Dream Work

How To Explore Your Dreams

You Dreamed What? Oh, no!

Ever feel like that? Dreams can be so confusing, embarrassing, weird, scary, sexy, seemingly insignificant…on and on we go in describing these, often , indescribable electrical impulses in our brain that “go bump in the night!”.

Maybe you study your dreams regularly—good for you! You likely know and deeply appreciate the richness your dreams bring to your waking, work-a-day life!

Maybe you have not studied/explored your dreams…yet, you are curious as to what your dreams mean. Through dream work you can prepare yourself for an adventure of a most unusual kind! I, quite literally, love dreams. I value the amazing wisdom, guidance and, I believe, the healthy self-care which emerges from exploring our dreams. I explore and process dreams with you primarily through an approach called “Projective Dream Work”. This is often experienced in group or community formats, as well as in individual exploration.

I invite you to read the information below. It is divided into four sections: 1) How to Catch a Dream gives guidance in helping you remember your dreams, 2) The Community of Your Dreams describes that your dreams come for you and US—your dreams are, also, for the the larger community, our tribe, our town, our nation, our world!, 3) The Dreams of Leadership…what if dreams can actually lead us to change our world?! and, 4) The Dreamwork Tool Kit.

How To Catch A Dream

Remembering your dreams…now, how do you do that?

Well, perhaps it is as the old adage says…”what y’a don’t use, y’a lose!” And, it is true…when we do not cultivate or tend or pay attention to our “garden of dreams”, we may lose awareness of our dreams. Our garden may experience drought, or may be filled with the “weeds” of being overwhelmed with the regular (and very necessary!) things of life—like working for a living, family or relationship worries and other activities of the waking world. All of these “waking world” activities are, of course, crucial, important and must be healthfully addressed. Yet, in our present culture we may, accidentally, miss the nourishment of the garden within. Exploring your dreams in a healthy, intentional manner will always bear fruit…will always add to the nourishment and wisdom to your waking life. Hey, how ’bout this: “Get a life! Catch a dream! Catch a dream! Get a life!”

Ready to catch a dream? Ready to dig in your dream garden? Here’s how to begin your dream work:

First, keep it simple…remember, you’re sleeping.

Second, talk to yourself…be nice, don’t yell. As you go to sleep, just gently ask yourself (or “the dreamer within”) to do your best to remember your dreams…night after night as you gently remind yourself, you will start to remember…snatches or fragments, at first, then whole dreams!

Third, try keeping a notepad and pen by your bed. If you wake up in the middle of the night, just jot down a word or two that will help you remember the dream the next morning. Try not touse a light to write, it may wake you up too much. You’ll get better at this as time goes on… be patient with yourself. Go back to sleep…you need your rest…u-u-u-m-m-m-m-…sleeeeep…

Fourth, “thou shalt honor all dreams…” No matter what, “all dreams come in the service of health and wholeness” (Jeremy Taylor)…teeny, weenie fragments, biggies, little ones, embarrassing, scary, profound, boring, the “this-doesn’t-mean-anything!” dreams, the “oh,-my-goodness,-I-can-never-tell-anyone-this dream-or-I’ll-get-arrested!”…have I missed anything? All dreams. Do your best to write/journal the dreams as soon as you are able to do so. This type of dream work may take time. Write all details: buildings, colors, story, feelings…all pieces or elements, creatures, humans…on and on. Try not to analyze or figure out the meaning of the dream during this time. You can work on the meaning later. Yes, you may hide your dream journal…it is private. No sense in having it accidentally published in your local paper! May ruin a good day and mess up your good night’s sleep (now, that would be a nightmare!)

Fifth, find a trusted friend or, perhaps two or three trusted friends, and talk about your dreams and your dream work. Yes, I did say “talk” and I did say “trusted friends”. Talking about your dreams will help you remember your dreams…it sort of makes the dreams “official”. Important rules: No gossiping, be kind, don’t judge…

Other ideas to help you in your dream work: draw or sketch your dream story; give a title to your dream story; just jot down the main symbol or event in the dream; read and research on the internet/library/bookstores about dreams…the more you cultivate your interest, the more dreams you’ll catch!

The Community of Your Dreams

Imagine that…

you have a (night-time) dream. Then, imagine it is the tradition of your family or group or community in which you live to want to listen to your dreams in a spirit of interest, sacredness, acceptance, and being non-judgmental. No matter what your dream…your community graciously accepts your dream…even believes that your dream work is for the good of all the community…for all people.

Now, imagine that not only does this community support you, but also your community seeks to explore with you the wisdom of your dream for you and for the community. What if part of the tradition is to “borrow” the dream and seek to “act it out” in a drama? This would allow the dream to become alive; you would “see” your dream come alive on stage…wow! What would that look like? What would that feel like to see your dream come alive?

Nebraska author and poet laureate, John Neihardt tells the tale of Black Elk, a holy man and warrior of the Lakota people. In Black Elk Speaks, (1932) Neihardt allows the holy man to describe how, as a young boy of, maybe, 10 years of age, he had a dream and the community or tribe listened to him, blessed him and acted-out the dream for him and for the good of all the tribe.

Imagine that…

Why dream and share your dream work in Community? We do not know, for sure, where dreams come from…it seems that dreams may be from one of the oldest aspects of who we are as humans (or even as mammals! ever see a dog try to run as it is dreaming?). Maybe, this means that we are meant to live with each other…in some form of healthy Community, in some form of healthy connection. Know the old saying, “two heads are better than one”? M-m-m-m-m, maybe this is true for dreaming, as well. Two or more trusted people can solve many problems together (I did say, trusted)…we can learn from each other, “share each other’s burdens”, worries, concerns…and dreams…especially, dreams…

Imagine that!

The Dreams of Leadership

History, both ancient and modern, is full of stories of how (night-time) dreams have influenced leaders and events in most every culture and time period. Biblical stories abound of dreams and dream work being experienced by major personalities like Daniel, Joel, Ezekiel–to the surreal experience of John’s Revelation, plus more. All of these point to the honoring of dreams as possibly powerful guides. Stories of military generals and warriors dreaming of specific battles and conquests; of inventor’s “dreaming up” amazing solutions and inventions; of artists, song-writers, authors being influenced by (night-time) dreams seem to lead us to conclude that dreams serve a purpose for us that has insight,wisdom, knowledge beyond what we know as our “common consciousness” (now, what does that mean? dreams must invite convoluted phrases!). Anyway, dreams sometimes do stuff to us!

So, what would it be like if we were to use our dreams as a resource to intentionally explore conflicts, find solutions, increase creativity and empower individuals and groups in order to develop improved leadership skills? The old saying, “Let’s sleep on it!” could take on a whole new (original?) meaning…

My favorite dream work teacher, Dr. Jeremy Taylor (www.jeremytaylor.com) describes how, many years ago, he tried and was failing to help a community resolve some serious internal differences. In a moment of brilliant frustration, he said, basically, “let’s just talk about our dreams…”. After the normal “what’s?” and “that’s stupid!” and other resistances (and because these folks trusted Jeremy enough), the discussions began…turf conflicts and racial tensions declined. These discussions about dreams increased the community belief that “we are all in this together”.

Was this dream work? No matter our politics, the post-presidency work of Jimmy Carter through his efforts of peacemaking and disease eradication is astounding in accomplishments–controversy and all. President Carter reports, in his autobiographical writing , that he went through a period of depression after his election loss. Sounds normal enough! He had received gifts of woodworking tools from his former staff to encourage his hobby and his healing. He began to make furniture from native woods on his farm. As he worked, he wondered what to do with the rest of his life? One night, while sleeping, he bolted awake! He knew! Start a center for “waging peace”: conflict resolution and health programs for the poorest of the poor…

I make no claims that Jimmy Carter “dreamed it all up”, except, he certainly did as he did! My “conjecture” supports my theory that the deep percolation of President Carter’s depression, brooding, creativity and “sleeping on it” unlocked an amazing mission.

What would it mean if we explored the dreaming mind of our sleep? What ideas or solutions might emerge in our lives and in our communities, in our businesses, organizations, places of worship, farms, ranches and governments, if we, intentionally, explored, listened to our dreams? What if we explored our dreams, especially, through some form of healthy, safe, community sharing and discussion? How might your dreams help change the world???

I know…sounds kinda weird to me, too… but, I wonder, what have we got to lose?

The Dreamwork Tool Kit

One
All dreams speak a universal language and come in the service of health and wholeness. There is no such thing as a “bad dream” — only dreams that sometimes take a dramatically negative form in order to grab our attention.

Two
Only the dreamer can say with any certainty what meanings his or her dream may have. This certainty usually comes in the form of a wordless “aha!” of recongnition. This “aha” is a function of memory, and is the only reliable touchstone of dream work.

Three
There is no such thing as a dream with only one meaning. All dreams and dream images are “over-determined,” and have multiple meanings and layers of significance.

Four
No dreams come just to tell you what you already know. All dreams break new ground and invite you to new understandings and insights.

Five
When talking to others about their dreams, it is both wise and polite to preface your remarks with words to the effect of “if it were my dream…” and to keep this commentary in the first person as much as possible. This means that even relatively challenging comments can be made in such a way that the dreamer may actually be able to hear and internalize them. It also can become a profound psycho-spiritual discipline — “walking a mile in your neighbor’s moccasins.”

Six
All dream group participants should agree at the outset to maintain anonymity in all discussions of dream work. In the absence of any specific request for confidentiality, group members should be free to discuss their experiences openly outside the group, provided no other dreamer is identifiable in their stories. However, whenever any group member requests confidentiality, all members should agree to be bound automatically by such a request.