Most dreams that we remember seem so trivial as to not be worth remembering. You almost have to hold your nose to work on such dreams; you have a predisposed assurance that you know what you will find and that it won’t be worth your time. That is a hypothesis. How can you test it? Do what is done here: take any silly, “meaningless,” mundane dream that you are sure is merely “day residue,” and interview it. If, after working with my dreams for almost fifty years, I am still surprised at the relevance, usefulness, and unexpected depth, the implication is that your dreams inherently represent perspectives that transcend and include your own, regardless of who you are and what your life experience has been.
What are three fundamental life issues that you are dealing with now in your life?
Self-publishing my various books.
Growing IDL.
Amplifying the Six Core Qualities (Confidence, Compassion, Wisdom, Acceptance, Inner Peace, and Witnessing).
Tell me a dream you remember. It can be an old one, a repetitive dream, a nightmare, or one that you’re sure you understand.
I am at Fred’s house in Phoenix, only it is gone. Exposed underneath it was a basement or lower floor of someone who was a radio personality in Phoenix in the ’50’s. He had long hair. (Strange, for the 50’s.) I walked through the uncovered rooms and they were like a time capsule of mementos and collectables from the ’50’s. There were black and white photos, paintings, carved African animals, and all sorts of nick-knacks.
Why do you think that you had this dream?
I had all sorts of mementos from my life stored in Fred’s “basement” for a couple years. None of it looked anything like what I saw in this dream. This guy did not remind me of anyone, nor did he seem to be anyone that I would have much in common with. Stepping back, I would say that it was surveying the basement of my life experience and not finding anything much I am still attached to. So is it what it very obviously appears to be – a mundane combination of two life periods, one gone, the other irrelevant at my present stage?
If this dream were playing at a theater, what name would be on the marquee?
Unearthing Treasures from the 50’s
These are the characters in the dream, beside yourself…
Fred’s house site in Phoenix; “basement” rooms; 50’s knick-knacks; carved African animals; picture of previous owner.
If one character had something especially important to tell you, what would it be?
The previous owner is interesting to me because I don’t relate to him at all.
Now remember how as a child you liked to pretend you were a teacher or a doctor? It’s easy and fun for you to imagine that you are this or that character in your dream and answer some questions I ask, saying the first thing that comes to your mind. If you wait too long to answer, that’s not the character answering – that’s YOU trying to figure out the right thing to say!
Previous Owner, are you a character in Joseph’s dream?
Yes, I am. He is curious about me because that house didn’t even exist in the ’50’s, though he didn’t think about that in the dream.
Previous Owner, look out at the world from your perspective and tell us what you see…
It’s nice to have some light down here. I and all my possessions were buried down here for some fifty years. It was dark, quiet, and timeless.
Previous Owner, would you please tell me about yourself and what you are doing?
I am a picture in a frame, a personality frozen in time, rather like everyone’s memories of their past. It’s gone, but they have mental pictures that they take to be real representations of who they were. I’m not the actual owner; only a mental image of him.
Previous Owner, what do you like most about yourself? What are your strengths?
When I was alive and lived here I enjoyed my life as a radio talk show host here in Phoenix. I loved to collect things that I found interesting.
Previous Owner, what do you dislike most about yourself? Do you have weaknesses? What are they?
I can’t think of any. My life was very superficial by your standards, but I was happy.
Previous Owner, what aspect of Joseph do you represent or most closely personify?
I represent curious past aptitudes and potentials from his childhood, long forgotten, of little relevance or applicability for him now.
Previous Owner, if you could be anywhere you wanted to be and take any form you desired, would you change? If so, how?
I would be alive now and I would be a part of his personality that engaged with people in a charismatic and informative way, rather like he does when he teaches or interviews people with IDL. In particular, when he interviewed Marion as a demo for the seminar. It was a lively, engaged, animated interaction that he tends to view as relatively superficial, yet is effective and useful.
(Continue, answering as the transformed object, if it chose to change.)
Previous Owner, how would you score yourself 0-10, in each of the following six qualities: confidence, compassion, wisdom, acceptance, inner peace, and witnessing? Why?
Confidence, 0-10. Why? 10 I think on my feet; I have no self-doubt; I know what I’m doing.
Compassion, 0-10. Why? 8 I am empathetic with those I am interviewing.
Wisdom, 0-10. Why? 8 I know how to bring out the best in my guests.
Acceptance, 0-10. Why? 8 I can weave whatever comes up into an intertaining narrative.
Inner Peace, 0-10. Why? 8 I am versatile and roll with whatever comes up; I enjoy myself.
Witnessing, 0-10. Why? 8 As an interviewer I am continuously being empathetic with my guest and my audience while monitoring my own responses to make sure that they work.
Previous Owner, if you scored tens in all six of these qualities, would you be different? If so, how?
Not really.
Previous Owner, how would Joseph’s life be different if he naturally scored like you do in all six of these qualities all the time?
He would naturally be a more charismatic speaker and interviewer.
Previous Owner, if you could live Joseph’s life for him, how would you live it differently?
I would be more charismatic, decisive, engaged, lively.
Previous Owner, if you could live Joseph’s waking life for him today, would you handle Joseph’s life issues differently? If so, how?
Self-publishing my various books. Stay focused!
Growing IDL. Seek contacts!
Amplifying the Six Core Qualities (Confidence, Compassion, Wisdom, Acceptance, Inner Peace, and Witnessing). Be them!
Previous Owner, what life issues would you focus on if you were in charge of Joseph’s life?
Those are fine!
Previous Owner, in what life situations would it be most beneficial for Joseph to imagine that he is you and act as you would?
When he is dealing with people.
Previous Owner, do you do drama? Do you get into playing the Victim, Persecutor, or Rescuer? If not, why not?
No. Too busy having fun!
Previous Owner, you are imaginary. Why should Joseph pay attention to anything you say?
I have apititudes he respects, wants, and needs.
Previous Owner, why do you think that you are in Joseph’s life?
When he gets in certain situations, with certain people, like he did during that demo interview, he accesses a useful personality that he has never developed, that he associates with superficiality and relative insincerity.
Previous Owner, how is Joseph most likely to ignore what you are saying to him?
Forget about me.
(Character), what would you recommend that he do about that?
Read over the interview.
Previous Owner, why do you think Joseph had this dream?
He stored a lot of his “past potentials” underneath Fred’s for a while. He has to discriminate out from a lot of potentials what is useful and what is junk. The charismatic personality I personify can be associated with a lot of triviality, as it is in this dream and it is in his mind, but it doesn’t have to be. It can be a very powerful, effective tool in its own right when used in the context of his present interests and development.
Previous Owner, why do you think (some dream event happened) or (some character) was in the dream?
He’s got to look beneath a lot of more recent history to “remember” and “unearth” this potential within himself.
Previous Owner, why should Joseph pay any attention to what you have said? Aren’t these just a projection of Joseph’s own wishes and projections?
He didn’t recognize any of this from this dream when he recalled it and started to think about it. But now, in retrospect, he’s seeing that he was trying to figure out how to integrate an occasionally charismatic part of his personality into his ongoing way of expressing himself.
Thank you, character! And now a couple questions for the person that dreamed you:
What have you heard yourself say?
I would benefit if I would remember this 50’s radio interviewing personality and use it more.
If this experience were a wake-up call from your inner compass, what do you think it would be saying to you?
My life experience causes me to think that a little more enthusiasm is overdoing it, unnatural, and phony, when in fact it is just uncomfortable because I’m not used to it. Do it more by being this emerging potential and I’ll grow into the role.
Look back over the interview and list the specific recommendations that were made:
Become this charismatic, enthusiastic “personality more often with others.
Read over the interview to remember.
