Who’s Out There?

 The other day a dear friend, a man I’ve known for over 30 years, called to share a dream that excited him but made him wonder if he was crazy.  Having known him so long, I couldn’t guarantee he isn’t crazy, (kidding) but I know his dream is not.

In the dream he hears himself say; “Lord, what is the meaning of life?”   The answer he hears is, “To live it.”

I’d call this type of dream, A Little Big Dream, simple, spiritual and to the point.  It’s the type of dream that sets you pondering and makes you feel instinctively that you’re not alone. 

To be fair, some might ask, is this the voice of his waking conscious mind reminding him of what he already knows or is it the voice of something other than the dreamer himself? The more you pay attention to your own and other people’s dreams, the more easily you recognize that there are common threads that link us when it comes to dream experiences. 

The question of what is consciousness in waking and dreaming is the subject of much exploration in the field of lucid dreaming.  One of my favorite lucid dream authors, Robert Waggoner, writes about his awakening to the humbling realization that although lucid in his dream, he could direct the focus of his experience, but he (his dream ego) was not in control of the experience or all the characters anymore than he could be in waking life:

 “…I knew that something was “behind” the dream, even when lucid.  There was simply more than the waking self conscious in the dream state…the conscious unconscious, the creative system – something – hid behind the creations, yet could be seen in the creativity…I knew too that I did not control the unconscious and its expressions…”
Lucid Dreaming: Gateway to the Inner Self; p.63

Sometimes this "something" is a Voice, like the one my friend experienced hearing, (Waggoner also talks about a Voice). These dreams crack me up because of their sheer directness.  I shared my Voice revelation dream with him (the one I recently told you about in my post, “The Observer or the Observed”).  I wanted him to know that he wasn’t alone in his experience.    

We talked about his dream for a long time; I guided him through the Lightning Dreamwork process, the quick, non-intrusive dream game developed by Robert Moss as a guideline for sharing dreams and discovering their energy. After we finished, his dream shines with its message of soul purpose and soul consolation.  Despite the difficult circumstances of his life, it illuminates his heart with courage and sparks a desire for something deeper, attainable with the help of his dreams. 

What makes life worth living?  What’s it all about? What is the meaning of life?  To live it. 

But what if you don’t care to live it?  What if it’s so hard, you want to give up or if somehow the meaning has gone out of it, you’re just marking time?  This is true for an astounding number of people in western “civilized” cultures, and it has nothing to do with the tanking economy. 

Dreams offer profound revelations, spiritual truths that fill the aching void in us and give us the courage to live more fully. When we put our ear to the pillow, we create an opportunity to open our hearts to the messages of hope and inspiration that can come from dreams. Dreaming is the royal road to soul recovery; bidden or unbidden, our dreams light  our way home.

Robert Moss’ new book, Dreaming the Soul Back Home: Shamanic Dreaming for Healing and Becoming Whole, is a goddess send for anyone who wants to explore the soul healing aspect of dreaming.