“Dream your life — live your dreams!”~ unknown
Are you in touch with your dreams? Do you pay much attention to what goes on in your head at night while you are sleeping or keep track in a journal? Have you ever had a dream that was so important or memorable that it became a turning point in your life?
Dreams can be serious, funny, or just downright weird. Sometimes they make sense and have an obvious message and other times they are impossible to decipher. Whether you look at them as an oracle or simply entertainment, they have great value in providing us with information and feelings that we would never encounter in our daily lives.
If anything, they prove that we live in a nonlinear universe and point to the fact that our psyches and consciousness are tapped into the morphogenetic field in some mysterious way that science has yet to explain. It’s amazing what sorts of information and insights we can access when our conscious mind takes a rest.
I’ve had some curious ones that stuck with me. I remember one where Mick Jagger and I were sitting around in a kitchen, and he was telling me that I needed to lighten up and laugh more and not take things so seriously. Great advice from someone I totally respect, it’s informed my sense of humor ever since.
My habits around my dreams have changed significantly over the years. I used to smoke pot pretty regularly and one of the drawbacks to the habit, besides a cough and a tendency to like multi-tasking too much, was that I wouldn’t be able to clearly recall my dreams. I’d wake up in the morning knowing I’d had them, and feeling a general sensation of the mood of them, but the details and storyline would escape me as soon as my feet hit the floor.
Since my days as an herb aficionado are long in the past, for quite a while now I’ve been making a habit of jotting down the highlights from the evenings inner-world activities into an Evernote file on my iPad. The stuff that comes up is amazing! Sometimes it’s just a few random disconnected fragments, other mornings there’s practically a thousand words worth of text that’s like one big long screenplay.
I had one recently that obviously points to some sort of leadership insight. I’m in a big room with Michael Zipkin, one of our local Soul Motion leaders, it’s his house and I’m hosting a Conscious Dancer meeting there for a bunch of people. At first the room has these big high steps or bleachers on one side, then as everyone shows up they take the bleachers down and rearrange things into two big tables, about 6 or 8 people sitting around each one with notebooks, papers, and laptops out ready for me to lead the meeting.
I’m feeling a bit loose like I’ve been up all night, and I go up to the street where there’s a bus parked outside, and I get a whiff of some pot smoke in the air. Then this older guy takes me aside and tells me people can smell the weed and it’s unprofessional. I’m standing there trying to think back, “Did I just smoke some and forget? I thought I quit a long time ago!” I go back inside where the people are waiting and start the meeting.
There’s obviously a message in there about being more professional with my business. And I was left with the feeling that it’s high time that I be leading a larger team, and that quite frankly I’d rather be creatively guiding a capable CEO than trying to be chief executive myself. It could obviously be read any number of ways.
If you start keeping track of your dreams you may start to notice patterns and recurring themes. Like the dream above, my long discarded habits occasionally make an appearance, sometimes I will dream that I’m drinking a beer, only to wake up and remember that I stopped drinking alcohol almost 30 years ago. Mentors and formative figures also make repeat appearances, quite often I’ll run into Mark Pauline, the man I credit with teaching me the meaning of work, generally building robots or putting together a large show.
Whether you recall entire stories or just fragments of feelings, let your dreams provide a balance to your conscious thinking. You never know when a valuable insight is going to spring forth in the dark of night, ready to inform you with an elusive answer. One thing is for sure, your dreams are a wellspring of information that belong to you alone, and that can’t be found anywhere else.
Much love and happy dreaming until next week!
M+
Mark Metz
Director of the Dance First Association
Publisher of Conscious Dancer Magazine
Dance First Member Spotlight!Brietta Leader and WildCore Movement!
Delighted to introduce you to Dance First member Brietta Leader today, the founder of WildCore Movement and an all-around awesome mountain woman you should know about! I’ve been fortunate to get to know her as a new Dance First member and as we’ve been working together on her practice building projects.
She’s based in the upper region of Idaho, in the town of Sandpoint, where she lives with her son and husband, and has a yurt for movement practice at her home. Her life and history in the mountains of Idaho and Alaska inform her practice and the retreats and experiences she offers with a natural wildness and spirit of the great outdoors. Also an accomplished body worker, she does one-on-one massage sessions at her home studio.
With over 15 years of teaching experience under her belt, and certifications in both Soul Motion and the Nia Technique, plus a background in outdoor wilderness experiences, she’s uniquely suited to bridge the world of embodiment with the natural world itself. She’s also active in youth leadership, as the director and lead choreographer of the Gypsy Diva’s Dance Troupe based in Sandpoint.
I highly recommend that you take a few minutes and watch the video introduction to Wildcore she recently produced. (click here or on the photo above) You’ll get a good impression of the work she offers and her overall teaching aesthetic as well. She’s available to travel and open to invitations to provide any level of her work at gatherings both public or private.
She’s offering some amazing experiences this spring and summer, starting with her Spring Renewal Women’s Retreat March 11-12, and then the Wildcore on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River rafting trip happening August 21-26, week of the Solar Eclipse!
The Spring Renewal Women’s Retreat is co-hosted by her long-time friend and teaching partner Holly Walker, and includes an additional Self-Guided Study option. This is an 8-week e-course with weekly writing and art journaling prompts, how-to videos, and a follow up group circle integration. The self-guided option starts February 11, so check it out right away and reserve your spot.
Thank you so much Brietta for bringing the valuable threads of nature and embodiment together! You’re a shining light in the Conscious Dance world and I’m honored to be helping you get your message out to the global community!
Visit her website at www.WildCoreMovement.com to learn more.
Spring Renewal Women’s Retreat with Brietta Leader and Holly Walker
March 11-12, (self-guided course starts Feb 11)
Eureka Retreat Center, Sagle, Idaho
Wildcore Movement Dance and Rafting Adventure
August 21-26
Middle Fork of the Salmon River
