The Dream, “Rise to Do the Difficult”

I am at work in a carpentry shop. I see windows on the work bench under construction. Light is all around me when an angel appears and declares,”To Rise Do the Difficult.” I feel overjoyed that I have been gifted with this heavenly insight…One that will change the world! I fly up into the sky and through the town, where I see a master artist at work carving monumental faces in the wood of giant trees. I realize that he is already busy doing what the angel said. Inspired by this I begin to spread the word to all the dark skinned people below me. In fear they run away.

Dream Journal Entry: 1997

Within a giant redwood’s tiny seed lies awesome growth potential, which when realized creates a tree over 200 feet tall and 30 feet in diameter! But, in order for this miracle of growth to happen the seed must fall at just the right time, on good soil, with plenty of water, good exposure to sunlight, and protection from fierce elements. Growth dependent on so much seems amazingly difficult, even impossible, but at the same time it’s occurrence is astonishingly frequent and oh, so natural. The development of the personality, referred to as the process of individuation, is in much the same way a growth marvel! My dream, “To Rise Do the Difficult” came as both a challenge and an invitation to consciously participate in the miracle of my own growth process.

Initially, I thought the dream was advising me on my career. It seemed to indicate that if I challenged myself more, doing more difficult projects I could rise in renown and prestige. This was good for my ego but, I was failing to see a deeper and more powerful layer of meaning. Accustomed to peering through my window at the outside world and it’s effects, I hadn’t yet realized that the windows under construction in the first scene of the dream, may also be for looking inside. This insight excited my spirit and through the angel’s appearance I perceived a supra-personal force actively guiding this change in perspective.

In waking life I was stretching, opening up to new ideas and opportunities, but with all this expansion there was also fear and hesitation attached to old patterns of behavior with roots deep inside me. My struggle to grow emerged in compelling and often frightening dreams. What were these dreams trying to tell me? Determined to know, I began working creatively with the recurring images in dream paintings. The master artist in me was already at work, chiseling characteristics, and identifying features, fully engaged in revealing the mysteries of the unconscious.

“Inspired by this I begin to spread the word to all the dark skinned people below me. In fear they run away.”—I realize there’s much more to uncover/discover inside me. Latent in my personality, are unrecognized (dark skinned people), having potential talents and skills (from underdeveloped countries) that need encouragement and nurturing. Also evading consciousness are darker, less desirable characters, who could potentially stunt my personal growth. These uglier aspects understandably fear having their likenesses carved in the trees for all to see! “To Rise Do the Difficult,” describes a painful and difficult struggle to maturity, and my decision to consciously aid this process through active dream work. The struggle to become an individual is natural and happens whether we realize it or not—That’s the beauty of it! But, whether we stay short in stature or grow into the giants we were meant to be, depends on how willing we are to listen to dream messages that both invite and challenge us to grow.

Published in the Rocky Mountain Dream Journal, Aug/Sep 2004 edition