Exhibit Thirteen: Acquired by the Dream Gallery
30 May 1999
'Three Sunflowers'
Feeling
The Picture
Your feeling reactions to a dream are keys to its interpretation. These are my feelings. If this were a scene in your dream or life, how would you feel about being there?
I see these three sunflowers as
growing against the back wall of a red garden shed which is down near the bottom of the
garden, out of sight from the main house or garden. I see the little yellow track as a
back entrance to the house, perhaps used only by family and friends as a short cut or by a
hired gardener. This gives me a feeling of privacy and secrecy but, more so, a feeling of
freedom and abandon.
The flowers seem to have found the perfect sunny
spot to grow without effort. They feel as if they are lazily leaning against the garden
shed wall, basking in their easy position away from the spotlight of the main house and
the formality of the main garden. They have found their own perfection where they can grow
as tall as they wish, expressing themselves freely and naturally, without being seen as
’tall poppies’. The red colour of the wall, for me, reinforces this feeling of
fully expressing ‘poppiness’ or ‘sunflowerness’ with abandon.
It’s like "If I want to be red, I’ll BE red. If I want to be tall,
I’ll BE tall." The sunflowers give me a feeling of the freedom and ease of full
expression beyond the scrutiny of mainstream expectations. Although I can see the
colourful and peaceful landscape filling the rest of the picture, I am drawn towards
empathising with the sunflowers. They give me the feeling that they are ‘taking a
breather’ to gather strength and grow.
The Symbols
Symbols in your dreams often relate to your personal memories and associations, so always consider those first. Then let your mind play with other, more general possibilities. They will not all apply! Just open your mind and notice where the symbol seems to fit and make sense of the rest of your dream.
In dreams, a garden often symbolises our personal
growth: as plants and flowers grow and blossom, so should we. Our dream gardens therefore
tend to reflect our personal growth and blossoming at the time of the dream. If we are
shown a picture, such as this one, we will perceive it and respond to it according to
‘where we’re at’. (This is the power of the Dream Gallery concept.) My own
feeling reactions towards this picture clearly lay my soul bare, don’t they? They
reflect that I feel stunted in the mainstream at the moment and that I relish the
opportunity to express myself and my ideas freely in my own ‘home soil’. This
is, actually, how I feel about the web site. You are here, with me, in the private space
behind the garden shed where I create, communicate and publish as I wish, instead of
playing the mainstream game. It would appear that I am taking a breather from being in the
mainstream public eye at the moment, in order to unfetter my expression and gather
strength and momentum.
Things frequently come in threes in dreams. Three
generally symbolises the three aspects of our being: the physical (body), the
mental/emotional (mind) and the spiritual (soul). The symbolism in this picture suggests
equally balanced expression of the mind, body and soul.
Different types of flowers carry different
symbolism. Remember that personal symbolism always overrides shared symbolism. Ask
yourself, "If a sunflower had a personality, what would it be?" Your answer will
clue you into your personal symbolism for a sunflower. Shared (common) symbolism may focus
on "growing towards consciousness/enlightenment", since the sun, in dreams,
often represents what is known (in the light), or what is conscious.
In this ‘dream’ picture, the intensity
of colour is important. Again certain colours may have personal symbolism for each
dreamer. In general, though, red symbolises the physical self, assertiveness, maybe even
aggression/danger or anger.
If a house symbolises the mind of the dreamer,
what would the shed at the bottom of the garden symbolise? Is this the most private part
of the dreamer, or the forgotten part? Or is it a dream pun on the word ‘shed’,
as in: "What have you shed from your life? Should you be looking at why you have let
this thing go?" Or perhaps you see this red building as something else: the main
house even.
The Questions
Here are some questions the dreamer of such a dream picture might ask to work towards a complete understanding of the dream.
Try these yourself: just give your 'gut reaction' answers to the questions - your answers will surprise you in the insights they deliver. The key thing to remember is, "Don't THINK about your answers - give quick gut reaction replies". Your unconscious will deliver.
If this process can work powerfully for this image, consider how infinitely more powerful the insights are when the image comes from one of your own dreams - direct from your unconscious!
* If a sunflower had a personality, what would it be?
* How do I relate to that personality and what issues does this bring up for me?
* What is the red building? How does it make me feel?
* Which three elements of my life could these three sunflowers represent?
* Where do I feel the yellow track is leading to?
* Where do I feel the yellow track is coming from?
* Which area of my life does this ‘coming from’ and ‘leading to’ seem
to relate to?
* Why am I noticing these three sunflowers as I travel along this path in my life?
* What boundary is the little white fence marking out in the picture?
* What boundary or limitation might this represent in my own life?
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