Jerry,

Thanks for your response. It has been a bit provocative as well as insightful. I feel as if I am surrounded by a mist right now. It is not clear how I should act and what the desired outcomes are with those around me. I guess I am converging with my old selves that I rejoin with by returning here to my family home. The way people know me is still as what I was and in many ways it feels like I have never left. I am not sure what the path to growth is right now and I realise that in some ways I have not been thinking about it at all.
With my writing it is part therapeutic and it feels right whether it is philosophy/psychology prose or my poetry. I feel that this is the direction my heart flows fullest. This is how I felt doing my dreamwork for most of my time in Canada but now its passion has shifted to writing. In a way I feel the way in which I was doing dreamwork had become unhealthy and imbalanced I was prepossessed by it which is a good way to learn a skill but not so much in living a balanced life. My stopping was a decision to follow my heart rather than my mind. Instead of my ego's drive to reach the bottom of my dreams and to understand and complete the journey I realised that this could never be accomplished if I ignored my heart which was tense in my determination with dreamwork. I decided to write and this seems to sing to my heart and so though in a way I think that my dreamwork is more important I can only abdicate to the dictates of my heart for that is what I have taken from dreamwork is that I cannot be master only faithful servant to the dreamweaver. I take it that if I follow my heart it will lead me to my ocean eventually. Still I do not want to lose touch with my dreams and every night I still capture them but my work with them has grinded to a halt. Perhaps I can start a more balanced approach to them as a side project and so I shall be able to retain this hotline to the depths for right now I feel a little out of touch with my dreamlife. For the same reasons I feel it would be wrong to try to force a passion for dreamwork as this is one of my pitfalls my mind/ego tries to decide where to go but now I am trying to take the lesson I have learned from my dreams that I must follow my heart's desires and not my egos even if that has taken me away from dreamwork.

Thanks,
Jimmy

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 23; Ireland (returned home from Canada and Australia)

How Did You Find the Dream Forum? Yes 25-December Tears with my Mother

Jimmy,
I get a sense you are at an impasse after your trips abroad. You were in a different world just as you are when you are dreaming. Returning to reality can be a shock of sorts and throw you off. You are being tested. Following your passion for writing is the path you need to focus your energies. To be your true self and do what your soul desires {vs the ego world of social duty/responsibilities}. Take the experiences from your trips abroad and expand on those in your writing. Depending on what area of writing you work with those experiences should provide new energies. Don't let the old norms derail your efforts and path. That is the test. Staying the path no matter what.


As for dreams. Dream work can assist you in self discovery which can open you to new ideas but don't worry about it if you have to put them on a back burner. Your dreams will let you know when they need your attention. Otherwise they are reflecting your life as it. Use them as a resource when needed or if a particular dream stands out seeking attention. I don't analyze all of my dreams, only those where the energies stand out. The unconscious mind of someone who is on the 'hero journey' is tuned in to the 'other world' and when summons you will know to take special notice of the dream. The monomythic hero journey is a state of mind and being and when you cross the threshold of not being afraid of being your true self you put yourself on a plane of higher being. I always turn to Joseph Campbell for inspiration since he was the master of myth and the hero world.

“A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: The hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.”
― Joseph Campbell, The Hero With a Thousand Faces

You have been on one of those adventures. Use that to move forward and progress. Put your efforts towards your writing and the adventure.

Jerry

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 65

How Did You Find the Dream Forum? Yes

Jerry,

I had not thought of it this way. I had been a little anxious about not doing my dreamwork and fearful of leaving the path but I am enheartened by your words and I shall keep my ears open for the dreams which desire me to hear them. I still turn my eyes to the dreamworld every day and night and so I have no doubt that if a dream calls to me I will hear it and heed it. For now I guess I shall allow this quiet time. It does seem to me the right thing to be following my heart into my creative pursuits but I had worried that in turning my attention away from my dreams I would be less able to know where I was going astray as I could pick up in active work with dreams. And finally as ever I am truly inspired by the words of the sage it is a reminder constantly that there is something more important about following my bliss than the realist world of the everyday which is far more present in my life since my return would have me believe.

Thanks,
Jimmy

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 23; Ireland (returned home from Canada and Australia)

How Did You Find the Dream Forum? Yes 25-December Tears with my Mother