“In the beginning was the dream. Through the dream all things were made, and without the dream nothing was made that has been made.” ~ Thomas Berry
What a glorious, dreamy day!
While all my men were out of the house safely exercising their bodies and souls, I spilled out from the small second floor office into me!
Sweet!
So, I put on Frampton – let him ‘show me the way’ – and started dancing through the house — imagining new colors on the walls – noticing new patterns and possibilities … daydreaming all the way up to my magic place – the attic.
The attic is my space of transformation – where words discovered a real deep sadness hidden between ‘the ringing in my ears’ and some outdated, small story of me. It was a place where I dared to dream, where I learned the skills to repel into the darkness and where I ascended into a life filled with light and healing. And, though it was hard, I’d handed this space over to my youngest a few years ago when I recognized the sound of his own heart longing to expand beyond the small bedroom off the sleeping porch on the second floor.
As I made my way to the stairs, I recognized an invisible process bringing all the objects of our life together; though I first chose these objects from the heart of creativity, there was a deeper message beyond the merchandising formula that conceded to the law of triads – the framework of some soulful odyssey — a spontaneous agreement in contrasting color and shape and tone and texture. And as I paused at the mantle and looked again, I saw in the relationship of these objects a purpose and meaning of which I was previously unaware, even though it was I who actioned myself upon these objects.
Suddenly, the goddess Kali – a form of Shakti – was stomping on a volume of Jane Austen, beneath a mandala of Buddha’s Awakening; and flanking this mantle was Ishtar standing boldly on Poe under the stupa of the Illusion of Mara.
Creation, repression, awakening, war and love – shadows and death!
This was amazing! … amazing because it reflected an authentic hand whose cosmic motion I could not repeat and whose divine plan I could not replicate.
I ascended to the third floor and paused at the top of the stairs, first looking at the pile purged out of the crawl space (while catching flying squirrels) now sprawled onto the floor near the bench seat, then shifting toward the tugging discomfort in my jaw, neck and throat – discontent.
I noticed this and, in that instant, this super-sonic brain sifted through quantum leaps of images now long lost; and, before I could be pulled away by the ‘drag’ of judgment – from the good or bad or from the nightmare of my consumption (the inflatable mattresses, outdated comforters, mismatched luggage, holiday wreaths, engorged photo albums and baby clothes) – I imagined it all put away, given away, cleared away.
Poof! I remembered the space before it had been filled and hidden, even before it was created!
This was the beginning of dreaming.
As I relaxed, I imagined finishing the built-in closet, shifting my son’s bed, bringing up my new turntable and albums – Frampton and my desk – creating a music lounge at the top of the stairs and repurposing the bookshelf. In an instant, I imagined an integrated space that welcomed him when he came home from college, but which also let me expand while he was away.
But, I couldn’t do it alone. Dreams are not solitary.
To actuate this dream I needed a plan (will) and I needed brawn (determination) – a carpenter with vision – and the heartfelt willingness of those around me to contribute to my happiness. I needed to begin to open my heart – to envision what was possible – and I needed love – my family – my husband and my sons.
And that’s when it hit me:
In this very same way, our world needs to dream – to lay on the ground of its choices – to embody the way life feels and to feel safe enough to open to alternate meanings – to rise with the singular intention of rising together, and to recognize that this crisis – this psychic clutter – is offering us an opportunity to choose what we want to give away, what we value and want to keep, and how we will use it to support the vision of who we want to become!
This collective human psyche is in need of the skills that can shift discontent to possibility – shift fear to love – shift possession to creation – shift a pile of consumption to a vision of potential. It’s possible, but only if you believe.
What’s standing in front of your dream? What is the vision of the world you want to see, feel, live? How can you co-create a better world through the dreams you have of it? If you took another look, what message are the objects of your beliefs sending into the world?
No doubt about it, there is a message waiting for you.