Sometimes a dream breaks through your conditioned, autopilot disconnection with such simple, generous clarity and ease that you can carry it like a mantra for the rest of life. A recent dream offered me such portable wisdom.
In the dream, I am pacing around rapidly repeating, “I am here to be with you buddy I am here to be with you buddy I am here to be with you buddy…” without meaning or feeling, just a series of words. I come to stand in front of a tall, curly haired man, in ordinary clothes, who looks kind, boyish, and playful, in a Will Ferrell kind of way (the comedian who played Buddy the Elf). He gently says, “Slow it down.” I am then holding hands with him, looking him in the eyes and slowly saying, “I am here to be with you, buddy.” Suddenly, I feel so lovingly connected that tears flow from my eyes, and my voice quivers with surprised tenderness. The curly haired man – the healing archetype, who has arrived as an ordinary guy, a friend, my buddy – holds my hand in his, witnessing my breaking open, and responds, “Maybe this is your practicum.”
My practicum – as in the on-going, experiential learning of a student in training. As in practice. Spiritual practice. Since this dream, I have been practicing slowing down and saying to everything: I am here to be with you, buddy.
In ordinary moments – like now as the cat interrupts my writing. I pick her up and take time to be with my feline buddy. Or when my partner rambles on about something. I slow down, practice being with him, my best friend and buddy. Or when I am out walking – passing maple trees, squirrels, neighbors walking their dogs, hawks in clear blue sky. I remind myself to slow down, meet each of these familiar things as buddies.
And with the sacred, too, in all its mystery and shapeshifting beyond-ness – I am starting to remember that even the infinite Beloved is accessible and real, a constant buddy.
This practice of “slowing down and being with” distills for me what Natural Dreamwork is all about. In most dreams, I am hurrying around, not being present.
Yet, many dreams offer opportunities for a deep relationship with a startlingly loving presence.
If you meet with a dreamwork practitioner every couple of weeks, within a year’s time you will have recorded hundreds of dreams and received more than two-dozen dream homework images to engage with. This coming winter, as an end-of year reflection, I encourage you to look back on your year’s journey with dreams. Find one or two of them that can be carried with you as unforgettable, portable teachings, distilled to a mantra of a few simple words.
Here at Natural Dreamwork we would love to step into your dreams with you, explore together what it is that wants to in relationship with you. If you are interested in working more deeply with your dreams, we invite you to visit About Us to learn more about our community of practitioners. Natural Dreamwork Practitioners work with dreamers throughout the world in person, on the phone and over video-conference. We are happy to connect with you, to continue the conversation with you about your dreams.
Liza Hyatt, ATR-BC, LMHC is a certified Natural Dreamwork practitioner, board certified art therapist and licensed mental health counselor in Indianapolis. For more information about spiritual growth through dreamwork with Liza, please contact her at lizahyatt@gmail.com. You can learn more about Liza on the About Us page of our website.
