Last week’s Dream Status Report brought me: focus on inner work and dream work.

(Hey! Did you see that the Dream Stutus Report Prompts have new journaling sheets? I really love this one)

I am also remembering my commitment to do Dream Book EVERY MORNING, and how I have strayed from that.

I always stray from it… doing Dream Book gives so much clarity and confidence that I drift away from it to focus on outer work - implementing all of the great ideas. This makes sense!

But then coming back to it always feels so healing and needed.

So here I am, coming back to it.

And I am noticing that it WASN’T just that I was focused on the outer work - I was in resistance, too. There was something to explore that I wasn’t really ready to look at before.

So today in my Dream Book I started a new page: How To Do This With Depression.

It feels important to me to not pathologize depression. I think there are a lot of reasons why depression is a good, healthy natural response for me to have.

And today I feel accepting that I am depressed! It’s interesting to notice how much I didn’t want to see it. How much I was trying to pump myself up to feel good...

But now that I see it, it feels like a gift.

I feel like I have moved through SO MUCH STUFF in this divorce process, and I am mostly focused on building my new life, and I just want to let go of everything from my marriage… but it’s not that easy.

I have hurt feelings and sadness that sometimes feel so sharp I can’t breathe.

And so depression comes in… heavy, sticky and foggy.

I've been soooo frustrated by how much this has slowed me down...

But now I am seeing how it fills my whole body with this heavy sticky fog and actually protects me from the sharpness. It slows me down, which I was finding SO ANNOYING before but now I appreciate that it is giving me this space for these sharper feelings to process in a safer way.

I appreciate my depression and want to care for it.

WHILE ALSO taking care of the post-divorce life I am building.

Before it’s kind of like these two things were fighting each other, so this morning I made this Dream Book page about doing this WITH depression.

Not just that I AM depressed.

But that depression and dreams can work together.

They both want what’s right for me. They both offer healing and authenticity.

This feels like such a gift.

So this morning I am not at my usual coffee shop. I went to a different part of town, so that after this I can stop at the conservatory with butterfly garden, and take a little walk through there.

Adding these nourishing and joy-sparking thing to my day feels essential for doing this WITH depression.

Also, this thing where I focus on working on my Dream Book FIRST - EVERY DAY even when I have “things I need to do”.

Doing this WITH depression means TAKING GOOD CARE OF MYSELF while I go. Making self care a priority along with measurable progress on my dreams (which is a form of self care BUT we can get into over-working with it too).

Anyway, just making this page, and giving myself space to BE WITH it has already made me feel completely different about this.

 

Creative Dream Incubator Coaching Membership members:

Come to the forum to share your thoughts about this or start a conversation about whatever you're working with.

Get your next Dream Book lesson or get a weekly journaling + alchemy kit.

Go the Library of Creative Dream Alchemy to find a practice that fits for where you are or use the Dream Lab if you're not sure where to start.

Check out the calendar of upcoming calls. Make a plan to join us live or catch a replay.