Just as we tend to assume that the world is as we see it, we naively suppose that people are as we imagine them to be. – C.G. Jung

That which we reject we meet always in dreams transformed into the enemy.  – Helen Luke

This idea of half-seeing and the sudden transformation of what we thought was true applies to everything in our dream-time as well as our real-time lives. It’s a rarity when something appears to us as it actually is. That’s because everything, including ourselves, is multi-layered and complex beyond imagining. So it’s not much of a stretch that our experience of life would be just as complicated and convoluted at times. What we do see most clearly is our version of the truth which often has nothing to do with the truth as it actually is. Because we see everything and everyone through our own psychic lens this leads us on a roundabout way of discovering the truth that’s been in plain sight the whole time. There we are tripping ourselves up again.

In dream-time the images that come are also rarely straightforward. We dream a watery symbology that speaks more to the ancient heart rather than the modern mind. More often than not we are dreaming of aspects of ourselves rather than an actual person, place, or thing. Our nightmares of being chased, stalked, or burglarized by a menacing being are often just to grab our attention. These are the rejected parts of ourselves trying to be seen and heard. What the dream asks us to do is something that most of us spend a lifetime running away from, face our fears. We may think of them as outside, but most of the time they reside within us.

In the dream we’re the scary monster. It’s our rage, our cruelty, our lack of compassion, or our blind spots coming to the surface. This is the human condition, we all have our own demons to wrestle with, the dream is a vehicle to see them more clearly. When we succeed at this we can begin to heal what needs mending. Our ego can talk us out of any responsibility, it’s always easier when it’s someone else’s fault or problem. But the dream sets us straight, it’s us, it’s our problem, and we need to deal with it. The more we try to wriggle out of facing what needs our attention, the more we’ll be chased down.

The only way to stop the chase is to do what feels counterintuitive and that is to stop running and turn to face what terrifies us. This takes a lot of guts. What makes it even harder is that we’ve probably been ignoring the situation for so long it’s had time to gather steam and can be a mighty force to deal with. The dream typically tries to break us in gently, but if we persist in resisting it becomes more aggressive, until we are practically overcome. Magically much of this fades as soon as we turn to take a closer look at what’s been pursuing us. It’s our deepest self, our soul, that wants to be seen.

This same technique can be used in our daily, waking life. It is through facing our fears that we overcome the greatest obstacles and gain the greatest growth. These fears, in whatever form, present themselves all the time. Daunting fears, insidious fears, fears that turn out to be the best thing that ever happened to us. They are all in need of our attention.

Whether we are in dream-time or real-time facing our fears offers us the same gift, growth. Take a closer look, your fears are offering you the gift of greater wholeness.

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