In the Meantime: Behind the Scenes
I love going to sleep at night as much because I am tired and look forward to my rest as well as the fact that I love dreams and dreaming. I look forward to my dreams. I experience them as my other life. They can be just as vibrant and alive as my waking life. Many of the dreams I don't remember, but I do remember my feelings I experience in the morning when I wake up. As I was listening to a patient talk the other day, I realized that dreams are also an example of In the Meantime.
This patient was describing a dream she had had the other night. For this purpose, the content of the dream itself isn't as important as what is occurring behind the scenes. As I was listening to her describe her dream, I was also hearing how the dream itself described the inner process of her unconscious. Her unconscious was aware of an understanding deepening within her that her conscious self was not. She did not know the growth that was happening in her and instead thought the dream was showing her the same old story all over again. In fact, her dream was showing her that a part of her she is not aware of as yet is beginning to lighten and soften. In her waking world, she does not know the changes taking place. Her actions in her waking world are beginning to show a change that she hadn't yet registered until I mentioned them to her. Then she was able to see a change taking place…..she is In the Meantime f consciousness, so to speak. As she is working on herself, she is experiencing her life consciously as another aspect of her is busy at work behind the scenes. In the Meantime of her self-work, she is developing and growing new relationships to herself.
I had not thought of this aspect of In the Meantime until the other day. As we are busy living our lives, other parts of us we aren't fully aware of are working on things we would like for ourselves…until presto; they begin to manifest. For us, it can feel like suddenly we have a new awareness, or suddenly we find ourselves making different decisions or doing something we would not have done previously. This sudden feeling is a manifestation of an undercurrent of our inner work and soul work that has taken quite some time. What is swimming in the currents of our unconscious become manifest in a way we can't ignore when they are ready. It is a way of being in the stream of life and the meantime without us being aware it is going on.
Take a minute an imagine something you would like for yourself. I am not referring to a new car or a new house; I am referring to something you are working on inside of you. This could be developing more courage, or changing parts of a people-pleasing tendency, or learning to be less judgemental or critical of yourself, and so on. Now before you go to sleep, say to yourself what you would like and that you would like to resolve something or have some insights into something or would like to understand something in you, etc. Then ask for assistance and begin breathing deeply until you get very relaxed or you go to sleep. Do this every night for two weeks. If you like, keep a notebook by your side to write down a dream when you awake. In the morning write down what you remember. If you don't remember anything, write down a feeling or a thought that comes up for you. It may not make sense at the time, and that is ok; that is your unconscious talking to you. This is a way you can use dreams to wake yourself up.
This patient was describing a dream she had had the other night. For this purpose, the content of the dream itself isn't as important as what is occurring behind the scenes. As I was listening to her describe her dream, I was also hearing how the dream itself described the inner process of her unconscious. Her unconscious was aware of an understanding deepening within her that her conscious self was not. She did not know the growth that was happening in her and instead thought the dream was showing her the same old story all over again. In fact, her dream was showing her that a part of her she is not aware of as yet is beginning to lighten and soften. In her waking world, she does not know the changes taking place. Her actions in her waking world are beginning to show a change that she hadn't yet registered until I mentioned them to her. Then she was able to see a change taking place…..she is In the Meantime f consciousness, so to speak. As she is working on herself, she is experiencing her life consciously as another aspect of her is busy at work behind the scenes. In the Meantime of her self-work, she is developing and growing new relationships to herself.
I had not thought of this aspect of In the Meantime until the other day. As we are busy living our lives, other parts of us we aren't fully aware of are working on things we would like for ourselves…until presto; they begin to manifest. For us, it can feel like suddenly we have a new awareness, or suddenly we find ourselves making different decisions or doing something we would not have done previously. This sudden feeling is a manifestation of an undercurrent of our inner work and soul work that has taken quite some time. What is swimming in the currents of our unconscious become manifest in a way we can't ignore when they are ready. It is a way of being in the stream of life and the meantime without us being aware it is going on.
Take a minute an imagine something you would like for yourself. I am not referring to a new car or a new house; I am referring to something you are working on inside of you. This could be developing more courage, or changing parts of a people-pleasing tendency, or learning to be less judgemental or critical of yourself, and so on. Now before you go to sleep, say to yourself what you would like and that you would like to resolve something or have some insights into something or would like to understand something in you, etc. Then ask for assistance and begin breathing deeply until you get very relaxed or you go to sleep. Do this every night for two weeks. If you like, keep a notebook by your side to write down a dream when you awake. In the morning write down what you remember. If you don't remember anything, write down a feeling or a thought that comes up for you. It may not make sense at the time, and that is ok; that is your unconscious talking to you. This is a way you can use dreams to wake yourself up.
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