Preface

~~~~~~dream~~~~~~

I came upon a river, perhaps no more than three or four metres wide, tumbling, lively, dispersing spangles of sunlight as it washed its way through mountainous soil. Up here, amongst the peaks, it was spring.

Stepping into the river I slipped beneath the surface, feeling its fresh yet warming waters flow across my skin. It seemed no miracle that I could easily breathe down here, surrounded by crystal water. I swam, froggy style, easily and with overwhelming tranquillity, following the river bed, observing every rock, colour, animal and plant along the way. The river was not deep and occasionally my knees touched the sand, reminding me to refine my swimming style.

And so I journeyed, neither needing to come up for air nor wishing to. (I, whose heartbeat races at the thought of being submerged in my waking life!) In time I came to the place where the river spurted into a waterfall, where its inner silence was transformed into a noisy, splendiferous sight, every drop that once slid within the body of the river now turned inside out, flung into the air, on the outside, for all to witness. Thousands would gaze upon the waterfall, perceiving the view from many angles and from great distances. Here, where the river splayed itself into the world, I need follow no longer.

Turning, I swam back and on past the point of entry, peacefully flowing, now heading upstream to find the source of the river, its origins. Satisfied, I turned again, finally to emerge at my own starting point.

I repeated this process through twenty-five different rivers, then lay content in the sunlight to absorb.

~~~~~~

Within each dream lies life-changing potential which, if acted upon, can bestow anything from minor life improvements to total personal transformation. This was the premise of my first book Sleep On It and Change Your Life, which was based on an in-depth survey of 160 dreamers over a period of a year. Shortly after its publication, I felt the need to reach out and find people whose life-changing dream stories could be told in greater personal detail, and also to open myself to further research into what makes any particular dream truly transformative.

When I dreamed the ‘River of Dreams’ I had already prepared much of the work for this book and was at the stage of deciding how to present it. I knew that I wanted to tell many of the dreamers’ stories in greater detail, but I was also aware of my publisher’s word-length requirements.

I awoke straight after this dream knowing exactly what it meant. There was no need for interpretation. Each river was one dreamer’s story. Water often symbolises the emotions or the subconscious, and the river itself can be seen as the ‘flow of life’. I knew I should present twenty-five life-changing stories in detail and then dip my hand into the ocean, into which all rivers run, to retrieve insights from the rest.

The dream suggested that I should enter each dreamer’s life around the middle of the river, which I perceived as being the moment of the life-changing dream itself. Each story in this book therefore opens with the life-changing dream in question.

After immersion in the dream, re-living the dream experience as each dreamer had, mine was then the task to follow their lives both to the point where each changed life burst forth into the world (the waterfall) and to the place of origin, the source of each dreamer’s tale. While I should observe and experience the full length of each story, my dream advised me not to go too deep: my occasional grazing of my knee on the river bed reminded me, symbolically, to tighten and refine my writing style, to view the overall span of the tale rather than its depth.

My dream reference to not coming up for air was a reassuring one for me, since my deadline was not far away. The tranquillity of each swim gave me the faith that I could write the book smoothly, with great concentration, in a limited amount of time, and that I would not feel the need to come up for air. Through holding this picture in my mind I was able to peacefully apply myself in concentrated periods that, years ago, would have caused me tremendous stress. Ah, the value of a dream!

Halfway through writing the book, I felt the need to add a detailed life-changing dream of my own, but anonymously, because it involves other people whose identity should remain hidden in respect for their private lives. You will discover, therefore, that I have swum twenty-five rivers - plus one, and taken nineteen invigorating dips into the great collective ocean of life to bring you this book.

On reviewing my own dream, ‘River of Dreams’, I laughed to see that even the significance of my ‘froggy’ swimming style was symbolically important. Frogs, in dreams, often symbolise transformation, since tadpoles metamorphose into frogs, and, far more importantly, ugly frogs transform into handsome princes! This book is the story of the transformation of forty-five people’s lives through their dreams, but, unlike the fairytale of the princess and the frog-prince, these stories are true.

Have You Ever Had a Dream Which
Changed Your Life?

Well have you?

Every dream is potentially life-changing, and at a rate of about five dreams a night (yes: we all dream and you can learn how to recall them all!) for 365 nights a year, more than 1,800 opportunities to improve your lot have flicked behind your closed eyelids for every year of your life. The only difference between the dreamers in this book and those who answered ‘no’ to the opening question, is…. What? That’s what I wanted to know, and that’s where this story begins.

First I had to find people who had taken life-changing action because of a dream. Through ‘The Dream Research Bank’ I had access to a number of people who had life-changing dream stories to tell. The Dream Research Bank is an ever increasing network of people throughout Australia who keep in contact with my dream research through a quarterly publication, ‘Dream Net’. This provides details of various research projects which members can take part in and areas of dream experience I am interested in collecting, alongside informative items on dreaming. [Post-script, August 1999: The Dream Research Bank has now been transformed into the web site and its associated activities.]

I was keen to attract a broad range of life-changing dream stories, so I increased the invitation through a publicity drive in early January 1995, calling for people who had ‘a dream which changed your life somehow, for better or for worse’, through a large number of radio stations and newspapers across Australia. The response was immediate and very encouraging, and it was not long before I had identified all the contributors and despatched the initial questionnaire to each one.

The questionnaire (see end of this web page) was comprised of twelve simple questions which the dreamers were invited to answer in whatever detail they felt appropriate. My approach was to pose questions which interested me, but not to request tight, statistically accessible replies. I wanted each person to feel free to tell their own story within the loose guidelines of my questions, while also giving me points of reference to make comparisons and draw conclusions about the material as a whole. In retrospect, I feel this was a worthwhile method which enhanced the individuality of each story as well as allowing each dreamer’s personality to add his or her own hue.

I decided not to give a precise definition of what I meant by a ‘life-changing dream’. I left it open to people to decide for themselves what they considered to be ‘life changing’: if you’ve changed your life because of dream, you know it - you don’t need someone to define it for you. As Beth, one of the contributors to the book, said, ‘Giving up smoking was a really big thing for me, so I am sure it’s classified as life changing’, while for others, such as Nellie, Sarras and Dee, ‘life changing’ is a rather mild way of saying, ‘life saving’. Nellie’s dream returned her from the point of death, Sarra’s dream experience renewed her will to live after aborting a suicide plan, and Dee had actually died, had her dream experience, and then been resuscitated to live a changed life.

I realised that asking people for unstructured written replies could be too time consuming or daunting, so I offered the dreamers the option of a phone interview. These interviews were recorded on audio tape and later transcribed. I also phoned several of the people who sent written replies to ask for expansion or clarification, and these interviews were also recorded and transcribed. This combined approach worked well, since some people felt they could express themselves more clearly through the spoken word, and in conversation, whereas others preferred to contemplate their exact choice of words, or felt they communicated more intimately through writing, as if they were reflecting on their lives through a personal and private journal. Two of the contributors were talented writers who adapted their unpublished material to suit the interests of this work. The overall results was a range of expression and style which complemented the variety of stories being told.

Confidentiality was a major consideration in preparing for this book. All contributors were invited to choose a pen name for themselves and for other people who appeared in their dreams, and to change place names to prevent identification. All other details are accurate. Finally , after preparing the manuscript, I invited each dreamer to check and edit their story. They all did. What you read on the following pages is what actually happened, without any distorted perception from the author!

Forty-five life-changing dream stories are told in this book, twenty-six in detail, and the remaining nineteen in a series of inspirational glimpses. Each dream, combined with the actions taken by the dreamer, reflects several overlapping themes. Fifteen dreamers took action on some sort of instruction given in their dream, while fourteen dreams revealed aspects of self-understanding. Ten dreams had a highly spiritual content, while nine exhibited themes of reassurance or support. Releasing past hurt was a common to eight dreams, while taking back control of a situation, recognition, realising potential, improving relationships and getting answers to important questions were each observed six times in various dream accounts.

I have chosen to present the dreams in six central themes - Spirituality, Following Instructions, Releasing the Past, Precognition, Realising Potential and Seeking Answers - simply because these represented a wide cross-section of the themes present in the dreams. Most dreams belong in several categories, and I could have elected to categorise the same dreams under completely different headings. The point was not to focus on labelling, but to compare how different dreamers handled similar themes. My research findings based on these comparisons are incorporated in the text.

Each story begins with the life-changing dream, simply because, in each dreamer’s life, the dream itself was really the start of it all. As you read each opening dream, try to experience it as the dreamer might have done; let the mystery of it wash over you, then follow the dreamer’s footsteps to discover how each dream translated into life-changing consequences. After each story I have added ‘Jane’s Interpretation’, to help guide you further in your understanding of the dreams and how to make practical use of them. These sections throw added emphasis on the original interpretations, or suggest parallel meanings which the dreamer may have missed. I have also included useful techniques and hints on elucidating dreams, using these dreams as examples. You will find strange and beautiful dreams, but you will also find some which run close to your own dream experiences. My interpretations, suggestions and ideas, combined with the inspirational tales told by the dreamers, should give you all need to embark on your own life-changing adventure.

But wait one moment; before diving into the rivers and dipping into the ocean ebbing and flowing through the rest of this book, I’ll give you some advance preparation skills.

How To Make Your Dreams
Truly Life Changing

What kind of dream does it take to change a life? A number of the following life-changing dreams were exceptional, once-in-a-lifetime experiences, but many started out as ‘just dreams’, of the kind we toss and turn over each night. We often forget that each and every dream holds transformative power if only we take the time to prise open its shell and find the pearl nestled within. The beauty of the pearl is apparent only in the light of day, its iridescent colour reduced to nothing but a functional blackness if left undiscovered.

Our dreams take the basic material of our lives and spin magical stories around it, producing pearls of wisdom from our errors, self-knowledge from our experiences, and beauty and value from our handling of life’s abrasions. The result, though, is nothing less than a smooth cover-up if we do not recall the dreams, or do not make the effort to bring their treasure up from the unbconscious ocean and into the sunlight of our conscious day.

Seeking out the pearl in every dream, no matter how tiny and seemingly insignificant, eventually builds an accumulated wealth of valuable information which can be effectively used to trade ourselves out of one situation and into a better one.

Dreams, therefore, once understood and acted upon, may ultimately change our lives. This can be achieved through a series of small steps, such as gradual changes in attitude and perception or cautious actions in the waking world; or might come as mega-powerful, almighty milestones complete with clear directions to get us to the next destination on our personal journeys. Either way, a dream is ‘just a dream’ unless our faith in it is strong enough either to take action or to allow it to lead us. That is one thing which all the life-changed dreamers in this book shared: faith in the importance and relevance of their dream to their waking life.

So how can you make your dreams truly life changing?

Firstly, don’t sit and wait for the big one. Start recording every dream in a Dream Journal, alongside a brief diary of your waking thoughts, emotions and the daily challenges or triumphs of your life. Over a period of time you will come to see patterns between your daytime experiences and your dreams. You may see aspects of events and feelings from the day before being considered in your dream. Or you may see learning or synchronicities from your dream unfolding for your reconsideration in the days which follow. Undoubtedly, self-observation is a major key to unlocking the meaning of your dreams.

Back up your growing understanding and fluency in dream language by reading about the subject. Dreams usually run much deeper than their apparent meaning, and the people in your dreams have an uncanny way of representing not themselves, as you might think, but aspects of your own personality. This deeper insight, though tricky to tap into at first, is well worth the mind-bending, and often contains huge transformative potential. My first book, Sleep On It and Change Your Life, includes practical information on how to interpret your dreams and use this knowledge in the context of your waking life.

Always remember the golden rule of dream interpretation: ‘The Dreamer’s Dream’. People may help you on your way to uncovering the meaning of your dream, and their accuracy may or may not be good, but the last word is yours. If it feels right, if it has a certain gut reaction resonance, it is correct. If not, work on it yourself until bells ring clearly.

Weigh the voice of your dreams against the voice of your conscious world, until you see the best way to use each new perspective. As you gain confidence in your ability to meld dream insight into your waking life, start by cautiously testing the water. If your actions are appropriate and your dream ears are open, later dreams will confirm your progress and offer you the next step. If your actions were inappropriate, further dreams will inform you in no uncertain terms! The system is fairly foolproof if you measure your steps and look for feedback. As you become accustomed to tuning into your dreams and seeing the resulting improvements in your life, you will find you can speed up the action, regularly translating dreaming insight into daily choices which rapidly enhance or change your life.

We may go about our lives knowing we want change yet being unable to be more precise. If you have specific questions to address, however, you may find it helpful to take these into your dream state, as several of the dreamers in this book did, gaining successful life-changing answers in return.

The following guidelines are based on some of the discoveries made through preparing this work.

• Watch for decisions you find yourself making in dreams. Judge their worth by examining your accompanying emotions in the dream. How did it make you feel when you spoke your mind, chucked in your job, or decided to go ahead with a long-held plan? If your emotional reaction was positive, give it weight when you reconsider your verdict in the light of day.

• The more you can get in touch with, or hit, the ‘feeling spot’ in your dreams, the more you can judge your true unconscious wishes and needs. When writing down your dreams, pause after each dream action and ask yourself ‘How did I feel in the dream (not now in waking life!) about this?’ Then write it down as part of your dream story. For example ‘I ran a red light and I felt happy and free!’ gives quite a different dream understanding from ‘I ran a red light and felt shocked at the danger my absent-mindedness might have led me into’.

• Value clarity and ‘realness’ in your dreams, and look for indicators of fulfilling more potential. How do you cover new ground in your dreams, and what are the accompanying feelings? Does anyone pass comment, criticise or encourage? How does this make you feel? Can you discover from the dream storyline what you really want to achieve in your heart of hearts, and can you see which attitudes are holding you back?

• Follow dream instructions only after balancing their wisdom with your waking consciousness. Be inspired by your dreams and realise that they are true glimpses of who you really are, but realise also that these glimpses are often highly symbolic. If you find you are a murderer in a dream, for example, the dream is often concerned with putting an end to something in your life; it is certainly not saying that you are, unconsciously, a murderer! (Perhaps it illustrates the need to kill off an outdated attitude, or to bury the past and move on; or the dream might be showing you your tendencies to be your own worst enemy, killing off opportunities that come your way, or killing aspects of yourself that should really be nurtured. You will know the difference once you have tuned into dream interpretation.)

• Look for body/mind comments in your dreams: for example, emphasis on body parts, particularly if they are injured, painful, inadequately functional or oversized, to catch your attention. Scan your waking life body for additional body/mind information. Do you dream of feet and toes by night and keep stubbing your toes by day? What can this, a kind of synchronicity, tell you about your mental attitudes?

• Keep your senses open for waking life synchronicities. Do objects, people or phrases from last night’s dream jump up at you in ways which seem too meaningful to be plain coincidence? Use such synchronicities, by observing their daytime context, to further unlock the significance of your dream. Look back at some of the life-changing stories in this book to see how various dreamers use synchronicity to their advantage.

• Examine your dreams for realisations and turning points. Frequently, on writing our dreams down, we use phrases such as ‘then I realised’, or ‘suddenly’. These often highlight turning points in our perception or attitude. Note what happened in the dream, following the realisation. If the outcome was positive and the feeling was good, perhaps it’s time to seriously consider acting on the dream insight in your waking life. If the outcome was not so good, look carefully through the dream to see what you can learn from this.

Read and re-read the stories here for added inspiration, and have faith that your dreams are meaningful and potentially transformative. Not blind faith, perhaps, but faith that dream insight, approached with reverence, adds a dimension of choice to our waking life by blessing us with a perception of our greater being, our true reality.

The Questionnaire

1. What was the main dream that signalled the turning point in your life? Please outline the dream.
2. Briefly describe your life situation before the dream.
3. Briefly describe the steps you took to turn your life around, or make some big changes following this dream.
4. Looking back, how do you feel about the steps you have taken and the decisions you have made because of this dream? (Including any regrets).
5. Was this change the result of one dream, or a series of dreams?
6. Did this life-changing dream start out as a recurring dream, or was it a ‘one off’?
7. What was the time gap between having your dream and making the changes in your life?
8. Outline your interpretation of your dream.
9. Did anyone help you with your interpretation of this dream? If yes, who? (Relation, friend, dream interpreter, psychologist.)
10. How long ago was your dream?
11. Why did this dream have so much impact on you? For example, what really stood out in the dream and why did it affect you so much?
12. Did you notice any changes in your health, or did you have any accidents (body or car!), physical difficulties or body stresses around the time of this dream? Please describe, including whether you experienced these changes before, during or after the dream.