I am in a small town in the US and someone says Bob Dylan has a small, informal concert in a house nearby. I go there and listen to him play. Since I am not a big Bob Dylan fan, I thought to myself “at least I can say I have heard him play”. I wake up, and realize I can’t even say that since it was just a dream.
This is a good example of the interplay between dream and wake consciousness. In the dream, I think “at least I can say I have been to a Bob Dylan concert”. It’s a ticked box on my list of things I have done. When I wake up, I realize I can’t even say that since it was a dream. And it helps me notice this in me. I do this in life, to some extent.
I have a mental list of ticked ✓ boxes of things I have done and experienced. And although it helps to remind me of the richness of my life (any life is rich in this way), it also feels a bit hollow. If I do it for practical memory purposes, that’s fine. But I seem to do it partly for feeling better about myself.
And although that’s fine too, it can be a pointer to something that’s not quite healed in me. A part of me feels not good enough, and uses this list to feel a little better. It’s very human, very universal. And it’s good to explore a bit, and meet that part. Feel the sensations there. Notice the beliefs it’s coming from. Notice, allow, and rest with the sensations and then the thoughts. Find appreciation for it (it’s there to protect me). Thanking it for protecting me. Listening to what it wishes me to hear and know. Investigate the belief. Notice my earliest memory of having it. Invite in healing for this part of me. (These days, I tend to use a combination or inquiry, dialog, and Vortex Healing for this.)
So the dream in itself wasn’t the most helpful. It was the interaction between the dream and waking up. The initial disappointment of not being able to say “I have heard the legend Bob Dylan play live”.