I’ve usually thought about the unconscious as being mostly static, but I am now wondering if it could be more like dreaming.
Does our mind continuously dream, and we are not aware of it? What if there are multiple layers of dreaming going on in the background of our mind at the same time? Perhaps the routine neurological activity in the brain generates something like continuous dreaming on many levels, but what we consciously become aware of is only what we consider to be our active mind.
Then, in REM sleep we shift consciousness down into the dream cycles of the unconsciousness, finally becoming aware of some of the stuff going on there.
This idea makes sense to me because we already know that the mind can process multiple inner active states at once, for example we can be experiencing the world around us in real time while also remembering something that happened in the past, replaying it like a movie in our mind, while also thinking about something else that could also be somewhat movie-like or dream-like. Our awareness can shift and focus between these different inner experiences, causing one to become more vivid and the others to become less distinct. What interests me is that awareness seems to be the key here; awareness and also intention. Although perhaps not intention so much or always, because we also day dream or start thinking or remembering something without realizing it, then suddenly become aware that we were doing that.