22/11/2022
Unweave that low-key, background depression...
"After many years working as a therapist with people from all over the world, it seems to me that ignoring the Dreaming is an undiagnosed global epidemic. People everywhere suffer from a chronic form of mild depression because they are taught to focus on everyday reality and forget about the Dreaming background.
This depression is not the kind that makes you feel miserable. It is subtler than that. This depression is the sense that something in your life is missing even when outer things are going well. Most likely, no matter where in the world you live, many of the people around you feel that something is missing in life, even while they assume that life inherently lacks that special something. As soon as we have a day off, we feel the most common form of this subtle depression; we feel that life is not special but must simply be lived to completion.
While most people hope to do something meaningful, we do not really expect to be totally inspired and awestruck about life on a day-to-day basis. We do not realize that we are out of touch with the core energy of life, with the Dreaming.
Regardless of what our problems appear to be, ignoring the Dreaming reality is the origin of most depression and low spirits. Without Dreaming, you are living only half your life and seeing only half the world.
The simple solution to this global epidemic involves gaining access to Dreaming, in learning to sense the Dreaming in your body's motions and in the signals you send and receive in relationship with the human and natural worlds.
Perhaps you are already trying to solve your mild chronic sense of depression by noticing your dreams, doing meditation, or following a spiritual tradition. These methods are
important because they help you find meaning in life. But Dreaming is beyond even meaning; Dreaming is the origin of all your experiences, including your sense of meaning and your deepest beliefs." - Arnold Mindell, "Dreaming while awake"
Artwork by François Schuiten
