One little dream

Dreams.

...the kind you have during the night, when you've been able to sleep continuously and deeply enough to periodically reach the lighter REM (rapid eye movement) stages... yeah those kind of dreams.

... the kind of dream that offers an explanation to a question you've had on your mind lately, or the answer to a problem you've been trying to solve.

...the kind of dream that takes you on a journey that seems to span a lifetime, or to a place that is not of this world, so fantastic yet so believable one could use the vivid imagery and bizarre events to spark a story. I imagine many books were sparked by a vivid and thrilling dream.

... the kind of dream that calms the soul. One doesn't even need to remember the details, nor any part of the dream, but if one wakes up knowing that she had been somewhere, with someone, and that something significant happened, without even knowing what or who, the accompanying sense of calmness is enough to know that it was a good dream.

Sometimes there are fragments... you only remember a single fragment, or several fragments, disjointed, seemingly unmatched and unrelated. Such dreams puzzle us, and we try to piece them back together if we can remember them long enough to do so. If you journal your dreams, you have an excellent opportunity to understand what is happening in your awake life.

Notice I did not say what is happening in your real life, for what happens to you (your psyche) in your dreams is as real to you as the events in your awake life. Fear, joy, and sadness have the same effect on your body in the dream state as when you are awake.

The Bible, a book I read nearly every day with an open mind and heart, shares stories of common men having divine dreams, visitations in the night from an angel, hearing God speaking to them. I believe the stories... that these people heard a divine message from the Lord, that God guided them, commanded them, instructed them, and reprimanded them, oftentimes he did so through their dreams. The most important result of the ancient patriarch's dreams and visions was in the manner that their lives were changed. Individuals, families, and entire communities/tribes were transformed by the direction they subsequently travelled... transformed by God, through their dreams. I'd love to write an entry about this topic, but that's not on today's agenda...

Many books have been written about dreams, interpreting dreams, how to apply what you learn from your dreams to your awake life, or dreamwork. I like to think I'm an expert at working with MY dreams. I can only ask questions of those who tell me their dreams, questions that might lead them to figure out what they mean for themselves.

But this post isn't going to be about that either.

This is about one little dream, a dream fragment I had last night.

It wasn't one of those big transforming dreams... but it did have a calming effect on me.

I feel the familiar soft fur at my leg, and for a moment he is with me, as he had been for nearly nine years. I turn and look down, and there is my Max, looking up at me, wagging his short tail.

In that moment, I reach down to him, to pat him, to touch him, and he does not walk away. I say his name "Max!... it's you.... you came back to me!" His eyes are bright, his tongue slightly hanging from his mouth, as though he had been running. I kneel beside him to hug him closer, ignoring the urge to pick him up because I know he hates to be picked up. "I knew you'd come back," I say.

For another moment, I hug and pet him around his head and ears. His coat is so soft, shiny and black.

Suddenly I realize I am dreaming, and I wake up.

Satisfied, I smiled... I had my Max dream. He's okay, I'm okay. I was waiting for that. He died March 15... all I could think as I lay in bed this morning was, "Max, what took you so long!"

And that is what this post is about. One little dream.

Also, I had a great day with my BIL and SIL and my DH.

Tags: dreaming, dreams, Max