October 2009

As #dreamlog embeds itself into my practice, certain questions arise regarding purpose, scope and value.  These are not questions that have a set answer in my mind, but instead one’s I’m still sifting for.  What’s interesting though, is that a mind that engages the world with framed questions tends to uncover answers.

As to purpose: #dreamlog is becoming an easily accessible repository of dreams shared on twitter.  It’s in no way exhaustive.  Instead it simply tags the dreams that pass my observing eyes.  Others are starting to tag dreams this way as well which opens up a broader potential for the hashtag.

Scope: Dream is a broad search term which returns tens of thousands of results per day.  #dreamlog is focused specifically on dream narratives.

Value: Collective attitudes towards dreaming are blatant on twitter.  Dismissiveness, fear, defensiveness and superstition all get expressed more often than the actual dream narratives. By getting the chance to see the dreams of others without the emotional reaction many have to their own dreams, the doorway gets opened to the simple question “what might that mean?”

That being said, #dreamlog is not about dream analysis.  Psychotherapist Cheryl Fuller shared her distinctions between socially discussing dreams and approaching them in an analytic setting.  Both these quotes help render and set an understanding of the limitations of the social sharing of dream contents.

“That is certainly not the setting for looking more deeply into the dream she shared when the question was asked of the group if any had had dreams. And it is not the Jungian way for the analyst to tell the dreamer what the dream means, because in the Jungian framework, the dreamer is the expert about her own dreams.”

“When someone outside of a therapeutic context asks me about a dream, I too offer rather open questions as a way for the dreamer, on her own, to look at the dream.” Cheryl Fuller, A dream at the breakfast table.

What kind of open ended questions pop into your head sifting through dream narratives?

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