Put Your Dreams to Work!

Dearest Dreamers,

In her fascinating book, Writers Dreaming, Naomi Epel gives us windows into the dreams of some of our most famous and acclaimed authors.  From the range of writers who respond to her questions, it’s clear that creative folks “find ideas and inspiration in the intermingling of dreams and their working [lives.]” 

Ms. Epel, dream researcher and radio host, interviewed the likes of Elmore Leonard, Maya Angelou, and Amy Tan - 26 in all are presented in the book.  As she says, these well-known and successful writers “offer a behind-the-scenes look at the workings of the imagination…They discuss the dreams that have had a powerful effect on their work…revealing in the process their philosophies, habitual rituals and ways of solving creative problems.”

I’ll whet your appetite with a couple of examples:  In the chapter devoted to Maya Angelou, we find that she experiences a recurring dream when her work is going well.  She says, “There is a dream which I delight in and long for when I’m writing.  It means to me that the work is going well…Or that I’m telling the truth and telling it well.”  Ms. Angelou goes on to describe her dream as being of a “very tall building…in the process of being built…I’m climbing it with alacrity and joy and laughter!”  You can see the metaphor I’m sure, Dear Dreamers; the analogy between writing a book and constructing a building.  If you’re a writer, I’m sure you also recognize the sensation of pleasure and skill when something meaningful flows from your fingers!

In Writers Dreaming, Stephen King says, “One of the things that I’ve been able to use dreams for in my stories is to show things in a symbolic way that I wouldn’t want to come right out and say directly.  I’ve always used dreams the way you’d use mirrors to look at something  you couldn’t see head-on – the way you use a mirror to look at your hair in the back…dreams are a way that people’s minds illustrate the nature of their problems.  Or maybe even illustrate the answers to their problems in symbolic language.”

Wow!  There it is again – the practical use of dreams for problem solving and creative generation of solutions from some of the most successful and respected authors of our time.  It doesn’t take a giant leap of faith to know that productive and accomplished people across all endeavors can and do employ their dreams, tapping depths of creativity and insight to their work.

Why not you, Dear Dreamer?  I’m certain you have faced or are facing a challenge in your professional life.  Consider that your dreaming self can be helpful in giving you perspective on the problem.  As Stephen King says, a dream may offer an angle on the issue that you just cannot see without it!

If these talented and noteworthy artists rely on their dreams, we too can add them to our toolbox of methods for working resourcefully on the perplexing problems of our daily lives.

Sweet Dreams to You, Dear Dreamers!

SMYD

sendmeyourdreams@mail.com

Too Little or Too Much Dreaming

Our Dreamer Writes:

Dear SMYD,

I know I dream all the time, but I hardly ever remember my dreams.  I wake up knowing I’ve been dreaming, but can’t recall much of anything.  I can almost feel the dream slipping away as soon as I realize it was there to begin with.

Or, when I do remember a dream, it’s a long, convoluted saga!  I have the sensation that the dream went on and on, traveling from one weird scene to another.  These dreams even seem to cover long periods of time and have so many different characters in them!  Sometimes I recognize the people, but other times my dreams have strangers in them.

It seems impossible to believe that these dreams make any sense or would apply to my life in the real world.  I don’t know how or where to start!

Signed,

Baffled

Dear Baffled,

It’s clear you’re curious about your dreams!  That’s a great place to start even though you may feel at a loss for the moment.  You actually have quite a lot to work with.

First, you mention that though you don’t remember the pictures from your dreams, you wake up knowing you’ve been dreaming, even feeling the dream fade as you become more awake.  Research shows that in addition to their mental images and emotions, dreams create a muscle memory that begins to fade as we start to stir in the morning.  So, if you lie still just a few moments when you first wake up, you increase your chances of recalling a dream. 

And don’t dismiss the feeling of the dream!  If you have a sense of the emotions your dream carried, you have a toehold on the dream itself!

Perhaps the most important step in signaling your brain that you want to remember and learn about your dreams is to write them down.  Even the tiny bits that we’ve just discussed can be recorded in a bedside notepad.  Make a note that you woke feeling you’d had a dream, but it slipped away leaving only a feeling.  Name the feeling.  Was it exaltation?  Anger?  Relief? 

You mention those long involved dreams that seem complex and overwhelming.  Such dreams can feel a little like “War and Peace.”  Don’t try to decipher the entire epic!  Start with an image or two from the dream and write them down.  Record the briefest snippet from the saga.  You will be surprised what power even a static image can hold for you.

Start here:

¬  Lie still for a few moments when you first wake up.

¬  Make note of your dream’s emotions, even if you can’t remember its images.

¬  Record even a fragment of your dream to open the window into your dreaming life.

With these small steps in the direction of remembering and learning from your dreams, you will be rewarded with a rich and varied experience offering wonder and insights into the issues you face every day.

Sweet Dreams to You, Dear Dreamer!

SMYD

sendmeyourdreams@mail.com

Shocking Dream ~ Difficult Insights

Our Dreamer Writes:

Dear SMYD,

I’m confused and little bit worried about a couple of dreams I’ve had; and I’m hoping you can help me sort them out, even though I only remember a few details from each one.

I have enjoyed a long and happy career as a classroom teacher.  Working with young people is one of the greatest gifts I know.  It’s true what people say ~ they keep me young!  I love and respect my students.  So these dreams have me very upset!

In the first brief dream, I am at school and in the teachers’ lounge with another teacher whom I’ll call Pat.  Pat is an excellent teacher and fun to be around, though I sometimes think she tries too hard to look and feel “hip,” or “cool” with the kids.  We all want to stay young, but she goes too far.  Then, in my dream, she kisses a student, quite inappropriately.  Mouth open, she was practically sucking the life out of him!  I was startled and horrified to see this!

In the next fleeting snippet of a dream from a few nights later, I only remember one thing:  I am the one who kisses a student!  Just like Pat…way over the top!  It makes me cringe even to write this!  But there it is.

I can’t imagine why I’ve had such disturbing dreams!  I NEVER think thoughts like this at school or any other time!  The very idea has me feeling extremely anxious.  Please help me understand why this happened.

Signed,

Distraught in the Classroom

Dear Distraught,

Even though you’re only left with tiny fragments of what might have been full-blown dreams, those few pictures can tell a memorable story!

As you’ve no doubt heard me say:  Our dreams sometimes choose frightening images to shake us up and draw our attention to matters that we may be oblivious to, or denying, in our waking lives.  Also, one approach to dream images to is work with the idea that each person in the dream reflects a part of the dreamer. 

You have given us several key ideas about your life and your dream.  First are the statements that your students keep you young, and “we all want to stay young.”  Next you comment on Pat and her propensity to try too hard to stay young.  Finally you find your Dreaming Self mimicking Pat’s extreme, inappropriate behavior. 

Could it be that your Dreaming Self is pointing something out to you that you don’t see about yourself ~ that Pat reflects a part of you?  In waking life, are you thinking or acting more like Pat than you acknowledge?  It seems a logical conclusion since you preface the dream with a statement about your students keeping you young, and describe Pat as trying to suck the young life out of her student.  Could it be that you, too, are trying too hard in some way?

It’s hard to be objective about ourselves, Dear Dreamer.  Often our dreams offer up difficult images to startle us into a new self-awareness.

Sweet Dreams to You!

SMYD

sendmeyourdreams@mail.com

We Are the Stars of Our Dreams!

Dearest Dreamers,

My friend and I just completed a mini-marathon of movie watching.  We saw three films nominated for Best Picture in two days.  I found it so interesting that two of the three had dream sequences.

No need for a spoiler alert.  I won’t reveal any secrets or surprises and ruin your experience if you haven’t seen “Hugo” or “The Artist.” 

The dream sequence in “Hugo” is not critical to the story, but it does provide dramatic insights into the fears of a young boy.  Hugo lives in the enormous clockworks of a Paris train station in the 1930’s.  He has been orphaned by the death of his father, and abandoned by his ne’er-do-well uncle. 

It’s no wonder then, that Hugo would be fearful of so many things.  And of course these fears show up in his dream:  A runaway train crashes through just about everything he knows, destroying his secure, if difficult, life.  Ultimately, he sees himself becoming transformed into a mechanized automaton, much like the machinery that rules his daily routines.   He awakes as we often do from images that seize us in our sleep, both terrified and glad to understand that he’s still himself and his world is intact.

The images of Hugo’s nightmare are made all the more powerful by the effects of 3D.  Moviegoers are sure to be gripping their armrests, just like dreamers themselves, not knowing until the end that they were experiencing the dream with Hugo.

In “The Artist,” the lead character, George Valentin, is the top box office draw of his era:  silent films.   As such, he has become arrogant and spoiled, expecting that he will always have his way.  But when he must face the reality of the coming wave of “talkies,” he can barely keep up appearances of confidence. 

George falls asleep to have an unsettling dream of the world with sound.  I’d love to see the script of the dream sequence.  It was so cleverly done.  George’s dream begins as his life is lived, silently.  Even though the audience knows there must be sound in his world, the dream suggests that his entire being is wrapped up in silence.  That’s how he’s lived after all, certain that silent movies, the medium he dominates, will go on dominating. 

But in his dream, sound creeps in with the tap of one dancer’s shoes, then two, then a dozen.  He begins to hear their laughter in the streets among the studios’ sets.  All manner of sound crashes around him.  Even a feather hits the earth with a boom.  He moves from startled to confused, then to fearful, and even panicked before he awakes with a start to the comfort of his silent world.

Not only do these two dream sequences add to the drama of their respective stories and the audience’s insights into the lead characters in each story, but they also speak of an integral part of our make up as human beings:  our dreams ~ where we all have a starring role!

Sweet Dreams to You, Dear Dreamer!

SMYD

sendmeyourdreams@mail.com       

Glory Days on the Gridiron

Our Dreamer Writes:

Dear SMYD,

I played football all through high school, and went to college on a “full ride” scholarship, playing another four years.  As you can imagine, it was a major component of my life!  I was good enough in my position that some professional teams were starting to show interest in me when, like so many others, I sustained a severe knee injury, putting a quick and premature end to my prospects and hopes of going on to the next level.

My recovery was difficult physically and emotionally, but I went on to redirect my energy and have enjoyed success in my life away from football.  Now I’m just a few years from retiring!  But over the years, I’ve had this recurring dream:

I am called up to play again.  Somehow, I’m eligible!  I am very excited about the opportunity, and start getting ready to report for the opening-of-season training.  The first day, all players are supposed to report at 6am, but I oversleep.  This is unforgiveable, and I know I’m in for a brutal time with the coach.  But I get up and go to face my punishment.  Even though it will be tough, I am excited that I can play again.

In the most recent version of this dream, it’s all the same, except I realize I don’t have to get up and “face the music.”  I felt sad that I wouldn’t be playing, but I remember feeling relieved when I woke up.

I’m curious about this long-standing dream and its newest version.

Signed,

Gridiron Guy

Dear GG,

It’ll be hard to say in retrospect what this dream has meant to you, since we don’t have records to correlate to the events in your waking life each time the dream presented itself over the years.  But chances are good that the game and teamwork you’re gearing up for in your dream reflect the parallel “game” of the business world and the cooperative efforts you’ve likely engaged in time after time as you’ve progressed. 

We can speculate that your dream occurred at points along your path when you were given another opportunity to participate and advance in your career.  As your dream suggests, you got up and girded yourself for the game and faced the challenges even though you knew it might be tough going. 

Now, as you near retirement, your recurring dream offers relief, even if it is laced with a touch of sadness:  You don’t have to go out and take a beating on the front line of the work world.  Your sadness is a natural reaction to letting go of another big part of your life, as you did with football all those years ago.  Your relief is natural too!  The next phase is likely to be satisfying and rewarding for someone like you who faces challenges and changes with energy and grace.

Best Wishes, and Sweet Dreams to You, Dear Dreamer!

SMYD

sendmeyourdreams@mail.com       

Sleeping on the Chairlift!

Our Dreamer Writes:

Dear SMYD,

My husband said I should pass along a dream that I have had at least 5-6 times.  It relates to downhill skiing, a sport I learned last year to prove to myself I could.  I love it! 

I had a very busy day before the dream, preparing for a meeting with a club in which I participate.  I attended the club meeting and had people over for a potluck dinner too!  Went to bed about 10pm and had this vivid dream.  It was in color and everything!  But it is confusing to me. 

I dreamed that instead of taking regular Tylenol before I head to the slopes that I take Tylenol PM by accident.  When I get on the ski lift I fall asleep.  I remember getting on the ski lift, but then I doze off and the ski lift operators could not wake me up.  I went up and down 6 times before they physically removed me from the lift, which is when I woke up.  What does this mean???

Signed,

Sleeping on the Chair Lift

Dear Sleeping,

You may have read a column or two in which I’ve admonished dreamers not to ignore the literal implications of a dream.  In your case, it can’t hurt just to double check your bottles of Tylenol and Tylenol PM.  Be sure they’re labeled correctly and that there’s no chance you’ll accidentally confuse them!  Sometimes our dreams are just looking out for our well-being.

In a similar vein, your dream could be suggesting that since you’ve learned to downhill ski, you may have become lax in your attention to safety procedures when you’re skiing.  Maybe you’ve become too relaxed while skiing, going through the motions, doing it with your eyes closed. 

Of course, there is a possible metaphorical meaning associated with these images.  You mention your preparation for your club meeting, and all the activities you engaged in on such a busy day.  Your dream may be suggesting that what was once fun and challenging has become repetitive and even rote to you.  Maybe you’re just going through the motions as you do on the ski lift in your dream, going up and down, back and forth, without the thrill that you first associated with it.

You say this dream has recurred 5 or 6 times.  One of the best ways to get insight into any recurring dream is to make a note of it when you have it.  It sounds very familiar to you, so you won't need to write it out in detail unless you want to.  Just make a note like, "dreamed of sleeping on the chairlift again."

Then ~ and this is key ~ make another note of what's going on in your waking life in the days around the dream.  Chances are excellent that the dream recurs when certain circumstances or trains of thought are prevailing in your waking life.  Does it always come on club days?  You'll only need to make notes like this two or three times before the connection presents itself to you!

Sweet Dreams to You, Dear Dreamer!

SMYD

sendmeyourdreams@mail.com

Dreams Reveal Your Inner Strength

Greetings SMYD,

I read your column in my local newspaper, and here is a nice recurring dream that I have had every few months for over 20 years.

I am in a cavern with an underground lake that covers the entire bottom of the cavern.  I am on a ledge hewn into the rock walls about 30 feet above the calm clear water.  The ledge circles the lake.  The cavern is lit as if it were daytime but I don't know how.  At one end of the lake there is a waterfall pouring warm water into the lake.  It sounds like a bathtub being filled, and the air in the cavern is pleasantly steamy from the warm water.

An 1870's Mississippi paddle-wheel steamboat comes into view with all the passengers alongside the boat's railings looking at the cave and the waterfall.  I wave to the boat and the passengers wave back.  The Captain blows the boat's whistle to acknowledge me.  Sometimes he maneuvers the boat up to the rock wall and a deckhand places a plank from the bow to the ledge and I board the boat.  Sometimes they just sail by heading for a closer look at the waterfall.

Then the dream ends.  Any insights would be welcome!

By the way, I work in a high-stress job in the maritime industry.

Signed,

Sailing Along

Dear Sailing,

I agree ~ your recurring dream is lovely!  So many beautiful images!

The best way to get a "bead" on your recurring dream will be to make a note of it when you have it.  I'm sure it's very familiar, so you won't need to write it out in detail unless you want to.  Just make a note like, "had the cavern/steamboat dream."

Then ~ and this is key ~ make another note of what's going on in your waking life in the days around the dream.  Chances are excellent that the dream recurs when certain circumstances or trains of thought are prevailing in your waking life.  You'll only need to make notes like this two or three times before the connection presents itself to you!

Now, having said that, I can offer some more general/universal observations about your dream images:

The underground cavern and lake suggest a reservoir within you, a serene pool of inner strength that sustains you.  The entire setting is suggestive of your being in tune with the beauty and power of nature and your inner self. 

I don't know if you have a particular connection or affinity with the 1870's era, or steamboats in particular, but given your stress-filled work in the maritime industry, old-time paddle wheelers could definitely represent your desire for serenity!  The reference might be a link to a long-standing personal calm and self-assurance, one that harkens back to another peaceful time without the hurry and hubbub of 2012. 

Your spiritual self is well established and feeds you gently.  It is a source of wonder and appreciation for those around you.

Thanks for sharing your beautiful dream!

More Sweet Dreams to You, Dear Dreamer!

SMYD

sendmeyourdreams@mail.com