As expected, today is a better day. I slept in till 8:45am which is a real treat with two children. Thank you to my wife. They still waited for daddy’s pancakes. "Sorry for the delay." I enjoyed making them and I dare say, they were well worth the wait. Sometimes all we need is extra sleep to clear out the junk in our minds. There is so much clearing happening while we dream, even if we do not remember when we awake. When we do remember our dreams, there is a profound sense that we need to pay attention to what they are trying to tell us. Two recent dreams come to mind: One is with my father long deceased and one is with my buddy Wayne Dyer.
Before I go into the dreams, I realize that I have never explained the reason why I do not reference anyone I know by name. (I don’t know my buddy Wayne, yet!) I do this intentionally to give a dream quality to my writing. It is said that we are every character in our dreams. Each character is an aspect of ourselves that when integrated, make up our whole. The way I view everyone I come in contact with, is a direct reflection of how I view myself. When someone comes across as arrogant and pushes my buttons, it is my own arrogance that I should look at. When I find another person inspiring, there is a resonance with my own inspiring nature. Their names are not relevant. It is their qualities and the principles they represent that teach us about ourselves. So if I know you, I have not used your personal name. If I don’t know you (i.e. Wayne Dyer, Tony Robbins, Ram Dass, Oprah Winfrey), I’d like to someday! Thanks for teaching me so much.
Now back to my dreams. In one dream I had about 5 months ago, my wife and I were looking at houses and we came across the perfect one. Typically I leave all aesthetic appreciation and decisions to my wife and am happy if she is happy but this time, even I loved the look and feel. It had a spacious kitchen with so much natural light coming from the windows. There was a den with a wall to wall book shelf that required a ladder to get to all the books. My dream! Everything seemed so pristine and welcoming. It was to be our new home. We left the house thinking, “this is the one!” As we were walking out of the house, I noticed three women dressed in black standing next to the house looking at me. I turned around and they continued to stare and whisper to themselves. Finally, I decided to confront them and say: “is there something you’d like to ask me?” (I’m a direct New Yorker even in my dreams!) The youngest of the three began to speak: “We have a message from Chany” That is my deceased father’s nickname. It comes from his middle name Luciano (like Lucky the gangster). Yes, I broke my own rule. I figure since I am already writing about a dream, I might as well use his nickname. It’s all weird.
Before I could say anything, I had a sense someone was standing right behind me, and it was not my wife. It was a 25 year old version of my dad. I immediately noticed that his appearance reminded me of pictures I had seen when my dad was in the Job Corp. I was aware that my dad was the same age as the time I came into this world. He motioned me to join him on a bench that just appeared. We did not speak. We just looked at each other and I felt all tension leave my body. It was a time to rest and to bask in the knowledge that he was with me as I construct my new life. I felt peaceful, as if I was transported to heaven. I did ask him one question.“How do you feel about mom?” It was an odd way to pose the question but that is what I asked. He then burst out into laughter. “Are you kidding me? She’s the one that took a pillow to my head and put me out of my misery!”
I knew what he meant so please take a moment if your mouth is wide open and let me explain. I did not nor do I think that my mom took the law into her own hands like the assassin to Hyman Roth in Godfather II. That is not what he meant. What he meant and what I immediately knew was that in spirit she had helped him transition from this life to the next. Through prayers and just her mere presence, she played a similar role in his life as I have in the lives of those I have written about. I did find his words hilarious and it snapped me out of my dream with laughter of my own. The laughter was outlasted by feeling joy that my father had visited me and that he is with me as much now as he was 15 years ago.
The second dream was about two months ago and it was one of those dreams where you spend what seems to be hours hanging out with someone. This someone was Wayne Dyer and the place was The Tattered Cover Bookstore in Denver. These mere facts are full of symbolism: Books that I read, books that we’ll write, with a teacher that I respect. He was showing me around the bookstore pointing out certain topics that interested him: Science, religion, philosophy, psychology, art and literature.
“You know Dennis, those that wrote these books were not concerned about whether they were having original thoughts. They were writing because someone out there would benefit from reading their books at just the right time. Don’t get caught up into thinking you must create everything from scratch. Your life experience is what you have to work from and that includes books you’ve read and lectures you’ve attended. Just write and get out of the way. I’ve got to go. You should visit me at my home.”
“Where do you live?” I asked
“I live in Interlocken.”
I woke up with a huge smile on my face. I hung out with Wayne Dyer! Well, I’ve confirmed that he does not have a home in Interlocken, Colorado. The connection I made however was very helpful. Interlocken is where the counseling labs are located at the university I work at. I realized then that I needed to study my mind a bit more closely. After I started this blog, I began an exploration of the way I think as part of discovering how to manifest my dreams. If you have read past entries then you know I have not held back in revealing my mind.
Yet another Superman movie reference: Just like Lois Lane mused while flying with Superman above the clouds: “Can you read my mind?” I have asked you to do the same. This is my intent, for you to read my mind as I progress to Resignation Day in the hopes that it will inspire you to break through the fetters of fear and follow your dreams. Two weeks to go.
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