Dream Interpretation
{Photo taken in Big Sur a while ago.}
Dream interpretation is a big topic around here. Not a daily one, but one with enough presence that if anyone in our house shares a strange or especially vivid dream with us, we always try to figure out what it means. Most of the time it is just for kicks, but every once in a while I feel like I’m actually onto something. I once gave my interpretation of a dream a friend of mine had and his jaw dropped. And there have been a few occasions when I’ve felt compelled to ask for interpretations of my dreams from a couple of gifted friends and been rewarded with an important insight. I’ve had one dream that I absolutely believe was a message from God, one dream when I was visited by a friend who had recently passed away (he came to tell me he was OK), and there have been a few dreams I’ve had that literally came to fruition within a few days.
My simple philosophy of dream interpretation is that everything is a symbol for something, and that dreams can be portals for wisdom if we’re willing to pay attention. At times my dreams have been the only place I could work through certain issues and really see the truth of those situations. Many of my dreams have simply been reflections of something I am dealing with, but presented in such a vivid or unusual way that I can’t help but explore it further. And some dreams have enabled me to pull back a curtain to see something about myself or the world that I didn’t expect. Those dreams tend to stay with me the longest; some I remember like yesterday.
There is a lot of big activity going on in our family right now ~ all good and positive and expansive, but in certain moments, for me, disconcerting and uncomfortable and unsettling. This is for my own reasons, because of my own little pile o’ baggage that I bring to the table, and the good news is that it doesn’t look to be interfering with the forward movement that is going on. Thanks to the work I have been doing for years as part of this family, I have a well-honed ability to be mindful of and manage my own stuff so that my ultimate offering in any given situation can be grace and joy and acceptance.
In other words, it isn’t so much that my life with my family is picture perfect and easy peasy, it is more that I have worked very hard to be able to choose joy in spite of the fears and anxieties that continue to pop up in any number of situations. Which is why I’ve been thinking a lot about a dream I recently had.
I was in a tall glass building in some kind of city. I was inside with another more distant family member, and she had a bunch of sisters who were all there. In the dream I kept looking at all of them, wanting to see their resemblance to each other (this has long been a fascination of mine in real life ~ as an only child with no extended family, I didn’t grow up sharing physical traits with anyone but my parents.) Other people were around, but I was sitting at a table with all of the sisters wanting to see how they looked alike.
All of a sudden something started happening, and in the next snippet of the dream the entire building was underwater. I could see outside the windows and all the other buildings that were also underwater, and while everyone understood we were suddenly underwater, no one was freaking out. In the dream I could feel my sense of panic start to rise, but kept telling myself, “Don’t panic, don’t panic,” even as the building we were in was creaking and groaning and making strange sounds. I talked myself out of becoming terrified by paying attention to certain details ~ that water wasn’t leaking in anywhere, that everyone around me was handling it well, that the building seemed to be holding up. And while I can’t say I ever fully relaxed in this part of the dream, I did get a grip on my fears enough that I started to feel strangely fascinated by the entire situation. We were in a building that was underwater, and even though it was swaying ever so slightly and groaning under pressure, we were all OK. I just had to keep breathing, I just had to stay present.
When negative thoughts grow so large and all-consuming that they start to develop their own zip code, I always go to the same image, which is of me creating a calm center in a wild swarm of bees. Even if I am not able to literally sit down and be still in that moment, I hold that vision in my mind, focusing on the truth that I have a choice as to whether or not I give in to that whirlwind. Making the connection between that practice and a dream where I’m standing in a building suddenly submerged in water isn’t some great interpretive leap, but it does help me see I’m on the right track. I might feel like something is on the verge of falling apart (or flooding, or whatever), but if I’m willing to just take a quick inventory of what is really happening around me, I’ll most likely see that everything is OK. And if I have to really learn that lesson through a dream about an underwater city, then what the hell ~ I’ll take it.
“The general function of dreams is to try to restore our psychological balance by producing dream material that re-establishes, in a subtle way, the total psychic equilibrium.” ~Carl Jung
Five + One
Five:
1. Gwen Samuels for art
2. Taffy Underhill for laughs
3. The Henry Miller Library for your time in Big Sur
4. Love Ninjas Unite! from Simply Celebrate for creative fun
5. Lisa Occhipinti’s private workshops for even more creative fun. All the details are right here:
+ One:
I discovered the Etsy shop TM1985 when they were a featured seller last week, and immediately placed an order. Yesterday my goodie arrived, and not only was it beautifully, artfully packaged, but it is an object I will always treasure. With a look and feel that is part vintage, part Cub Scout, part world traveling free spirit poet, these bags and cases are made to last a lifetime and are like nothing else around. Snatch these creations up while you can. I have a feeling TM1985 is going to outgrow Etsy sooner rather than later.
P.S. There’s still time to enter the 21 Secrets Give Away!!
Meanderings + A Give Away
A couple of quick updates and announcements from the Swirly Studio ~
Registration is still ongoing for 21 Secrets: An Art Journal Online Playground. I’ll be contributing a tutorial on incorporating text into your mixed media creations, and Dirty Footprints Studio has generously offered one Give Away for every instructor. Today is the day for mine! Enter a comment between now and midnight this Friday, February 10th for a FREE spot in 21 Secrets and I will announce the winner Monday.
Have you signed up for the Desire to Inspire Inspiration Deck Card Swap? It is being organized by Jessica Brogan, and she has quite an inspiring crowd of participants!
Five + One
Five + One will be back in action next week ~ Happy Friday!
Out
Of a great need
We are all holding hands
And climbing.
Not loving is a letting go.
Listen,
The terrain around here
Is
Far too
Dangerous
For
That.
~Hafiz
Swap-O-Rama
{Photo taken at CHA yesterday, where I basked in the company of some amazing women ~ more on that later.}
Years ago I created a 52-Card Inspiration Deck. This was a project I did with a group of girlfriends who I gathered with every other week for art nights, and I still have this deck sitting in a prominent place in my studio. When I was pulling together materials for Desire to Inspire, I knew I had to include an exercise for readers to make their own decks, and I’m happy it made it through all of the editing stages.
The lovely and divine Jessica Brogan created her own deck and shared her experience about it right here. (Be sure to read the entire entry, as there is a beautiful little twist at the end!) She has since decided to embark upon an adventurous endeavor, which is to manage an Inspiration Deck Card Swap. Tonia Davenport, who I have worked closely with on Desire to Inspire from Day One, has just written about this project over at Create Mixed Media, and even shares photos of her already-finished deck! I hope you’re up for some Inspiration Deck fun ~ I’ll be participating, and am thrilled (and grateful) that Jessica offered to be our fearless leader. Here’s all the news that’s fit to print on the Desire to Inspire Inspiration Deck Card Swap:
Jessica needs to know if you want to participate by February 20th.
Cards will need to land her in mailbox by March 1st.
Tonia’s entry on Create Mixed Media is right here.
Jessica’s entry with all the juicy details is right here.
P.S. Tonia and I are also putting the final touches on another oh-so inspiring project that will kick off on February 16th. All I can say is that we’ll be offering everyone an opportunity to acknowledge those that inspire them most. Stay tuned for a venture I am especially excited about.
On Wonder Woman
{Faryn’s mom at her Wonder Woman themed birthday party more than 25 years ago.}
That was all of us, wasn’t it? Looking up to the superhero with a golden lasso and shiny red boots, pilot of the invisible jet, walking amongst normal humans known as Diana. Around the third grade, I had an orange satin sleeveless leotard that was part of a ballet costume (I was a munchkin in The Wizard of Oz), and I used to wear it as I leaped and ran all over the house, pretending to fight crime and solve mysteries and be an all-around eight-year-old badass. My best friend next door was Wonder Woman for Halloween and her mom sewed a costume that had little Wonder Woman boobs, and we all thought that was the most hilarious thing ever.
~
Years ago I saw a snippet of a Lily Tomlin monologue pondering the idea of what the world would look like if children all grew up becoming what they dreamed of becoming as kids, creating a population of ballerinas, astronauts, firefighters and the like. For some reason that little bit stayed with me, and it always makes me giggle. When I was a little girl, I dreamed of being an Olympic gymnast, a circus clown, a veterinarian, an oceanographer, and Wonder Woman. Being Wonder Woman wasn’t a real possibility ~ I knew that ~ but I had daydreams about it anyway, in the same way I also pondered being Nancy Drew from time to time.
~
When I was in Jordan two years ago, I purchased a wide gold bracelet at a tiny shop in Amman, and all of my fellow travelers immediately called it a Wonder Woman bracelet. It is impossible not to make that connection with something like that, and I’m not afraid to admit that the Wonder Woman association pretty much sealed the deal as I was pondering whether or not to bring it home with me.
~
With all the Batman, Spiderman, Captain America and IronMan franchises going full steam these days, why the heck isn’t someone making a Wonder Woman film?
Five + One
Five:
1. I Shoot Like a Girl from Bella Wish
2. Beautiful Art Rings from Liz Kalloch
3. 180 Degrees
4. Seth Minkin is on Etsy!
5. Tiffany Coates ~ Visit her website and be sure to watch this.
+ One:
I recently finished The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman and it was one of those books I never wanted to put down, and was sad when it was over. From the book’s synopsis:
In 70 C.E., nine hundred Jews held out for months against armies of Romans on Masada, a mountain in the Judean desert. According to the ancient historian Josephus, two women and five children survived. Based on this tragic and iconic event, Hoffman’s novel is a spellbinding tale of four extraordinarily bold, resourceful, and sensuous women, each of whom has come to Masada by a different path.
What can I say? It is now on my Favorite Books of All Time list, and has inspired me to plan a trip to Israel.Beautiful beyond words. Watch this video to get a better idea of how extraordinary this story is.
Step
I have been receiving a number of notes and comments lately about one role I play but haven’t spoken of much ~ stepmom. I have hinted at it here and there, and written of some of the ups and downs I have experienced in this role, but for the most part kept it on the sidelines of what I share online. I have a strong sense of privacy regarding my family, but at the same time know that the stories we have created together are among the most meaningful of my life. Now that I have decided to at least try to create a narrative of our journey, it felt appropriate to claim and declare this particular title of mine more vocally.
So here it is ~ I am a stepmom, and my family and I always laugh when we use that word. Because the first half of that word ~ “step” ~ always feels incredibly foreign to us. Not only because age differences (or lack thereof ~ my husband’s son is just four years younger than I am), but because all the accepted images and ideas of a “step” couldn’t be farther from the truth of our existence as a family. This has not come easy; it has taken years of work, commitment, trust and mindfulness on the part of all of us to get where we are. But that work ~ the work that I am still called to do almost every single day ~ is my Life’s Work. It is more important than Swirly, more important than book deals, more important than anything. It is my greatest passion, my proudest achievement, what I value more than anything else in the world.
The word family used to feel like a four-letter word to me. For most of my life I believed I was not meant to be a part of one, as every one I had known fell apart for one reason or another. I am still getting used to the idea that this is my family. Even saying “my family” in a sentence sometimes feels odd. I am still sometimes pulled back towards the old way of thinking ~ that this isn’t real, that it will fall apart, that one day some detail will shift just enough that everyone will realize I’m actually not part of this family, and kick me out to the curb. These are real fears that I struggle with all the time.
So when I say this is my Life’s Work, what I mean is this: That in those moments of prickly tension within my own heart, I am determined to choose joy. I made a commitment to myself to always move towards light, especially within the circle of my family, and this commitment has worked. It requires focused attention, determination, and it often requires me to stay the course towards joy even when my fears are breathing down my neck so fiercely it alters the pace of my breathing. It is daily work, it is challenging work, but it is my most important work, by far. It is work that enables me to say with confidence and joy ~ I am a stepmom, and this is my family.
Messy
Excuse my less-than-stellar photography work here ~ trying to balance an iPhone with hands covered in glue and paint is a wee bit tricky. I’m working on this as part of the Play Me I’m Yours project, which is being spear-headed in Los Angeles by the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. My piano is the one they’ll be displaying for their big kick off event next week ~ no pressure! ~ so my deadline is fast approaching.
After such a long absence from my studio work, the opportunity to get messy has been a real gift. I started a series of 8″ x 8″ panels months ago, and I am now thinking of the work I’m doing on the piano as a nice segue towards those panels. A fall 2012 show is currently in the works…I’ll keep you posted.
More moments and musings to come; until then, it’s always a good time to share some of Pema’s wisdom…
“Rejoicing in ordinary things is not sentimental or trite. It actually takes guts. Each time we drop our complaints and allow everyday good fortune to inspire us, we enter the warrior’s world.” ~ Pema Chödrön
Five + One
Five:
1. A lovely review of Jonatha Brooke’s extraordinary Lincoln Center performance this week.
2. …and her latest offering on iTunes is a dreamy rendition of This Land is Your Land.
3. The beautiful Jessica Brogan recently created her own inspiration deck ~ a la Desire to Inspire ~ and wrote a very moving blog entry about it right here. Thank you Jessica for sharing this extraordinary story.
4. Maya Stein’s latest creation is now available right here. Lost Highways & Living Rooms is a collection of writings from her 2010 Tour De Word journey, and I am honored to share that I wrote the foreword.
5. Cool stuff is to be found at Areaware, a company I discovered while browsing at the MoMA Design Store this week.
+ One:
Rumor has it that I was the first person to place an order for Jen Lee’s Telling Your Story, and even though I am only just now beginning to dive into the work of it, I already consider it a close companion for a writing project that is very dear to my heart and therefore feels incredibly daunting. This is the first in what will be an ongoing series of reviews for Telling Your Story, which is really just my way of wanting to share the journey I am now beginning with Jen’s extraordinary, soulful support. More to come, but in the meantime, head straight to Jen Lee’s site and behold the wonder of her work, her stories, and her passion.
