This semester, I am taking a creative non-fiction workshop
class at the University of Memphis. The instructor is Sonja Livingston, a
talented and passionate writer (Ghostbread, and others). I submitted an essay
on the Jung-oriented dreamwork that I do (see past posts on this blog) to my
workshop this week. A couple of my classmates said they think Jung is outdated,
and another said there is more modern neuroscience that I completely left out.
That if I wanted to publish a book on dreams I should do more research for the
book proposal.
Truth
is, I have no intention of publishing a book on dreams. There are thousands out
there from professionals in the fields of psychology, anthropology, analysis,
biochemistry, and, yes, neuroscience. And even chemical engineers. This essay
was about how the type of dreamwork I do has changed the way I see life –
changed the way I see others, changed my relationships. The essay was intended as an invitation to others to listen to dreams, the visitors in the night, and to
share my own experience.
To
say that I needed to include modern neuroscience and brain research was, well,
like I’m watching a waterfall, being enchanted by the rainbows in the spray,
watching the way the water spills and splashes over the rocks, whispers past
the ferns at water’s edge, eddys and pools as it enters the creek, then someone
says there’s no way I could appreciate the scene unless I had a better
understanding of current studies in hydrology, and a scientific appreciation of
H20 and geology.
Seems
this way of looking at life is somewhat like viewing the world through a tube,
and the viewer can only see what the tube is aimed at. There is a loss of the
milieu, the broader sense of place that comes with appreciation of the small
things that make up a scene. Can
one take in the colors, the fragrance, the sounds, if the eye is only zeroing
in on one element of the scene?
Depending
on one’s personality type, there will always be differences in people and their
views of life. That’s what makes us interesting – our personalities and quirks.
To grow our soul, do we just accept that “that’s how I am”, or do we try to
learn about another way of seeing? Just as the ones who say I needed more
modern science in my essay, then perhaps I need to look at the world through
their eyes for a few minutes. Perhaps I should ask myself, How can you clarify words so that you don’t sound
like you're clinging to an old fashioned, out-of-date concept (even though there
has been a resurgence of Jung’s concepts in modern psychology circles, and I've studied dreams for years and years, and completed a two-year dream leadership course of study a couple of years ago).
What does it take to see, really
see, something? Does it take a complete understanding of everything that goes
into the ‘thing’? Or can one merely appreciate on a simple level the beauty of a
thing’s existence? My stance is to try to understand another's perspective. Others may take a more dismissive stance. How do we better appreciate each other's perspective?
