AM I DREAMING?

One of the first batches of cards which I mailed out

So much time has passed since my last post here. I've been very active on my other blog AWAKENING CHOICE DREAMS and social media: my personal FB page, my other FB page AWAKENING CHOICE DREAMS, my new FB page AM I DREAMING?, and most lately INSTAGRAM.

You'd think that I'm a computer nerd but you'd be wrong…sort of. Distance from family and friends coupled with a strange desire to connect with people in some way draws me to these more interactive venues. Face Time and Skype, FB messenger, What's Ap, phone text messaging and even the good old phone keep me in touch with my buddies.

To balance this all out, physical restlessness and a need for real life often beckons me - you know, that sphere of physical reality that exists beyond all this technology. So, I'm not sitting at the computer 24/7.

My writing has become less about "me" and more about stories and connectedness. I love to hear other people's stories about synchronicity and following the synchronicity "strings" between stories, people, events and daily happenings. I don't know why exactly. Maybe it just amuses and comforts me to see the connectedness of all things when I feel so disconnected from family and friends living so far away. Maybe I'm just curious about people in general.

Anyway, I came up with this game that I call AM I DREAMING? It all started simply enough on the invitation of a friend to join her at a workshop Bootstrap Marketing with Marc Stoiber at the Greater Victoria Public Library. I reluctantly went, more for the coffee and pastry reward we were going to indulge in afterwards than for the event itself. I felt more reluctance when we were asked to pair up and brainstorm on ways to promote/market our products. I blatantly confessed to my partner, "I don't have a product.", before the handshake and name exchange so that she could find someone else and get me off the hook.

"Neither do I."

Well this is promising.

We rebelliously stuck together and chatted while the others mingled and brainstormed as directed.

Then Marc showed us his business card; just a card with his website URL on it. That got my attention. And then he said, "Have fun with it. Be creative."

As I walked home I thought about what a frustrating pain in the ass my experience with marketing has been. All my elaborate efforts at promo, blogging, e-mailing, talking up what I do, presenting free classes and demos, posting of flyers that get torn down or, more rudely, posted over and for what?

I'm not reaching the dreamers though I know they're out there; but where? How can I reach that quirky bunch?

What the hell, make it simple, be creative and have fun.

The cards were supposed to be just about business but this has become something far more enjoyable and open ended. Will more students come to my workshops and classes? I don't know and at this point I don't care. But, I am curious as to where it will lead me, who will connect with me and what branches will grow as people participate. And, it's helping me to appreciate life on a daily basis as I've committed to making daily entries on my FB AM I DREAMING? page - my streak started on Aug 17th.

The card designs began simply as well but have morphed into more creative expressions leading me back into artwork of sorts. As I draw and embellish the cards it's freed me up to explore mediums and designs without the judgment or the harsh self-criticism that has limited my previous attempts. After all it's not really about producing "art"; I'm making cards, just playing with line, design and colour.

I have to pinch myself sometimes when I realize how lucky I am to live here

Drawing up more cards on the patio. They're getting more elaborate.
I'm having a lot of fun with them, it's very satisfying to be doing artwork again.

So, I'm out there, really I am, not here…that much…for the time being.
You will find posts at:

Awakening Choice Dreams Website:
- Am I Dreaming? explained here
- blog here where I write about dreams

Facebook:
Awakening Choice Dreams FB page where I share interesting posts and articles I've found.
AM I DREAMING? FB page where I post photos and stories about my daily Am I Dreaming? experiences (some are shares of my Instagram photos with further elaboration) and where you can send your AM I DREAMING? experiences for me to share

Instagram:
 AM I DREAMING?  I post photos and brief paragraphs about my daily Am I Dreaming? experiences and where you can post a picture and short explanation using the hashtags #amIdreaminggame #amIdreaming #amIdreamingcard #card(followed by the number of the card that you have)

If you want to play AM I DREAMING? using one of my cards, let me know and I'll send you one free complimentary card (I just need your mailing address). Send your request to me at nancethacker10@me.com
For $20 you can get a minimum order of 20 numbered, one-of-a-kind cards (10/sheet)

I had a funny realization a few days back. My Dad was in constant search of peoples' stories. After he retired he even passed out a card that said NORM THACKER A FRIEND. Yikes, it dawned on me that what I'm doing isn't really that different - meeting people from a point of friendliness and shared connections. Maybe my "Norm" genes are acting up proving the old adage that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

I know nothing

nance thacker © 2012

On Sunday March 25th I facilitated a dream circle at De La Sol Yoga Studios in Hamilton. Curiosity brought nine participants with varying levels of experience in dream work/play to the circle.

I am always excited to share the technique of shamanic lucid dreaming, a wonderful way of dipping into the wisdom of soul, heart and our subconscious. Where will the journey will lead us?

In dreams anything is possible! We can sprout wings and fly like eagles or grow gills and swim like fish. Or sometimes seeking home can take us on a wild taxi ride, zipping through unmarked streets that seem more like sheet metal chutes than roads. This was how one woman's dream began. After describing her dream to us she permitted us to present lines of inquiry beginning with, "If it were my dream I would want to know..." following the lightning dreamwork process originated by Robert Moss.

We went around the circle expressing what, in her dream, aroused our curiosity. What we would want to explore in more depth.

One woman began, "If it were my dream... I'm not going to do it this way. Instead I'm going to tell you what I usually do. When I think about roads, it usually means..." Sensing a premature analysis of symbology coming down the road I stop her there.

A symbol can have totally different meanings for different people; context refines meaning. It's not that we don't employ the analytical mind; we just ask it to take a back seat until the subconscious has had time to play, reveal its wisdom and communicate using its own language. The meaning of symbols can be ascertained through observing how the "symbol" expresses itself and impacts on our dream and waking life experiences.

The best approach to take is the Zen-like attitude of the "I don't know" mind or empty mind. We don't want to replay what we already know. We want to discover what we don't consciously know.

"Let's not make the dream fit established confines about what symbols mean. That will only take us down a well worn path and bog us down as we try to make the parts fit our pre-conceived notion of how things work. It will suck the life out of the dream. Rather than telling the dream what it is trying to say wouldn't it be much more fun and interesting to let the dream speak for itself? All of our answers are contained and much more easily found within the dream world not out here."

She paused as she took in the new possibilities.

"The best way to do this is to gather intentions for dream re-entry. What would you like to know about the dream itself? What questions do you have for the road, the taxi driver, the policeman, even the rocks and the trees? You can ask them directly, embody them or receive information telepathically. In dreams you can have a discussion with anything that occurs even events themselves. You can walk around the dream and take a different vantage point. You can, through your intention, dream the dream forward or backward. Why did you choose one way of acting instead of another? What would have happened had you taken a different action?"

Like the other members of the group, she was quick to catch on and revised her question. This took her into a totally delightful and surprising course of events when we, fuelled by our curiosity, carried on the beat of the drum, re-entered the dream.

My intention for re-entry was to find out what would happen if I took the path instead of lay on the grass as the dreamer had done in the original version. She was content on the grass though she did wonder herself what would have happened had she journeyed on.

The "dreamer's" original dream (to the best of my recollection) is in regular text. My questions, the answers I received and further dream details are in coloured italics. Here it is...

I'm seeking home. I'm on a wild taxi ride, zipping through unmarked streets that seem more like sheet metal chutes than roads. My amiable, competent, reassuring, though seemingly misguided Middle Eastern cab driver takes me instead to a restaurant at the end of his line. He joins up with family here and I'm offered a meal and an invitation to the party that is in progress.
Q - Why were there no road signs? Why did you bring me here without asking for directions to where I wanted to go?
A - This is the route I always take. I shuttle people here on this direct line so there is no need for signs. You wanted to go home; this is the way. You can stay if you like. My day is done and I'll do the route again tomorrow as I always do and bring more people here. Now it's time for me to enjoy my home and celebrate the end of a day with my family and friends.
Realization - Due to work that I've done, I've been expedited to this place. And though the party looks fun and inviting...
I decline his offer as I'm curious about where I am and I want to see if anyone knows how I can get home.  I wander off into the street where a number of people are clustered around an imposing, authoritative police man in the garb of a motorcycle traffic cop. (Whereas in the "dreamer's" dream she saw a phone booth and tried to call someone without success, the phone booth doesn't appear in my version.) The officer is in control, answering their questions and giving each of them directions (by drawing routes and making notes on the road maps they hold before him) to help them along their way. I look beyond the group and see an overgrown path winding its way to the top of a hill.
Q - Where does this lead? I wonder to myself. 
A - The policeman glances up at just that moment. Noticing that I have seen the path, he waves me on giving me passage. I recognize that he is not only a traffic cop but a gatekeeper. Had others noticed the path they too would have been given permission to move on but instead they are being directed back to where they came. They won't be shuttled back but instead must find their own transportation — the way back is difficult and different for each of them.

Somewhere along the way in the original dream, the dreamer lay down in the beautiful lush grass.
My dream however, continues on...
I walk past the group wending my way through the dense overgrowth of lush greenery and long grasses following the barely detectible worn-thin, dirt path under my feet and emerge in a country setting atop the hill. The landscape is verdant and bursting with colour. An ocean-fresh, crisp, clean breeze caresses my cheeks. There is a classic, pristine farmhouse and barn at the end of a long driveway. I inhale long and deep; exhale with a sigh of relief. I know that all the potential I feel in this place will extend into my waking life. I feel free. I am HOME.


I turn to look to the vista beyond the cliffs towards the ocean. A translucent, luminous yin/yang symbol floats in the sky - one half overflows with green leaves, vines and flowers; the other is made of ice-cold brushed steel, nuts and bolts. Each half contains a dot of the other within. 
Q - What does this mean? 
A - The next part of my life (the green) is informed by all that has come before (the nuts and bolts). There is no conflict no need to reject any part of myself. In fact each informs the other and always has (the dot of the opposite in each). I need the balance of both.


I return refreshed and inspired and we begin to share our dreams. The "dreamer" is the last to tell the story of her re-entry. Experiences and images not contained in the original dream are echoed in many of our dream stories. Different courses of inquiry led to different actions and new realizations. Each dream has specific relevance to its "tracker" because the initial dream has become their own. Yet their versions may also prove to contain useful insight for the "dreamer"; only she will know if this is so.

Thanks to the "dreamer" for this rich and magical dream!

The art of crafting

This past Christmas I was rendered speechless by a powerful feeling of love that enveloped me as I walked into my client's room. I felt as if I'd been dropped into place of magic; so transformed was her previously sparse abode.

My client lives in a nursing home, her space is essentially a bedroom with a shared bathroom. As is the case in most of these environments the rooms tend to be spare and simply decorated. Pictures and seasonal cards are hung on walls and bulletin boards. Few items, labelled with the owner's identity, are displayed on dressers simply because as they say, "They have legs and tend to walk away". At this stage of life valuables tend to be held in safe keeping by family members and are rarely ever seen again by their former owner.

My client's daughter, visiting from a far off country, had spent the hours in the company of her elderly, physically compromised mother, decorating her room with found items. During walks with her wheelchair bound Mom she gathered boughs of evergreens.

"Mary" arranged them as you see in the picture. Hung on the branches were numerous, tiny, felted, solid, swirls of coloured balls wrapped in spun yarn, brought from her home miles away. Angels of loose, dry felt floated from pictures and lamps; the light shining through giving them an ethereal air. A star fashioned in the same manner provided a focal point on the make-shift Christmas tree.

Little felted pieces of art scattered here and there rewarded seeking eyes. Stones and winter berry bearing branches further transformed the room into a forest cabin retreat of calm, heart felt beauty.

When I raved about what I saw and felt, Mary simply responded, "I'm not an artist. I just do crafting. I'm a crafter." Which I took as a modest judgement of her ability, until a few weeks later when I came across Chapter 7 CREATIVE ART AS A BRIDGE in AWAKENING TO THE SPIRIT WORLD - The Shamanic Path of Direct Revelation by Sandra Ingerman & Hank Wesselman. In it she talks about the art of crafting in Shamanic practice.

Her craft of choice is spinning. As she spins she meditates on the quality with which she wants the yarn to be filled such as: love, light, peace etc. While crocheting the yarn into a blanket or scarf for someone she focuses on the words of power that she's placing into each stitch of the item she's making. In this way her creation is filled with power and healing.

Now, I don't know if this is what the daughter meant by the word "crafter" but, this is what I felt when I walked in the room and spent time there with Mary and her mother surrounded by objects made with love and intention. Love, joy and peace were palpable.

Carol Proudfoot-Edgar calls this type of practice "soul-crafting". The main intention, she says is "to craft our souls through our hands - to create art and objects infused with spirit power."(pg. 147)

You can do this with anything you make, including food. Doing daily tasks while focusing on a healing intention creates the same effect.

Dream Lovers

DREAMS ARE SOUL JOURNEYS

INTO UNLIMITED POSSIBILITIES

TO UNCOVER THEIR WISDOM IS A PRACTICED ART

OF CALLING OUT AND RECEIVING FROM THE HEART 

poem © Nance Thacker 2012

Artwork © Nance Thacker 1983

This art originally appeared on the cover of Yoga Centre of Victoria Newsletter, Feb. 1983.