--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But I now think what I was doing, in a…" description: "\"But I now think what I was doing, in a completely unconscious way, was getting off the turf where my husband and I might be rivals. We were both workin..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fa/helen-garner-12280_fiction_but-i-now-think-what-i-was-doing-in-a-co_1247635.jpg" --- # But I now think what I was doing, in a completely… ![“But I now think what I was doing, in a completely unconscious way, was getting off the turf where my husband and I might be rivals. We were both working in fiction... so I look back and I see that I consciously vacated the contested ground.” quote by Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fa/helen-garner-12280_fiction_but-i-now-think-what-i-was-doing-in-a-co_1247635.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fa/helen-garner-12280_fiction_but-i-now-think-what-i-was-doing-in-a-co_1247635.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9fa/helen-garner-12280_fiction_but-i-now-think-what-i-was-doing-in-a-co_1247635.jpg) > “But I now think what I was doing, in a completely unconscious way, was getting off the turf where my husband and I might be rivals. We were both working in fiction... so I look back and I see that I consciously vacated the contested ground.” [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She realized she unintentionally avoided competition with her husband by stepping away from shared creative work. **In simple terms:** She avoided rivalry by leaving shared work. Key Takeaway Recognize and address hidden avoidance patterns. Themes relationships creativity competition selfawareness Mood reflective thoughtful Type advice personal growth When to use this quote - marriage - writing collaborations - career decisions - team projects Key Concepts psychology boundary setting Questions to Reflect On - What areas are you unconsciously avoiding? - How can shared spaces be navigated healthily? A Different Perspective Avoidance may limit growth and mutual understanding. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fiction/) [Husband](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/husband/) [Marriage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/marriage/) [Rivals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rivals/) ## Related quotes > [“She blinked her eyes, trying to stay awake, but the engines were so lulling and she was so tired … Nykyrian barely caught her before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/she-blinked-her-eyes-trying-to-stay-awake-but-the-engines-were-so/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [“It’s the automatic, unconscious way that I experience the boring, frustrating, crowded parts of adult life when I’m operating on the automatic, unconscious belief…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/it-s-the-automatic-unconscious-way-that-i-experience-the-boring/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [Every day I try to be in communication with the universe in an unconscious way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/every-day-i-try-to-be-in-communication-with-the-universe-in-an/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [The individual who is the servant of technique must be completely unconscious of himself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-ellul/the-individual-who-is-the-servant-of-technique-must-be-completely/) [Jacques Ellul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-ellul/) > [Eating in a hurried or unconscious way, as so many of us have learned to do, is like receiving a love letter from the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-robbins/eating-in-a-hurried-or-unconscious-way-as-so-many-of-us-have-learned/) [John Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-robbins/) > [I don't think men realize that when a woman walks out every single day, there's an unconscious way we cater to making some man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-browning/i-don-t-think-men-realize-that-when-a-woman-walks-out-every-single/) [Logan Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-browning/) > [I never know when somebody's going to knock on the door of my own unconscious in a way that I wouldn't have anticipated.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-deavere-smith/i-never-know-when-somebody-s-going-to-knock-on-the-door-of-my-own/) [Anna Deavere Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-deavere-smith/) > [A sense of that kind of narrative movement that we experience online could have been in my mind easily, though not consciously. I do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jennifer-egan/a-sense-of-that-kind-of-narrative-movement-that-we-experience-online/) [Jennifer Egan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jennifer-egan/) > [Every person must live the inner life in one form or another. Consciously or unconsciously, voluntarily or involuntarily, the inner world will claim us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-johnson/every-person-must-live-the-inner-life-in-one-form-or-another/) [Robert A. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-johnson/) > [Whether we meditate individually or collectively, there is one thing we absolutely must do: we have to meditate consciously. Making an unconscious effort is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sri-chinmoy/whether-we-meditate-individually-or-collectively-there-is-one-thing/) [Sri Chinmoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sri-chinmoy/) > [It is often tragic to see how blatantly a man bungles his own life and the lives of others yet remains totally incapable of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-often-tragic-to-see-how-blatantly-a-man-bungles-his-own-life/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I never consciously set out to model myself after Upton Sinclair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-schlosser/i-never-consciously-set-out-to-model-myself-after-upton-sinclair/) [Eric Schlosser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-schlosser/) > [I think that our work and our music stands on its own without this knowledge about our identity around it. But I also think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-hopkins/i-think-that-our-work-and-our-music-stands-on-its-own-without-this/) [Ben Hopkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-hopkins/) > [When you do not consciously relate to your body, your mind does not relate consciously to you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harbhajan-singh-yogi/when-you-do-not-consciously-relate-to-your-body-your-mind-does-not/) [Harbhajan Singh Yogi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harbhajan-singh-yogi/) > [“The only sure path is to live consciously, moment to moment, as you let go of the outcome.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-kasl/the-only-sure-path-is-to-live-consciously-moment-to-moment-as-you-let/) Charlotte Kasl ## More by Helen Garner > [Tentatively I stood a great lump of wood on the chopping block and bought the axe down on it. It flew into two perfect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/tentatively-i-stood-a-great-lump-of-wood-on-the-chopping-block-and/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [To slide into the domed reading room at ten each morning, specially in summer, off the hot street outside, was a sensation as delicious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/to-slide-into-the-domed-reading-room-at-ten-each-morning-specially-in/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [“But I’ve been reading A Very Easy Death, about Simone de Beauvoir’s mother dying of cancer – it’s just brilliant. It really helped me.’…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/but-i-ve-been-reading-a-very-easy-death-about-simone-de-beauvoir-s/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [“The two big cities of Australia are tonally as distinct from each other as Boston is from L.A. or Lyon from Marseilles.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/the-two-big-cities-of-australia-are-tonally-as-distinct-from-each/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [It's much more interesting for me to think that taking a chunk of experience and mushing it up together with other things that are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/it-s-much-more-interesting-for-me-to-think-that-taking-a-chunk-of/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [On Melbourne summer mornings the green trams go rolling in stately progress down tunnels thick with leaves: the bright air carries along the avenue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/on-melbourne-summer-mornings-the-green-trams-go-rolling-in-stately/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [It's disturbing at my age to look at a young woman's destructive behaviour and hear the echoes of it, of one's own destructiveness in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/it-s-disturbing-at-my-age-to-look-at-a-young-woman-s-destructive/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [I'm very disturbed by violence against women when it is violence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/i-m-very-disturbed-by-violence-against-women-when-it-is-violence/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [I just... my childhood seems, when I look back, to be largely composed of reading, lying on the bed. I mean, my mother was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/i-just-my-childhood-seems-when-i-look-back-to-be-largely-composed-of/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [I'm full of restlessness. Not lonely, exactly - my head is racing with ideas. But it is that old treacherous feeling that real life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/i-m-full-of-restlessness-not-lonely-exactly-my-head-is-racing-with/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [“I realised I had a stream of thoughts about him which ran for the most part below conscious level. I noticed jets spurting up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/i-realised-i-had-a-stream-of-thoughts-about-him-which-ran-for-the/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [“It was early summer. And everything, as it always does, began to heave and change.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/it-was-early-summer-and-everything-as-it-always-does-began-to-heave/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [Maybe this is pathetic, but I still dread producing a book that doesn't earn back its advance. I hate obligations that are financially foggy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/maybe-this-is-pathetic-but-i-still-dread-producing-a-book-that-doesn/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [At the time it seemed like a natural development of my interest in what was going on around me in society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/at-the-time-it-seemed-like-a-natural-development-of-my-interest-in/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) > [Courts are supposed to be places of reason. But this, of course, is a fantasy. I mean, there is reason being used as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-garner/courts-are-supposed-to-be-places-of-reason-but-this-of-course-is-a/) [Helen Garner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) [Explore all 55 Helen Garner quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-garner/) ## More Consciously quotes > [“The only sure path is to live consciously, moment to moment, as you let go of the outcome.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-kasl/the-only-sure-path-is-to-live-consciously-moment-to-moment-as-you-let/) Charlotte Kasl > [When you do not consciously relate to your body, your mind does not relate consciously to you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harbhajan-singh-yogi/when-you-do-not-consciously-relate-to-your-body-your-mind-does-not/) [Harbhajan Singh Yogi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harbhajan-singh-yogi/) > [I think that our work and our music stands on its own without this knowledge about our identity around it. But I also think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-hopkins/i-think-that-our-work-and-our-music-stands-on-its-own-without-this/) [Ben Hopkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-hopkins/) > [I never consciously set out to model myself after Upton Sinclair.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-schlosser/i-never-consciously-set-out-to-model-myself-after-upton-sinclair/) [Eric Schlosser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-schlosser/) > [Enlightenment doesn't mean you know anything. It doesn't mean you don't know anything. It means that you've returned to the source, consciously.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/enlightenment-doesn-t-mean-you-know-anything-it-doesn-t-mean-you-don/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [Consciously or subconsciously, we become slaves to debt and social obligation. As a result, we end up more committed to the minutia and less…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/romany-malco/consciously-or-subconsciously-we-become-slaves-to-debt-and-social/) [Romany Malco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/romany-malco/) > [“Something in us recognizes magic when we encounter it. Whether we believe in it consciously or not. It affects us and the choices we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffe-kennedy/something-in-us-recognizes-magic-when-we-encounter-it-whether-we/) Jeffe Kennedy > [“When you consciously choose to do what you love, life becomes a pleasure and ceases to be a chore.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amy-leigh-mercree/when-you-consciously-choose-to-do-what-you-love-life-becomes-a/) [Amy Leigh Mercree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amy-leigh-mercree/) > [It is often tragic to see how blatantly a man bungles his own life and the lives of others yet remains totally incapable of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-often-tragic-to-see-how-blatantly-a-man-bungles-his-own-life/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Whatever we become in life we either "let happen" or we consciously CREATE to be. One puts you in a VICTIM pit, the other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tina-mitchell/whatever-we-become-in-life-we-either-let-happen-or-we-consciously/) Tina Mitchell > [I am consciously selective of the work that I do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mithila-palkar/i-am-consciously-selective-of-the-work-that-i-do/) [Mithila Palkar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mithila-palkar/) > [“The Matrix can feel like a pretty hopeless place. I get that. Nobody in his or her right mind (a tiny minority, admittedly) wants…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-luckman/the-matrix-can-feel-like-a-pretty-hopeless-place-i-get-that-nobody-in/) [Sol Luckman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-luckman/) > [It is important for us consciously to say, or claim, only the things we want rather than what we do not want.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darren-l-johnson/it-is-important-for-us-consciously-to-say-or-claim-only-the-things-we/) [Darren L Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darren-l-johnson/) > [“YOU are becoming a new species. The vibrations in and around you are increasing in speed. 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