It is not a coincidence that night-time dreams and the dreams people hold in their hearts that they long for share the same word: Dreams. Dreams are symbols. Dreams come from outside of our awareness. We do not get to choose what we dream, nor do we get to choose what we long for in our waking lives. Therefore, dreams come from somewhere deep inside us that provides a window into the essential parts of who we are. Tuning into our dreams can link us to these essential parts of ourselves that create health, harmony, and a sense of fulfilling purpose.
Dreams come to us in night sleep, meditation, and from deep within our hearts. Often people fall into two approaches to dreams. One approach is they dismiss dreams as unimportant and trivial. The other approach is people will impulsively do whatever they think their heart or dreams is telling them without thinking it through and discerning what would be healthy. Often the impulsive acting out of dreams will include thinking they are literal instead of symbolic.
One form of “following one’s dreams” literally is the cliché mid-life crisis when a person seeking vitality buys a sports car. The need for vitality is real but needs to be rediscovered in the form that best suits that person in this era of their life. As James Hollis, a Jungian who specializes in mid-life transition says, the crisis is one of the inner making where the soul needs to be heard and put as center. Dream symbols hint at what is needed in order to (re)discover real vitality.
Dreams can help us create a sense of fulfilling our purpose by providing symbols and key insights that point toward what will guide our development. Two examples were “Sara” and “Betsy”. Sara was in her early 20s and had experienced retreats, camps, and workshops that had given her opportunities for self-exploration and adventure. Over a few years, she had night dreams and daydreams about starting such retreat centers, working at a few of these places as well. When she finished the degrees needed, she got to work. She was able to set up a center that brought together other professionals to provide ongoing therapy, retreats, and workshops for other people to also have eye opening experiences. Betsy was a woman in her 50’s who had an established career in architectural design. Although successful in her career, she wanted to move into offering something more through her efforts. By paying attention to her day and night dreams, she became aware her heart called for creating a community that would provide space for people to come together with a sense of home and belonging. As she approached early retirement age, she earned the skills she needed for such an endeavor. She learned group and community psychology, small business organization, and started leading small groups. As she approached retirement, she sought funding and was able to work with existing community centers to open spaces for people to come together in community, finding connection and belonging.
Following what our hearts call for is also a way through tragedy. One couple lost their eldest son, a decorated veteran, in a tragic car accident. He had been engaged to a school teacher in the Appalachian area and they were planning to start a family. After the accident, his parents were beyond heart broken. In listening to their own grief, they realized they wanted their son’s legacy to be carried on, helping people as he had in life. They started a foundation in the area of his fiancé that gave higher education scholarships to low-income youth and provided high end STEM equipment for school districts that would not otherwise have been able to afford it. The foundation they created continues to expand their offerings and transform lives. Although his parents will always miss their son, they were able to transform their grief into powerful impacts through recognizing what their hearts were longing for.
Engaging with our night dreams and their symbolic meanings can provide direct instruction leading to real empowerment and fulfillment. C. G. Jung, a foundational psychologist who helped bring dream work back to psychology, calls this process individuation—developing our authentic being to better relate to the world around us. Dreams he said were the road map to individuation.
As a person develops a relationship with their night-time dreams and dreams of the heart, they also begin to better understand the symbols and guidance in their night-time dreams. I have often heard people say, “I do not have dreams when I sleep, or I don’t remember them.” This is not a problem. Using techniques like active imagination—a purposeful imagining with images from meditations or dreams—along with other mediative practices accesses similar places in the psyche. Engaging in such practices can also lead to remembering symbols from dreams.
We include dream work and listening to your dreams in coaching, therapy, and workshops. To schedule any of these services or to learn more, please reach out at info@changeandhealing.com. We look forward to helping you find and engage with your dreams.
Next Steps
To setup an initial consult or to inquire about sessions, email us or call 630.712.6042. Learn more about Jungian coaching or view session pricing here.
