I'm going into my practice today thinking about how PRESENCE is the most powerful tool for transformation that we have.
For a while now, when I meet my dream, I keep getting messages around ROOTEDNESS. Be more present. Be more rooted. Relax into it. Look for ways to be more open and receptive to it.
Lots of SLOWING DOWN and BEING WITH.
The work of GETTING ROOTED is what most of us need right now to properly tend to our art and creative dreams.
So it feels obvious that anyone who is holding space for people to heal, create and grow in the world as it is today needs to be as deeply rooted as they can be... and then look for ways to go deeper.
But what seems less obvious is that PRESENCE is actually a tool for CHANGE.
Over the years I have heard, when people hear about my work "Oh that sounds nice but I'm in a place where I need to be really PRESENT, you know? Not thinking about the future or pushing and working hard, I want to just really be here and enjoy the moment"...
And I just smile and say "Well it's not for everyone" but if they asked about it, I'd say:
Your dreams are not in the future, they are here in the present.
They are in your heart and soul right now, in fact they are a sacred part of you. They are here to guide you.
(If I was being REALLY honest, I'd also say that the reason why we tend to "not want to dream" is more about being afraid of our feelings, because to be present with our DREAMS mean to be present with all parts of us, including the hard parts, and most new age/holistic wellness approaches to "being in the now" involve so much spiritual and emotional bypass that of course they can't get in touch with their dreams.)
Being "in the now" does not place you outside of time. You are still moving through life. You can move to re-create the same situations you have over and over or you can move to create new ones, but we are never actually standing still.
When you are really present with yourself, where you are, you see that this includes your dreams and when you simply MAKE SPACE for that...new possibilities emerge. You never need to leave "now" to get to a dream.
Dreams can require hard work and risks, yes. How we choose to engage with those parts of the process are 100% up to us though. We can move more slowly. We can make the work more enjoyable. We can dream up whole new ways to do things that don't feel like risk and hard work! And we can break those risks down smaller and smaller and smaller.
We NEVER need to bypass our needs, safety and preferences to make a dream happen.
That's a belief we do get from living in this culture, and, if left unquestioned, it will impact your life in a negative way.
When we're REALLY listening to ourselves, which is most of what a Creative Dream Alchemy practice is, we know when to do what and how to do it. And when we don't know - we listen some more.
A lot of what we think of as "making our dreams real" is all tied up in the capitalist dreams we get sold in this culture about what we are suppose to want and what we should be willing to give up to get it.
My work is in opposition of all of that.
Your actual dreams are in opposition to all of that.
And your PRESENCE is the most powerful tool for transformation that you have.
Last week when I was talking about how you don't have to stay calm in these troubling times... I was talking about how POWERFUL you are when you are PRESENT with reality.
Which doesn't mean being upset all the time! It does mean tending to your feelings and listening to yourself about what you need. And honouring the boundaries you know you need.
So, I am here, so grateful that my dreams keep pushing me to root in more deeply. Make more art. Meditate more. Scroll less. I even started a whole new art journal that I'll share about soon.
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