Wake Up and Dream!
Special note: this post was originally published as “Dreams Awake” on Karina’s Inner Space
Nighttime is a time to rest. Rest our bodies rest our minds rest our souls. Rest.
It is a time of rejuvenation of body, mind and soul. When our energy, thoughts and creativity dance together in a vibrant show of obscure brilliance called dreams.
The days weeks months years weave together their messages of importance, the ones we have ignored, or missed or misunderstood. They put on a show for us, the captured audience of dreamers. Our own unique and tailored story plays out before our minds eye. They show us what we need to know. What we have forgotten, what we want.
That is the gift of the dream.
We watch them, remember them, forget them and the messages get lost amongst the chatter of our minds. But they are relentless. They come back to us. A foggy shadow in the crevices of our minds. Slowly they peek through the clouds of our life. The clouds of self-doubt, worry and fear created by self and reinforced by other.
If we pay them no mind they retreat. But dreams are persistent nonetheless. They become stronger and more prominent in our memory as we open our eyes and our hearts to their existence.
This is the work of our Inner wisdom. It will knock and knock and ring that bell until we answer it. We notice fleeting images, synchronicities that are symbolic messages. We become tuned in to their meaning the more we allow ourselves to notice. Then the messages come forth. The more we look the more we understand.
The layers of meaning behind dream symbolism can be hard to decipher when we are used to communicating with words only. But the truth is many of us are visual learners. That is the beauty of the dream. Unfortunately, many of us have lost the language of imagery and have forgotten how to approach it.
Our censors can get in the way of us remembering not to mention deciphering our dreams. So we must be relentless in our listening as well.
With practice and tools you can begin to unleash the creative wisdom of your dreams.
To start set an intention:
- I have the wisdom inside
- My dreams are here to guide me
- I can remember my dreams
This will open the door to your dreams revealing themselves to you.
But what do we do with our dreams when we remember them? How can we understand them? How can we figure out their symbolism? While there may be books out there that act as a kind of “Dream Dictionary”. I don’t believe that it is that simple.
Dream’s wisdom can be elusive but it is within reach. Using art to draw out their essence and their meaning is one of the best ways to do this because the art meets the dream in the realm of imagery. When we approach our dreams in a strictly linear thinking way, we miss a lot.
Through making dream art, dreams can become the tools they are meant to be. Dialoguing with your dreams this way can bridge the gap and allow your wisdom safe crossing into consciousness.
Our dream symbolism is as unique and complex as we are. To understand our dreams therefore we need to understand the aspects of self that surface in our dream.
This is not always easy.
Sometimes it is hard to let go of our thinking mind that wants answers in an easily translatable format. But if you want to go deeper into the realm of self you need to be prepared to get messy. The kind of messy that finds you painting or smearing pastels over paper in search of understanding. It’s through the art making about your dreams that you by-pass those wicked censors.
But once you are past, there is a treasure of wisdom waiting.
Curious about Dream Dialogues? Check out my FAQs here.
Would you like to figure out how to access your dreams more readily?
Join me for a free video series beginning Sunday Nov 4th on How to Follow Your Dreams.
Ways to help you remember your dreams
Why your dreams are important and
How you can start to harness their wisdom
Then join me live on November 9th 1-2 pm EST for a live stream event where we will make dream boards together and I will share a little more about my e-course Dream Dialogues: a 21 day e-course that gets you connected with you inner wisdom through dreams and art.