“The _ Part of Me”: Playing with Your Imagination

I hold the opinion that there are no rules when it comes to working your own dreams. If you find a technique, a style that works for you – by all means use it. That said, sometimes it’s hard to get started when your imagination is lazy or stubborn. One of my favorite ways to stimulate my imagination is to re-write my dream with every noun identified as a part of myself.

Transpose a Dream from Flat to Full

Here’s an example of how this technique works. My original dream was recorded in these words:

My best friend is going to sail around the Hawaiian Islands. She has just purchased a sixty-three foot cabin cruiser. I ask if she has done any sailing before and she shrugs her shoulders. Clearly she is new at this, but she’s packing anyway.

The scene changes and I am with my son and his grandpa. Grandpa is an experienced sailor and he will sail with my friend from California to Hawaii. It will take nine days to cross the ocean and in that amount of time he can teach her how to sail. When they arrive in Hawaii he will fly home and leave her on her excursion.

When I re-write this dream as though each noun is a part of myself, it looks like this:

My best friend part of myself is going to sail around the Hawaiian Islands part of myself. She has just purchased a sixty-three foot cabin cruiser part of myself. I ask if she has done any sailing before and she shrugs her shoulders part of myself. Clearly she is new at this, but she’s packing anyway.

The scene changes and I am with my son part of myself and his grandpa part of myself. Grandpa part of myself is an experienced sailor part of myself and he will sail with my friend part of myself from California part of myself to Hawaii part of myself. It will take nine days part of myself to cross the ocean part of myself and in that amount of time part of myself he can teach her how to sail. When they arrive in Hawaii part of myself he will fly home part of myself and leave her on her excursion part of myself.

Unleashing The Creative Mind

Now comes the fun part. My imagination has started churning, and symbolic meanings for these nouns, identified as aspects of myself, have begun to bubble to the surface.

Here is one interpretation of this dream, when worked in this fashion:

The part of myself that I trust and am most comfortable with (friend) is going to travel to (sail) and circumnavigate the exotic, remote areas (Hawaii) of myself … the places in myself that I keep apart (islands) from the rest of me.

I am well-equipped for this journey, prepared internally with a vessel that is large, safe and comfortable (cabin cruiser). Even though I haven’t made an adventure in myself exactly like this before, I shrug off the concerns that have kept me away from these exciting places in myself before, those concerns that feel heavy and weigh me down (my shoulders). I may be new at this kind of self-exploration, but I’m going anyway!

I am accompanied on this journey by the young, innocent child-like part of myself who trusts me (my son), and the older, wise part of myself (Grandpa) that I trust. The wisdom (Grandpa) that already exists in me is experienced at this type of adventurer and promises not to abandon me along the way. Wisdom (Grandpa) will guide and teach me on the entire journey as I travel away from my familiar self (California) toward my more exotic self (Hawaii).

It will take a divinely appointed amount of time (nine being an indication of spiritual completion) to cross the wide expanse of vast emotions (ocean) between what is familiar in myself (California) and this new place in me that holds the promise of beauty and sensual delights (Hawaii).

When I am safely in this new, exciting, delightful place in myself, (Hawaii), wisdom (Grandpa) will return to it’s deep place in me, and allow me to live in this new place of adventure (excursion).

This is a fairly simple method of getting myself off the dime with a dream that feels flat. It requires little effort before my imagination willingly takes up the task of creating symbolism and meaning.

Multiple Meanings for One Dream

Sometimes I have several different symbolic possibilities for each noun. When this happens, I write the dream out in full for each set of symbols. There is usually one interpretation that resonates with me, feels accurate in my bones, and that’s the one I accept as true for myself.

But the other interpretations are worth keeping. I have found that many years later I can look back on a dream and discover that it has an entirely different, but equally powerful meaning!

Happy dreaming to you – send me a message if you want help getting started this way on a dream of your own!

Karen

(Editor’s Note: I love this dreamwork method. It’s revealing and easy to do when waiting in line somewhere or driving (although you have to remember to pay attention to the road!) – Amy)