Art, Dreams & A New ‘Inner’ Wing

(Featured Image: THINK DIFFERENT – 27×27/acrylic on board)

Dreams are a large part of my life. Since early childhood, my dreams have been interesting. The imagery is always compelling. Those that have been the most prophetic for me stay with me, becoming more vivid rather than fading.  I had dreams years ago that I can relay in great detail today. From the beginning, they have directed me inward. They have revealed to me that there are two realities: the one within and the one without. I am convinced “the Kingdom of God” is revealed to me sometimes through dreams. They help translate our outer reality into the language of the inward, showing it to us in the language of parables which enable us to see that there is always more than we think. We are given sight for the seemingly empty spaces around us. In dreams, we have an invitation to explore a deeper understanding of ourselves. Art is, for me, another tool to translate the language of “without” to the language of “within”.

For years I have had a reoccurring dream that I was standing in the hallway of a new floor in my house. The many doors along this hallway were locked until shortly before I began to believe in the artist within me.

In this dream, I am standing in an upper floor wing of my house. I have been in this place often to see if any door will open. I begin at one side of the hallway and try several of the doors with no success. Though I have very little faith any will open, I methodically try each one. Finally, the 6th or 7th try is successful! A door opens. I am ecstatic! I enter this new hallway with a sense of adventure not there since childhood play! There are several additional rooms along this passage. Each with an open door. They are sunny and inviting. There is sunlight flooding them from the windows which are open to a lovely breeze. I spend many long, unmeasured moments exploring their treasures. There are closets with fun, colorful, interesting clothing; secret additions at the back of some of the closets which hold jewelry and hats and books and lovely secrets. I am awed by the generosity of this gift. I know it is a doorway into some new, exciting, peace-filled life.

There is such healing power in opening a new wing of your “inner” abode. In my case, I had no clue it existed. When art came to me, adventure, mystery and color accompanied it. After 27 years, I am still excited to wake up to its adventure. Art has changed me in many ways. It has given me a new self esteem; a skill for meditation which has held me in its arms for hours at a time. It is an escape from stress like no other. And it teaches us how to fly, how to get outside ourselves. Art gives us permission to play. Creativity is the door between. It is the gate which has allowed me to move freely between the practical world, and the world of fun and fantasy.

I have learned this: life is never what it seems. There are mysteries and magic to be found. As we learn to love….as we become like little children in our simplicity, the thin space bridging reality and dreams becomes passable.

Let’s move a little farther into the mystery…Peace, Dorsey