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LifeQuake™
Ask the LifeQuake™ Doctor
Dr. Toni Galardi
“Whatever is flexible and flowing will tend to grow. Whatever is rigid and blocked will wither and die.” – The Tao Te Ching
Dear Dr. Toni:
I don’t know if you work with interpreting dreams but I have been having a dream that keeps repeating itself: I am in an old house and some of the rooms are closed off and scary. They have dead bodies in them. There is, however, one room similar to an attic that is also closed off, but there is light peering from under the door. I seem to be afraid to open it.
In my waking life, I work in the helping profession but I am in burnout. I don’t want to do it anymore and yet, I am clueless as to what to do next. Is there a connection here with this dream? Can you help?
Deborah
Dear Deborah:
Actually, I work with dreams in my private practice and was trained as a Jungian therapist. Carl Jung believed that many of our fears and aspirations are played out in the dreamtime. So, let’s look at this dream. Before we get into figuring out whom the people represent, let’s look at the landscape. This plays a predominant role; even when it is mere backdrop, it is important.
The landscape here is an old house. The house represents the self. The cellar is often the unconscious, the main floor the conscious, and the attic or upper level is the super conscious mind. There are individual rooms that can represent places where we store memories, particularly if those rooms contain dead bodies, as these do.
I would suggest this exercise: Sit quietly and spend five minutes breathing slowly to get centered. Now go back into the dream’s first scene. What feeling does it evoke? As you recall the dream, notice if the feeling changes. When you open the door that has the dead bodies, go into the room if you can and ask the bodies what they represent. What is dead that you have kept stored away and haven’t properly buried? Venture into the kitchen and see what is there. The kitchen represents how we nourish ourselves. Is the refrigerator full or empty? Does the stove work? This can represent how much fire we have inside to make changes.
Now walk up the stairs to the room that has a light under the door. Ask for a spiritual guide and a key to open the door. The guide will be with you throughout the process to keep you safe. Whatever you see and feel when you open the door is a key to your future. This dream has come to inspire you to take action to confront the skeletons in the closet and connect to your soul’s purpose. Be courageous and allow a passionate life to emerge.
Dear Dr. Toni:
I don’t know if you can help me. My problem is not like most of the people who write you. I know what my calling is; I just seem to be dried up creatively.
I am a writer in recovery. While I was drinking, it was easy for me to access the muse. Now that I am sober, I find that I have a chronic writer’s block. My career is in jeopardy if I don’t get past this. I am not meeting my deadlines. What should I do?
Dry and Dried Up in L.A.
Dear Dry:
There is an expression in Alcoholics Anonymous known as “terminal uniqueness.” This is when addicts think that their problem is special, or they don’t feel that they can relate to AA meetings because their addiction is unique.
You don’t say whether you go to AA meetings but if you do, you would find yourself in good company, especially around those who are new to recovery and think that their imagination, like a genie, emerges from a bottle. When you speak to writers who have been in recovery for a long time, you will find that not only can their muses come when they’re clean and sober, but that they have become more productive, not less.
I am not saying that AA is for everyone, but I would suggest that if you got sober by yourself, attend a yoga or meditation class that can show you how to use your breath to expand the mind and open to universal consciousness. When we go beyond our limited minds and surrender to this vast intelligence, so much more is possible. A daily ritual to try before you go to your computer is to open to possibility and call in the muse with reverence. Asking to be shown what to write creates humility and surrender to the “gods of imagination.” I also recommend a book entitled The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles, by Steven Pressfield. It is a great book for any artist suffering from creative blocks.
Dr. Toni Galardi is a licensed psychotherapist, public speaker, and the author of her new book: The LifeQuake Phenomenon: How to Thrive (Not Just Survive) in Times of Personal and Global Upheaval. Dr. Galardi works by phone internationally with people in transition and can be reached at 310.712.2600. To submit questions for “Ask the LifeQuake™ Doctor,” contact Dr. Toni Galardi at DrToni@LifeQuake.net.