"Dream Work" is a new series because I want to address dreams, but I don't want to do it in one breathy long post. It's too important and there's too much to say.
People ask me about dreams a lot. Things show up in dreams that are disturbing, out of place, and just plain weird. No matter what the plots and who the characters are, none of it really is relevant except for an exercise in skills. Look at it this way, you're riding to jury duty and your mind is thinking ahead about what might happen if you get picked and how you'll have to sit in the boring courtroom and maybe do it or days on end and you wonder if the people you're sitting there with are interesting or total morons you have to fight with. You just daydreamed a scenario to prepare yourself for what's ahead. We do the same thing in sleep. Our dream state tells us just how well we're coping or not coping in our awake world.
Suppose you have the dream about someone stalking you in a forest. There's a lot of ways this scenario could turn out, but what's critical is how you're handling what happens in the woodlands. If you run, scream and hide, you're showing similar coping skills in your wake state. If you face the beast and fight it, you're feeling competent and ready for a confrontation.
Ever have that dreaded naked in a public place dream? If people see you naked and point and laugh, then you are feeling that everyone sees what a fool you are. But, if you're naked and ashamed, but no one seems to notice, then you are feeling foolish but also believe others don't see what a fool you are. Only you seem to know how vulnerable you are.
I've had the teeth falling out dream. It happens every time I lose someone I love. Adult teeth are irreplaceable. There's a feeling of permanence and inability to do a damn thing.
I often have end of the world dreams and they are always the same: I'm the designated leader, having to tell people who are crying and helpless what to do and make them do their jobs. I'm calm as can be, but annoyed as hell. This pretty much says how I feel about where I am in my life now, a bit overly responsible and practical about what needs to get done.
So, next time you have a dream, just stop and look at it; now the situation, but how you handled the situation. It reveals exactly how you feel inside about your abilities right now with what you're facing in the waking state.
