My gift is my song and this one’s for you, and you can tell everybody this is your song
It may be quite simple but now that it’s done,
I hope you don’t mind, I hope you don’t mind that I put down in words
how wonderful life is while you’re in the world…
-from ”Your Song” by Sir Elton John
I have a playlist called “Songs from my dreams” that I created awhile back. It’s exactly what it says it is–dozens of songs compiled from last night’s dreams.
Sometimes these songs are being sung to me. Sometimes they’re only played in the background. Other times I’m just given the title or the musician.
Some of them I had heard before—months, years, or even decades earlier. And some of them I had never heard of in my entire life. There are times when all I can remember is the tune and it takes me a day or more to remember the rest. But that’s what dreams do, isn’t it? They play the tune to help us remember the words, the dance…or perhaps even so we can co-create one right alongside them.
Here in Natural Dreamwork, we understand how every dream originates from a deep well of wisdom, waiting for the bucket to travel up towards our conscious horizon. Music is but one of many bucketfuls raised up in dreams. These songs have a poignant way of relating to my life, the same way my dreams do. And just as in our Natural Dreamwork sessions, I’ll step into the song as I step into a dream–with tender and sacred attention, the ability to zoom in on sacred encounters and whatever they provoke, as well as the ability to zoom out and see the big picture. And I will always, always feel my way through what it brings up.
And what about the songs and the musicians I’d never heard of prior to that dream (like Matt Townsend and his piece “Dreams (Don’t Mean a Thing)”, which I originally took as fightin’ words, that is, until I listened to all of it)? I do the exact same thing. I’ll play their musical poetry and steep into the feelings they ship through the medium of my dreams. Is there a feeling in the song that I’m resisting? Is some aspect of my perception or personality out of alignment with the soul of the song? What do I need to open up to in order to fully embrace and apply the brilliance of the music?
There’s always some resistance, some inclination to close myself off and preserve the reactions I’ve rationalized all too well before I preserve whatever is aligning with my soul, which is all backwards, isn’t it? What we at Natural Dreamwork know to be healing is that the resistance needs to be felt too. Feeling it opens us up, and we can’t let the music in if we can’t open up.
“When I find myself in times of trouble, Mother Mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom…”* sometimes in the guise of music, always in the guise of my dreams. I will play and replay the music until my heart’s content—for weeks and months and years to come. I listen. I feel, every stanza, every line. I let the song light me up and guide me along my journey. And because our dreams love synchronicities, sometimes I even turn on the radio or read a passing bumper sticker, or hear someone whistling the tune of a song from last night’s dreams, unknowingly adding more light along my way.
All of this reminds me of the Iroquoian word ondinnonk. Its translation means something like, the soul’s secret wishes, specifically as they appear through dreams. With the Natural Dreamwork approach, we follow the no-longer-secret wishes of the soul that seek to connect us more and more with our higher selves. This wishing well bucket isn’t just skimming our conscious horizon; it’s dipping down even deeper into somewhere well beyond that—sometimes on the wings of music…sometimes on the wings of angels (which is oh so welcome when I’m still “learnin’ to fly but I ain’t got wings…”**).
So, I continue to connect with the music from my soul, and its secret wishes. I’ll play and replay the “Songs from my dreams” whenever I need to—when I know I’m out of alignment, when I don’t know I’m out of alignment, or when I just want to sit back and marvel at the magic of our universe. Natural Dreamwork invites you to do the same with the magic of your own nightly dreams.
I beg you just to take it easy on me,
I’m movin’ at God speed…
-from “God Speed” by Zach Bryan
*”Let It Be” by The Beatles
**”Learning To Fly” by Tom Petty
Ali Meyer is a passionate student and lover of dreams. She is a former English teacher, traveler, philosopher, Reiki student, writer, and graduate of Conscious Feminine Leadership Training and co-facilitator at Women Writing for a Change in Bloomington, IN. You can contact her via email: aventada84@gmail.com. Read more about her work on the About Us page.
