{"id":8812,"date":"2012-12-10T15:51:22","date_gmt":"2012-12-10T21:51:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/?p=8812"},"modified":"2012-12-10T15:51:22","modified_gmt":"2012-12-10T21:51:22","slug":"my-house-has-many-rooms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/holyrover\/2012\/12\/10\/my-house-has-many-rooms\/","title":{"rendered":"My House Has Many Rooms"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Today\u2019s post is by guest blogger Bob Sessions:<\/em><\/p>\n

Some of you have perhaps read Bruce Chatwin\u2019s book about Australia\u00a0called Songlines<\/a>. In it he tells the story of how traditional Aborigines\u00a0find their way across the Outback by identifying each landmark with a\u00a0particular song, creating a musical map of the terrain. The original GPS!<\/p>\n

When I read the book, I was also intrigued to learn that Aborigines begin\u00a0each day with lengthy discussions of their dreams. They believe that if you\u00a0are unclear about what is going on in your inner life, you will wander\u00a0through your day (or life) like someone lost in the wilderness.<\/p>\n

\"\"
(Wikimedia Commons image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Not surprisingly for people whose lives are so tied to nature, their dreams\u00a0are about the land. My own dreams, in contrast, are often about houses. But\u00a0both of us navigate the complexities of our inner landscapes with metaphors\u00a0from our familiar outer worlds.<\/p>\n

Throughout my life, my dream maker has used houses to represent the\u00a0architecture of my struggles and bookend chapters in my life. Retirement\u00a0has proven no exception to this phenomenon, as I\u2019ve experienced changes in\u00a0my subconscious that are reflected in two recent house dreams. Perhaps these\u00a0may be of interest to those of you who also find inspiration in your dreams.<\/p>\n

Several months ago I dreamed that my house was being dismantled board by\u00a0board. After all the pieces had been put aside, what remained was a worn\u00a0spot in a grassy clearing in the woods. Retirement, it seems, is a time to\u00a0deconstruct and rebuild, whether or not I\u2019m prepared for it. I\u2019m sure\u00a0you\u2019re aware of the difficulties people can experience if they ignore this\u00a0aspect of the reality of aging.<\/p>\n

This dream has helped me be more mindful of the many ways I am changing, not\u00a0only in the everyday world of work, institutions, and relationships, but\u00a0also subconsciously. I have been especially aware of a deep desire to\u00a0change my motivational structure (please excuse the stiff psychological\u00a0language, but it is descriptive) from one of doing my duty to acting more\u00a0and more from a different, and I think deeper, place. I now have the\u00a0luxury of doing things because I desire to and not because I have to. With\u00a0a lifetime of experiences to draw on, as well as time to be more deliberate, perhaps I can construct a beautiful dwelling.<\/p>\n

\"\"
(Wikimedia Commons image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the second dream, while \u201cthey\u201d were out of the house doing their duties\u00a0(who they were I\u2019m not sure), I was left at home. At first I spent my time\u00a0securing my house\u2014checking the doors and windows, tidying up, etc.\u2014but then\u00a0I found myself exploring a room I\u2019d never known about. Unlike the solid but\u00a0stiff construction of my previous houses, this room was more like an Arab or\u00a0Mongolian tent made of colorful rugs and flags. I liked the feel of that\u00a0\u00a0exotic interior place and I hope to spend more time there. I wonder what\u00a0other unexplored rooms there are in my house.<\/p>\n

Do you have thematic dreams? And if you do, do you find them helpful in important<\/p>\n

ways? What songlines help you navigate the landscape of your inner life?<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today\u2019s post is by guest blogger Bob Sessions: Some of you have perhaps read Bruce Chatwin\u2019s book about Australia\u00a0called Songlines. In it he tells the story of how traditional Aborigines\u00a0find their way across the Outback by identifying each landmark with a\u00a0particular song, creating a musical map of the terrain. The original GPS! When I read […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2582,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aging-spirituality"],"yoast_head":"\nMy House Has Many Rooms<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Today's post is by guest blogger Bob Sessions: Some of you have perhaps read Bruce Chatwin\u2019s book about Australia\u00a0called Songlines. 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