If you're struggling with your health (or really any life challenge), here's a tip: pay attention to your dreams. Insights, solutions, and plain old supportive inspiration can be found, night after night. Example: Over the last year I've dreamt a lot about my cat. At first I thought it was my mind trying to grasp the fact that, after 14 years, she was no longer around. I would see her alive, sometimes still looking sick, and sometimes healthier than I had ever known her. Regardless, I was always shocked that she was there ("...but you died! And we buried you..."), then terrified ("...we buried you ALIVE?!"), then baffled ("How the hell did you get out?") . Sometimes the surprise of seeing her jolted me so much that I would wake in my dream, but I've never been a great lucid dreamer, so actual waking usually quickly followed. While these dreams may have first started out of grief, I believe my dreaming mind is now taking advantage of this shock value, betting on the fact that I will better remember and acknowledge the messages that come with it. And so, my cat has become the messenger and symbol of my own health. Perhaps she is also my little spirit helper, returning loving support through health challenges (aww….). While she had been a fearful anxious-ridden grump in life (and a kind of monster to any of our visitors), last night she was a playful kitten moving easily through the chaotic rubble of a borrowed apartment, urging me to live this dual life, to find the joy amidst the mess, the happiness through the pain. She made it look easy and my fear over the crumbling surrounding simply melted whenever I looked at her. While I didn't understand the message right away, with a little pondering and journaling, it became so obvious. The fear makes things worse. The body is impermanent. So, I might as well enjoy the good around me through it all. Easier said than done? Yes! But I'm working on it, day and, apparently, night.
