My teacher : the image

The image is my teacher.

Often though the consequences of the lessons gleaned by any individual may not be the one intended by the artist.  Let’s take the extended violence currently pouring across movie screens with the new GI Joe film.  The same barrage of imagery can result in a variety of responses from anxiety to disgust, from suspicion to a release of adrenaline.  Even hilarity as I witnessed in some teens earlier today.  And as these images continue to replay around the globe to different audiences, for some they will provide confirmation to a certain stereotype of how the American psyche needs to be approached and handled.

The same can be said of how we engage the imagery the unconscious serves up in our dreams.  The analysis of the meaning of any given dream image can be pursued removed from the context of the specific dreamer, and the results will be fascinating.   And to the extent that the dream has collective value, such endeavors move beyond fascinating and become useful.  Collective value or not, each dream is tied to a specific life engaged with a unique set of challenges.

The “art of the art” in my experience has been to live with an eye orientated toward these images.  This involves living in relationship to them much as we do in any correspondence.   It’s when we answer the dream, value it enough to respond as you might by commenting on a blog, or answering an e-mail, or even just a reply on twitter, that the potential that the dream holds for us opens up to a new level.  It’s not really about figuring them out, but listening and responding.