Dreaming Beyond

“The world we view is bigger than what we see.”

Abigail Horgash, Down the Rabbit Hole Journaling

I’ve talked to many, many (and did I mention many?) women writers in my 41-year career as a published author, and I estimate (though I haven’t measured it empirically) that 90% of them have said something beyond their earthly selves entered into their writing.

The other 10% just haven’t figured it out yet.

I don’t usually make sweeping statements like that, but that beautiful realization has come from the mouths of Hindus and Jewish women. Pagans and Buddhists.  And just about every denomination of Christian you can name, from Quaker to Roman Catholic, Pentecostal to Armenian Orthodox.

Where I’ve found it to be undeniably true is in the words of those from legalistic, fundamentalist, rigid backgrounds who have walked away from organized religion and found what 12-step programs call a Higher Power in very real ways in the midst of their creative process.

Meet Sarah

Sarah, a script writer and creator of devotions, has had to heal from the entrenched belief that God had a Big Plan and they had to find it. There was just one, and if they didn’t discover it, they were off God’s will. 

In the deep processing of that, Sarah has learned a give and take with God in their dreaming. Sarah feels the nudge. Does a dance. And is getting to know God outside of tight, rigid rules. 

They call it a “comical spiritual experience.” It shows up in Sarah’s work on the regular. 

I use Sarah as an example because as far from the Spiritual Norm as they are (if there is such a thing) they have discovered a universal truth that seems to be essential to those of us who write.

And that truth is?

Dreams work their way into our imaginations from somewhere outside of ourselves. 

I’d put money on your having come back to something you’ve written and wondered who the Sam Hill wrote it. Or waking up to an idea you didn’t have when you closed your eyes. Or feeling compelled to write something about which you know practically nothing. 

If we only had what we know mentally, in this moment, to work with, our creativity would probably flatline. 

Those times when you stared at the screen or the page for 20 minutes and could have described the crickets in your head and nothing else? Those were the times when you thought it was all on you.

As if, then?

If you already embrace the spiritual foundation of your creative writing, you get this.

If you haven’t given it a name, but you feel it, you, too, understand.

If you resist even entertaining the notion of Something Other, what if you dreamed “as if” something beyond you is at work?

• As if a guiding spirit was feeding you ideas?
• As if talking to it would elicit more?
• As if creating a small ritual like lighting a candle would ground you in its presence?
• As if you could personally thank it for your most recent stunning thought?

In every case, you could. 

You can.

A thought to ponder:

How would you consciously set yourself up to what the guiding spirit has to say when you’re doing your dreaming? (Invite it to a tea party? Create a sacred space where you meet? Go to your rock, tree, hammock with spirt-capturing journal? Let your mind wander during a sermon?)

Until next time … Scribble on!