Discussion post I submitted for my Atlantic University TP6000 Course – January 10, 2020.
Share a couple of points of interest to you from what you read this week that most excite or intrigue you about entering into working with your dreams on a regular basis in deeper ways than you may ever have before.
I was first exposed to the impact that dreams have on the creative process as part of TP5010, which I completed last summer. I was aware that authors like Mark Twain were avid dream collectors, where many ideas for their books stemmed, and that Mary Shelley had developed her idea for Frankenstein from a dream. In Our Dreaming Mind, Robert Van de Castle provides countless other examples of the impact dreams have had not only on authors but artists, military leaders, inventors, and countless other people and fields throughout history.
I was struck by an insight Van de Castle made about the dreams and motion pictures, however. Not only are dreams where many storylines first appear, but as he notes, they “share many common features: moving visual images, changes in settings and characters, spoken conversations, perceptual distortions, temporal discontinuities, flashbacks. They even share a similar physical aspect: both are observed in the dark” (1994, p. 12).
I had never seen this parallel before, and it makes a lot of sense. I am a newly trained videographer, which is an adjunct to my communications career. I am also somewhat of a movie and T.V. buff, well at least I’ve seen thousands over the years as well binging numerous series. When I attempt psychic and medium exercises, messages typically come to me as part of a movie or show I’ve seen somewhere along the line, which I then try to relate to a particular individual or situation. Van de Castle’s insight was almost one of those aha moments that Taylor describes when an individual “gets” the meaning of their particular dream (2009, e.g., p. 17). I won’t look at dreams the same ever again…and movies either.
Another point of interest came from Victoria Vlach’s article, “Dream Space, where she notes that the purpose of her group is “not specifically about interpretation. It’s about integration” (2013, p. 11). My initial interest in this topic relates to being able to “figure out” my dreams, primarily as a way of checking in on what’s important to my subconscious as well trying to find clues about where I should be headed in terms of my life’s purpose. I’m also interested in having dream analysis as a tool in my tool chest as I hope to emerge as a Life Coach at some point.
Vlach’s comments struck a nerve. It taught me that dreams aren’t just about analyzing an individual, it’s actually about using the information to change someone’s life. It may be an obvious point, but her comments helped me understand the “big picture” of the work we’re undertaking this semester and into the future.
Share a dream fragment you remembered this week. How did you feel when you woke up from this dream? What was the dream wanting to tell you? What did the dream want you to pay attention to? Did you feel any presence of day residue in your dream?
My mom passed away last August, nearly three years after my Dad. They were both in their home in the end, which was located just around the corner from where I grew up in Brookline, MA just outside of Boston. We began the house cleaning out process last fall and my final passthrough was last week for five days, much of it on my own. We held an estate sale in November, so the house was half-furnished which was symbolic of the transitory state I felt. I went through boxes of old memories, including less than stellar reports from my middle school and high school teachers (mom’s keep the darndest things!). There were times I let it sink in that this would be my last tie to an area where I experienced my formative years, and which really up until last August was still home to me in once sense since at least one parent was there.
Not surprisingly, when I returned to Virginia last weekend and began recording my dreams in earnest this week, dream fragments of Brookline popped up. In one dream, I stood across the street from the house I grew up (not the one I packed-up) and I was on the phone with the jeweler where I bought my engagement ring. I was trying to get them to appraise a new ring I had but they wouldn’t do it, saying they couldn’t’ get insurance coverage for it.
Obviously being across from the home I was raised is bringing back to the area I called home, and I believe the ring issue might have something to do with our trying to find my mother’s wedding band. We think we may have located it but we’re not sure if there was a solitaire diamond engagement ring as well, which we didn’t find.
In another dream, I’m at a fish market where we used to go when on vacation on Cape Cod, yet the store in my dream was actually located near me in Virginia. I was waiting in line when a family walked in and started talking amongst themselves. I recognized their Boston accent, so we started talking. They asked me where I was from and I said Brookline. I described the street, which dead-ended into a major road that’s best known for where the “old firehouse” is located. The guy said he knew exactly where that was, and so another tie-in to my former hometown.
I felt a bit nostalgic when I awoke from these dreams. I thought back to my experience last week in that near-empty house and I realized it was more impactful than I cared to process at the time. Interestingly, last Saturday morning I decided to wake up at 5:45a, and hit the road. I suppose I didn’t want to hang out there longer than I needed. The dream didn’t have much residual impact throughout the day, but since I’ve had two dreams this week centered in Brookline, I’m sure there’s more here for me to mine as the weeks unfold.
References
Taylor, J. (2009). The wisdom of your dreams. New York, NY: Penguin Group (USA) Inc.
Van de Castle, R. (1994). Our dreaming mind. New York NY: Ballantine Books.
Vlach, V. (2013). “Dream space,” “The art of dream sharing and developing dream groups,” Dream Network Journal, pp. 10-11.