When we think of artists, we imagine them in the act of creating something. But there are several stages of creativity, and they’re all essential.  Most of the “creative work” during the second stage, incubation, is done unconsciously. We wait! We may even feel frustrated, or as if we’re failing or “not really doing anything.” But the psyche is hard at work, making new connections, searching our memories, joining them with our feelings, propelling us into our next creation. So, although we seem to be standing still, we’re actually moving forward.

Think of winter as an incubation time, during which you wait and trust yourself, slowly turning toward what’s coming from inside of you to inspire you. When you notice impatience or frustration, remind yourself that incubation is only a stage of the creative process, and without it, creative blocks arise.

As we incubate, and inspiration moves from the unconscious into our awareness, it often appears first in our dreams.

Here’s a dream from “Max,” a sculptor, who knew his next project would be a gathering of people, but he didn’t yet have its form. He had been in a long period of incubation, and the dream seems to welcome him into the next stage, illumination:

I’m at a party. I’ve been looking for it for awhile, after what feels like years of doing nothing. Everything is red and gold, decorated for the holidays. It’s an expansive room, like an atrium, with several stories open above.  The walls are painted gold, and there is lots of light. Everyone is leaping into the air, and floating there, doing somersaults, bounding around. It looks so fun! I leap, too, and it feels great. Soon, though, I begin to drop, slowly, to the ground. No one else is dropping this way. I’m frustrated. Why can’t I stay aloft?  I leap again. I decide I’ll just keep leaping.

Max’s dream reflects that process creative people know so well:  preparing by learning new skills or developing talents (preparation); a fallow period of “doing nothing” (incubating), followed by…inspiration (illumination)!  Even though Max battles the deflation and depression so many creative people do, here, he is determined to continue to leap into the air in that expansive “gold room” of the self, playing with his creative ideas (verification).

Happy new year, dreamers! Keep leaping…

In my private practice, teaching, and with friends with whom I share dreams, I find that when we write down our dreams over time, they begin to create a larger story.  It’s as if each dream is a chapter, anticipating the next turn of plot, with prior dreams being the backstory.

For example, a man I know recently dreamed he was walking along a wooded path, nothing frightening or threatening or really very remarkable at all.  He looked to the left, and there was a smaller path, like something made by a small animal, winding through the undergrowth beneath the trees.  He awoke.

A week or so later, he dreamed he was in the woods, only now he was on his hands and knees, crawling through the brush, seeking something terribly important.  When he awoke, he couldn’t remember what it was, but was left with the feeling… Something…

He had several more dreams, all set in the woods, in which he was always alone, and on a journey toward something important, with an increasing sense of urgency. In the latest dream, a small but quick fox appeared ahead of him, which he began to follow.   It led him to the edge of a cliff before he woke up.

Consider your own dreams over a few weeks.  Look for similarities in setting, characters, and your own focus as the dreamer within the dream.  Is there a plot unfolding? Where are you going? How will you get there? What will you do next?

Your unconscious, the author, is writing your story every night, with no conscious effort from you at all.  Was that you, thinking you’re not creative? Have no more ideas? Are stuck? Take a look at where you are, where you’ve been, and what’s in front of you right now:

You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.
-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I’m off to give a dream workshop at Rancho La Puerta in Tecate, Mexico.  Until next time, feel free to explore the links to the right and to scroll down for prior posts… Sweet dreams!