This is a technique/mindset I’ve been playing with recently in an effort to reduce the degree of othering in my experience.

I realised that I have a tendency to mentally claim ownership of anything that occurs in my life that I subjectively view as good or desirable. So if I’m driving to an appointment, I get there and there’s lots of parking available - that’s because I’ve been consciously intending punctuality. On the other hand, if I hit roadworks and arrive to find a packed carpark - in my mind, that’s because I’ve been consciously intending punctuality but have failed for some reason.

So now, in an effort to narrow the gap between what I’m consciously intending and subconsciously intending, I’m getting into the habit of taking credit for everything. The wind blows - I think “I did that.” I arrive to a full carpark and end up being late, I think “Not sure why I did that, but I did that.”

Sometimes, particularly when the thing I’m taking credit for is subjectively negative, I take credit and then try to backtrack to figure out why I might have done such a thing. Sometimes I arrive at an answer, sometimes I don’t. Either way, I remind myself that it was me who did it, even if it was stupid.

As far as claiming ownership of the things that are neither here nor there - the wind blowing, the colour of the car that’s driving beside me, the appearance of the girl who sold me milk - I’ve found that getting into the habit of automatically, effortlessly claiming ownership for these things is a very effective means of getting into an altered, dreamlike state. A few times, I’ve experienced the sensation that I am truly catching the moment/feeling of when “subconscious/other me” decided to make the wind blow. A couple of times now I’ve been able to “see” the way that something would pan out, like the path a leaf would take as it drifted to the ground.