What Dreams May Come

I’ve always had a very active imagination, and it hasn’t been limited to my consciousness.  I enjoy the dreams that take me on adventures on par with novel story lines.  The nightmares not so much.  Then there are the ones a little too close to real life, but not quite, or the very strange ones.  Why did I dream I was melded into the trunk of a tree?

A friend suggested I check out Betty Bethards’s Dream Book on dream interpretation.  I was curious, so I went ahead and got it from the library.  Dreams are a way for us to process events in our lives and work through issues.  This makes sense.  Growing up, I had a recurring dream of being trapped in my backyard.  I would try to climb the fence to see the world beyond, but it was too high to climb.  I’d try flying, but would get caught in the power lines.  Night after night, I would struggle against the prison of my little world, until one night I finally broke through.

It makes sense that those dreams were my subconscious working through feelings of being stifled, whether from the limitations of health problems or the emotional domination that made me feel trapped in my physical body.  Dreams provided that escape.  They still do.

So what about the ones where my mind is still trying to process issues?  Well, frankly, I’d rather my subconscious didn’t.  I prefer to have fun in my dreams, not work through stress using weird symbols.  I have to admit, though, Bethards’s dream analysis has been mostly correct.

Take, for example, the dream where a tree wrapped its branches around me and melded me into the trunk.  (It wasn’t nearly as creepy as it sounds writing about it.)  According to the Dream Book, a tree is a symbol of personal growth.  The roots represent the foundation/support.  Is it strong or shallow?  The trunk represents the backbone and strength.  Branches are talents and abilities; leaves are the manifestations of your gifts–the fruit of your life.  A scrawny tree means not recognizing your self-worth.  An old gnarled tree means “the storms of life have taken their toll.”

Now, according to the book, being a part of the tree “represents aliveness that can be molded or shaped into new form.”  Since I’m working on personal growth and trying to take care of myself, this makes sense.  Yet, my tree was old and gnarled.  So while I’m in a state of transformation, I am apparently at the same time not learning my lessons in order to prune my tree.  It seems somewhat paradoxical, but the mind is a complex place.

As fascinating as all this is, I’d still rather dream of warrior women and men cursed to be dragons, flying ships and sword fights.  And in case any of you are thinking those symbols can be decoded, I checked, they don’t fit.  They’re simply the muse unleashed.

What do you think about dream interpretation?  Have you tried it?  Do your dreams help you work things out?  Or are they a refuge from reality?  Have a weird one you want to share?  I love hearing from you!  I’ll have the dream book for another week if anyone wants me to look up a specific symbol for them.  🙂

Sowing Seeds in the Soul

When I was seven-years-old, a doctor told me I probably wouldn’t live to be eighteen.

I don’t know why he told me that.  Sure, my diabetes was severe, but not untreatable.  I do know his prognosis had a profound effect on me.  I’ve had a lot of health issues, and the idea of getting well has been like an unattainable dream.  In my mind, it’s an even further stretch than becoming published.  Because of this fatalistic mentality, I’ve never really taken my health seriously.  I’ve been allergic to gluten for eight years; I’ve only recently been 100% gluten free for almost three months.  I know exercise is vitally important, but every exercise regimen I have ever started hasn’t lasted a week.  It’s hard to care about your long-term health when subconsciously you don’t expect to ever get there.

I didn’t recognize the power of those few words until many years later.  Now I can look back and see how my subconscious sabotages can be traced back to that one moment that is burned into my memory.  I can’t remember anything else about that day, not even what the doctor looked like, just those words echoing in my mind.

I remember on my nineteenth birthday finally realizing that I had outlived my expiration date.  It was a great feeling, but it wasn’t strong enough to reverse the seed that had been planted and sown over the past ten years.  Our internal processing is filled with voices whispering at us.  The problem is, that after a while, those voices start to sound like our own, and we listen.  “Every time you solve one health problem, another pops up; why not just live with the curse you know?  You’ll never be healthy, so things like exercise and eating well won’t make a difference.  With your health record, you still probably won’t live that long.”

We need a gardener to come in and trim back the overgrown weeds to find the sapling underneath that never had a chance to properly grow.  Those weeds are often so entangled though, that it might be a painful process.  Sometimes the trimming can happen slowly, with other, loving seeds planted by other people.  Sometimes it happens quickly, with fire, something that rips to our roots and jars us from those habits.

Cleaning up the garden of our souls is never easy, though there is a Gardener who’s skilled and precise in His work so we are safe in His hands.

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” ~Phillipians 4:13

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” ~Romans 12:2

But remember this–you had no control over the seeds that were planted in your heart, only on how you will shape your garden now.  Words are powerful.  They soothe hurts and cut deep.  Be aware of the words you sow.  You never know what you may be planting.

What seeds were planted in your heart by someone else?  Were they seeds that nourished your soul, or weeds that have held you down?  Do you fall into patterns based on those seeds?  If you were able to identify the source of some negative patterns, how did you uproot them?  I love hearing from you!

–I also have an announcement regarding Elemental Magic.  I want to apologize for the extended wait of its release.  It’s mid-October now, and while I had hoped to release it at the beginning of this month, there have been a few delays due to the cover art not being completed on time.  I’m very sorry that I couldn’t make the deadline I set for myself, but it is out of my control.  I hope to have news for you all soon, but I am still waiting on the cover art.–