Thursday, August 16, 2012

Dreams

One of the things I have started to get interested in since I was sick is the idea that your body tries to provide you with messages and signals. This can be as simple as things like being particularly tired -  Before I got sick I used to simply ignore this feeling and keep working until, inevitably, a week later I would crash. Now I listen and actually rest (at least most of the time). It can also mean that dreams are providing you with messages. Now, I'm not talking about the ones where a camel with wings and a buck tooth are chasing you down the main shopping street of town. I'm talking about the ones which are personal to your situation. I started to notice this when I was recovering from cancer. Now it happens quite regularly and more often when I am in good shape (eating well, running, not drinking and doing some meditation). I have this simple theory that the first thing that comes into my head, literally the initial interpretation, about what the dream is trying to tell you is probably correct.

So I had one of these dreams two nights ago. I was sitting around a large table with my family and extended family and we were all singing Elbow's "One day like this" (the significance of which to me was explained in a previous post). Now my family as as not particularly musical, although it has its stars, but sitting around singing songs is not something that happens any Monday afternoon.
However, given that I was about to visit the town where my extended family is about to meet up as part of a local festival this was quite telling for me. I had been thinking about how important it was to connect with friends and family when the opportunity arises and this dream was, to me, indicating that I need to grab this opportunity. Simple? Yes. But when I am actually in this situation (i.e. with friends and family) or about to be, this dream then serves to help me stay in the present and enjoy every moment.
Now this is all fine. However, the same night I had a pre-ceeding dream that I walked out of a door which was on the side of a cliff. I had the choice to try to clamber down (which would lead to certain death) or go back in through the door. This was just a huge metaphor for the cancer journey I had gone through and so I don't think that the fact that the "Elbow" dream that followed it was coincidence. A clear message to myself that I had chosen to live (with the no small help of chemotherapy of course :) ) and I should grab it with both hands........all things I have started to focus on since I started blogging on this subject.

So the conclusion for me is that I am very in touch with what is going on in my mind or that I have completely lost my mind.



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