failures of love, neglect, or painful events (death, accidents, illness, or emotional wounds) tends to recreate itself in adulthood.
Freud Called It “Repetition Compulsion”
We don’t just passively suffer from our past—we actively participate in recreating it.
- Relationships that mirror our early wounds.
- Reacting to situations as if they were the past repeating itself.
- Structuring our inner world in a way that keeps confirming old conclusions.
As Faulkner so wisely put it: “The past is not dead. It’s not even past”.
It’s sobering to realize how deeply ingrained these patterns are. But there’s good news:
We are not our brains.
The Ego: A Past-Based Identity That Resists Change
The ego—our constructed identity—was not consciously built. It formed in reaction to how the world treated us, especially in childhood. We didn’t consciously choose it. We constructed it outside of awareness in response to external unfavourable conditions – and then fused with it.
This is why the ego clings so desperately to its sense of self. It defends itself against any challenge—whether from a therapist, a life event, or even our own self-reflection.
And when someone (say, your therapist) challenges this self-perception, the ego resists, sometimes by concluding:
“They just don’t get me—just like everyone else.”
The ego isn’t malicious. It’s simply doing what it was designed to do. You got it…the past is not dead. It’s not even past.
- Confirm past patterns.
- Keep us safe (by maintaining the familiar).
- Reinforce the narrative that has kept us surviving.
But survival is not the same as living. Remember, the past is not dead. It’s not even past.
The Past Is Our Default Setting
The brain’s mind—what we often call the ego mind—is wired to reconfirm the past. It filters experiences to make them fit old narratives.
This is likely what William Faulkner meant when he said:
“The past is not dead. It’s not even past.”
In a way, the past is alive—because our brain keeps it running in the background like an outdated operating system.
J. Krishnamurti captured this insight when he said, “Thoughts are matter.”
Most thoughts aren’t fresh, new, or creative. They are matter—the residue of past conditioning, mechanically repeating.
This is why when the ego is in charge of shaping the future, we just get a repackaged version of the past.
Like Faulkner said, the past is not dead. It’s not even past.
There Is Another Mind: The Source Mind
But there is another mind within us—one that doesn’t function through past conditioning.
Call it:
- Source Mind
- Clear Mind
- Zen Mind
- Heart Minds
This mind does not live through old stories. It simply takes life as it is—without interpretation, attachment, or fear-based conclusions.
It doesn’t recycle past pain into the present.
The Shift: From Egoic Mind to Clear Mind
The good life—the life of freedom, peace, and creative possibility—only happens when we make the shift from the ego mind to the Clear Mind.
I call the self that emerges through this shift the Heart Self.
The Heart Self Breaks Us Out of the Past As Our Default Setting
The Heart Self isn’t trapped in the past. It sees life differently by:
✔️ Reprogramming the brain. (Not in a mechanical way, but through presence, choice, and awareness.)
✔️ Creating new futures (A new future is actually possible.)
✔️ Being grateful. (It recognizes life itself as a gift.)
✔️ Expresses compassion. (It holds suffering without forming negative conclusions about reality.)
✔️ Sees others as they are. (Instead of unconsciously recruiting them to repeat painful past roles.)
✔️ Self-validating (It knows that simply being is enough—it has nothing to prove.)
✔️ Surrendering to life. (It trusts the deeper intelligence moving through existence.)
The Good News? This Mind Is Already You.
It’s not something outside of you. Or something you have to become.
This mind is the awareness beneath the ego—the presence that has always been there.
The only thing needed is to stop identifying with the past-based mind.
The past isn’t dead. But it doesn’t have to control you anymore.
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Whenever you’re ready, here are a couple ways I can support you:
- Watch My Free End People Pleasing Webinar: Learn the proven framework to break free from people-pleasing in as little as 12 weeks. Click here to watch.
- Book a Therapy Session with Me: Personalized support tailored to your journey. Email me at bruce@brucesanguin.ca to get started.
