So, writing about dreams is a stellar way to get into a really introspective mindset. I find myself continually looking back on things I remember and never quite figured out, thinking of which next to ponder upon or share.

So, one thing that came to mind, is a picture which has fascinated me for about four years now. I was just doodling one day, and it came to mind in exquisite detail in a flash: the scene is a cliff and an oceanscape. The sky is breathtaking: purple clouds almost blocking out the brilliant navy blue sky. The water reflects the colors, and purples are my favorites.
The cliff is only sort of a footnote to the ocean, just a small chunk jutting into the picture from the bottom-left. It blocks the sun which sets behind it, but the sun's brilliant orange light reflects on the water and in the sky. On the cliff stands an old tree, dead and black and withered- it looks haunted, and it's almost just a black silhouette against the orangey-purple clouds above the setting sun. Beside the tree, and much smaller, is a girl, or a young woman. All that's visible is her back - her long silky black hair blowing towards the right of the picture in the wind. She's looking at something in the sky - a bird, flying towards the upper-right corner, of purple feathers that reflect the oranges of the sun and the cool blues of the water.

Perhaps this doesn't quite fit in a dream discussion; I've never to my memory seen the image in my sleep. But, that's to my memory. The detail in which it so suddenly occurred to me was astounding, and whenever I step up to an easel to draw or to paint (which I do quite a lot), it's the first image to come to mind.

I've made at least a half-dozen attempts to get the image onto paper or a canvas. All have been a total failure, although the attempts to do so have always felt therapeutic, even if the result was disappointing.

I was just wondering, suppose I had dreamt this - in a way I did, although I was awake (actually, spacing off during school, heh). Would it have any clear symbolism hanging about it? I mean, it's something I haven't been able to let go of for four years - it's almost something I see myself struggling to paint out when I'm fifty.

Some of the struggle is a technical one, I know. I'm still learning how to use artistic media to translate an image from my mind - no 17-year-old is completely proficient with paint or anything else - but I'm sure that it's also a psychological struggle, as well. There have been other images I've tried to draw or paint and couldn't, but those I let go of, and moved past. This one stays with me, always begging to be attempted.

Any theories to share?

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 17, USA

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Emily,
Your maturity is refreshing. And your goal to be an artist amplifies that maturity to the extent that I feel you have a great future ahead of you simply because you do recognize the importance of the 'creative Self'. Few 17 year olds can claim such a prize. And it is a prize, the creative Self, one that is often realized later in life rather than early in life as you have done {I was 42 when I discovered my 'true Self'}.

As to your question, suppose I had dreamt this, would it have any clear symbolism? The answer is a definite YES! What would that symbolism be? It would be about you, your life, your fears, your goals and desires, your path.

If we break down the narrative, and look at it as if it were a dream, I see many and various symbols that point to the higher Self. Those higher aspects are within you and many seem to be derived in part from the collective unconscious {the source of all muses}.

Oceans and trees, these are symbols for the deep collective unconscious where the true identity, the true self, spiritual and creative, reside. The water reflects the colors, the colors of the muse within, your colors, artist and creator of art. The sun, a god of mythical proportions, another symbol for the highest Self, integrating masculine with feminine, yin and yang, outer and inner aspects. Balance and harmony, of which only those who participate in the muses truly discover in this life.

The old self, dead and withered, hanging on, stuck to ego, unconsciously {and consciously once realized} silhouetted against the true Self, vibrant and alive. This is from the soul, souls work through the eyes of an artist.

Yes, a technical struggle. Perhaps there is a need to let go the ego, the mechanics of the art, and let the artist's eye flow and speak the language of the soul. It must come from within, or it doesn't come at all.

I am biased toward Jungian psyche and Campbell myth. But since it is from these two sages I discovered my creative Self I take the opportunity when ever I can to speak in their behalf when it comes to the True Self. That self is found within, and the sages of all time, from the great myths to the greatest of artists, are themselves surrogates to the muses. If you will take time to explore their message, you will be ahead of your time by leaps and bounds. And that artist within will shine outward. And perhaps remove the technical difficulties that persist in your endeavors to paint what you feel.

Gerard

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 58 Murfreesboro, Tn

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I cannot tell you how much this made me smile. For one, it always strokes my ego (I dunno about the Jungian one, I haven't quite moved past the definition related to inflated self-esteem) when the word 'maturity' is used in reference to me. I really do try.

For another, I suppose part of my brain had been a little worried that this was somehow a negative picture. I mean, I'm sure if I showed it to someone else they'd see dark colors all over the place in the cloudy sky and the black withered tree. My gut never thought it was really a 'dark' image, but, y'know, my brain worried (because my brain likes worrying, haha). So your reply was rather freeing, in a way. Having 'shown' someone else the image and gotten a positive reply, I feel elated.
Especially your comments about the reflection of the colors in the water. Purples being my favorite color, it makes sense that it was -my- color. That realization, I must say, elates me.
And, having related it to my True Self, I also feel a little more patient. Still very eager to get it properly onto a canvas, but, if it's tied into such a high goal, I feel better about my failed attempts.

Also, as far as Jung goes, the more I read of his ideas the more enlightened and elated I feel. I stumbled upon him quite by accident about ten months ago, and a rather powerful string of spiritual epiphanies followed (is still following). I didn't even realize Jung had much to do with dreams (although it makes sense now that he would) until just the other day; I'd been having dreams with a recurring theme for a couple months, and felt a rather powerful drive to try to grasp what it meant. When I googled dreams and came up with Jung, it seemed like another epiphany in and of itself. Certainly, a serendipity of epic proportions.
All that to say, I'm becoming a proponent of Jung myself. Certainly, nothing else has spoken to me as profoundly as his concepts of psychology - as someone who role-plays/writes, the concept of archetypes resonates powerfully. Before stumbling upon Jung, I'd vaguely understood that my characters were in ways extensions of myself, but I never really took the concept to heart until I understood them as archetypes.

And oh, gracious, now that I've mentioned my characters there's a rather strong tug to start talking about them. I talk about them immensely; my friends joke that I'm borderline schizophrenic, the way I talk about them. But I'd feel a little odd talking about them here, since they don't have a whole lot to do with my dreams. In fact, there's only one character I ever recall dreaming about (usually dreams are people I know in real life, or strangers to me completely) and I figured out what he meant pretty readily - the symbolism was not subtle, haha. Other than that, everything having to do with my characters is very conscious- one could probably make the argument that I spend -too much- time thinking about and pondering upon them (I know my friends make that argument all the time, if jokingly).

But oh do I feel like I'm rambling. I do ramble often; thoughts culminate better when they're written out, and so they always seem to beg to be written (...not unlike that image begs to be painted, I suppose).

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 17, USA

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