I am in New York. First, I interview a famous director talking about how he is planning to release new cuts of his old movies. Then, I am out in a beautiful neighborhood with old buildings and very interesting stores. I notice that nobody wears a mask and they are not keeping their distance. They all seem to be in a good mood.
The second part of this dream is my typical pandemic dream. I am in an urban area, often beautiful, old, and fascinating. There is a lot of people there that I interact with. And I realize we are too close and most or all, including myself, are not wearing a mask.
The first part is more interesting. Two days ago, I watched a mini-documentary about fan editions of movies, and the director in the dream (Scorsese?) was planning to release his own new director’s cuts of some of his own old movies. Watching that mini-documentary is likely the recent waking-life seed for this part of the dream.
What is this about? One answer is that when we do healing work for ourselves, we – in a very direct and immediate way – are rewriting our past. We are rewriting our old movies about our own life and the world.
This is perhaps especially clear when we do inquiry like The Work of Byron Katie. We get to see that things didn’t happen the way we thought they happened. We get a new story that fits the data better, is more honest for us, is more innocent and freeing, and is perhaps also more sobering.
I am currently digesting and processing some of my own old stories, especially around loss and situations where I would have acted differently – and with more clarity and kindness towards myself – if I had been free from some issues and unhealed fear. A part of me misses the life I hoped I would have had, could have had, and that didn’t happen, mostly due to my own choices. There is a stressful version of these stories, and there is one that’s more clear, honest, and innocent. Hopefully, I am gradually moving towards the latter through inquiry and healing.
In that sense, I am that famous (famous to myself in my own life, as we all are) director working on re-edits and new versions of his movies.