CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’ ~ Sleepers’ Insights on a Troubled Economy

 Sleepers’ Insights on a Troubled Economy

The economy can affect our waking lives—how about our dreams? 

A journalist from California, who specializes in mental health reporting, wanted to know the impact of California’s economic woes on the people there.  Her husband is a political analyst, so it was easy for her to put her field of knowledge with his and come up with a question:  Are attitudes about the economy reflected in people's dreams?  Her question reached our staff at dreamschool.org, where people all over the world submit their dreams for interpretations.  Because she asked about dreamers in her state, we reviewed the dreams sent to us from California to explore the connections between dreams and the California economy.  Here's what we found.

First, some background on California’s economic conditions.  It is the most populous state, with an estimated 37 million[i] people; it has the biggest economy[ii] of all the states in the union.  From January 2008 to August 2010, its unemployment rate has climbed from 5.9% to 12.8%[iii], third highest in the nation.  A Field Poll released October 5, 2010,shows that 93% of California voters believe the state is in bad economic times and 70% of Californians expect their own financial situation to remain the same or worsen in the future.  This is the longest period of poor economic numbers in the poll’s history.[iv]

Since 2008, when the present economic changes started manifesting, polls, surveys, interviews with mental health workers, and even the number of people with mental problems showing up at places like homeless shelters and jails all show there has been a rise in stress and mental problems.[v]  These economic conditions definitely affect what people think and feel, and we, at dreamschool, know that the things people think and feel are reflected in their dreams.  Change your mind and you change your dreams.  Can losing your job or your business or your home change your state of mind?  Can going into debt, anxiety about bills, or filing for bankruptcy affect your consciousness?  For most of us, the answer is yes—so the impact of these kinds of events will be reflected in the state and content of our dreams. 

There is a relationship between mind sets and the economy.  This is apparent throughout history in the ties between wealth and social class in the West and in the caste systems of the East.  The economy affects people, and people create the economy.  Creation starts with a thought and is influenced by consciousness.  For example,  “consumer confidence” and fear are both known to change economic conditions.  Since dreams report the individual's state of conscious awareness, a population’s past dreams should therefore show the thoughts and consciousness that have shaped its present economy.  When we look at people’s present dreams, we see how people react or respond to yesterday’s economy to create the economy of tomorrow. 

To explore this subject, we compiled the first dream we received from all individuals who submitted dreams from January 2009 to September 2010, totaling 487 dreams.[vi]  From that set, we then collected the first dream we received from each of the California dreamers during that timeframe.  This totalled 38 dreams.  For these dreams, we identified  the most common themes (the overall topic addressed by the dream) and symbols (people, places and things).  We also counted up the dreams that were recurring, precognitive, and those that, according to the dreamer, were happy or frightening.

Results

Five, or 13%, of the 38 dreams were recurring, and another five were nightmares, with only one “happy dream,” and none were precognitive.

 

The two most common themes were “fears, habits, and limitations” (dreams with scary creatures, threatening animals, prominent obstacles, etc.), with 8 dreams or 21% of the total, and “visualization/creation” (dreams with pregnancy, birth, young children, photography, etc.), with 6 dreams, or 15% of the total. The next four most frequent themes had three dreams each within those categories.[vii]  (See graph 1.)

 

 

 

 

The most common symbol was “people,” appearing in all but two dreams, for 94% of the total.  Sixty percent of the dreams had people known or familiar to the dreamer, and sixty percent had people who were unknown.  (See graph 3.) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thirteen or 34% of the places were known to the dreamer. (See graph 2). 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The most common “thing” symbol was “clothing” at 21%.  (See graph 4.)

At dreamschool, we usually receive more dreams from females than males.  This trend was especially strong in these California dreams: 35 out of the 38 dreamers were women.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?

Although our 38 data points are too few to make any conclusions with certainty about the several million people in California, the dreams we received showed some interesting points about dreaming in general.

Based on the two outstanding dream themes—“visualization/creation” and “fears, habits and limitations”—it is noted that what we visualize, what we give most of our thoughts and attention to, we create in our lives.  If there are things in our life that we have a lot of anxiety about and worry, those are the things that we will create in our lives.  For example, if we think of “no rain,” and worry that it might rain, our attention and our thoughts are about rain, so it rains.  If people are fearful about losing their job, or not being able to pay their bills, then they are giving attention to things they do not want and thereby becoming more susceptible to job loss or not having enough money.  Dreams reflect the thoughts and attitudes of the dreamer.  Thirty-eight dreams from California reflect thoughts of fear and anxiety as the number-one theme and visualization as the number-two theme.  That focus may reflect an economic fear of not having enough and not being able to create affluence and stability. 

Let’s look at some ways that economic challenges may affect people’s mental-emotional state, and the kind of dreams[viii] that could show this.

When unwanted, unexpected change comes, like having to quit college or put kids in daycare to work at another job, or having difficulty even getting a job, people often feel limited, thwarted, or that they are not in control of their lives.  Then that’s exactly what they experience in dreams, such as in these dreams of being unable to breathe, unable to walk, and nightmares like the third dream of trying to avoid being killed.  These are the kinds of dreams where unwanted things are happening TO the dreamer.

…I am trying to walk, but my legs and feet aren’t working...It sucks!  Female, CA, age 47 (recurring)

I had a brain tumor and the Dr wanted to remove it.  And then in the same dream people kidnapped me and were trying to kill me and I could not escape.  Female/CA, age 28

 

…OH NO!  I am utterly horrified.  Tonight, I’m going to die.  Tonight, THEY will kill me.  I start crying too.  How can I just -?  What did I do to deserve this?...”  Female, CA, age 18

 

When we feel restricted, as many people do when they are having or expecting a financial crisis, we can do something about it.  We can use our creativity to learn something useful from the same area of life where we felt severely restricted, and generate ideas to create what we want.  

 

I dreamt i had a stroke.  couldn't breathe.  was in northern California in a vineyard.  with Merediuth Vierq of the today show. it eventually passed and i went on with the next part of the dream, which was a meeting of writers. Female, CA, age 49

 

In the above dream, the experience of limitation is shown as suffocating during a stroke.  The potential to reap a “harvest” of learning and growth is shown by the vineyard location, and the writers’ meeting is a symbol of the dreamer’s creative thinking abilities being coordinated and directed.  We noticed that several of the dreams had tragedies, just like this woman’s dream-stroke, or car crashes or attempted killings, that all ended with everyone alive and unharmed.  This may reflect the waking experience of stress, fear, and worry about a financial problem, followed by actually experiencing it and discovering that you survived and you can cope.   For another example, here’s the unexpectedly upbeat ending of the nightmare quoted earlier:

 

THEY approach us.  Reaching for me.  Ahhh!  Parking structure at school.  I am crying out loud hysterically and then laughing.  I didn’t die!  Then, I just scream out loud to hear my voice.   It feels so good to be alive!  I find a friend along the way.  A*.  And then we’re both crying and laughing simultaneously at the insanity of all this.  I am so relieved.  I am so happy to see her face.  On the floor of the parking structure, I see a video of KT* acting in a commercial.  He is wearing a hot pink suit and looks very jovial.  Female, CA, age 18

 

The oddly entertaining video in the dream contrasts with the scary plot, but both the fear and the entertaining images come from an undisciplined imagination.  More on this in a later dream.

Some people use an economic change to create a new way of life. A lost job sometimes means a new career.  The end of a high-stress career can lead some people to embrace a healthier lifestyle.  Creating something new in one’s self or in one’s life is shown as a birth.  Dreams about creating and visualizing were surprisingly common.

I was dreaming and I dreamt that I was pregnant.  I believe I was about 4 or 5 months pregnant and if I touched the bottom of my belly.  I could feel the feet. Female, CA, age not given

 

I was wearing a white cotton shirt, unbuttoned, no bra, and holding a beautiful, baby girl in my arms.  She looked like me as a baby and gazed very lovingly but focused into my eyes.  I look at her and tell someone “This one is going to be loved and nourished by me and I’m never going to let her down.” I also get a feeling as though I’m saying”…and there is no harm in my shirt being unbuttoned because I plan to nurture her always.”  Also there is the feeling that I have just fed her.  I was so full of love and protection for this child and wondered what it meant.  Is it a new me and am I going to nurture myself?)  Female, CA, age not given

The dream symbol of value is money.  When economic conditions change, when resources are more scarce and choices about time and money have to be made more carefully, it can prompt people to examine what they value most in life, and what things are worth to them.  It may even move someone to realize what he has outside of material things, and just how valuable it is.  The subject of “value’ was shown in a few dreams of sales, shopping, and receiving money, like this one.

Me and my husband were receiving money as gift from people.  One couple gave us 1 million dollar as gift for our new house.  Female, CA, age not given

A dream-house represents the dreamer’s state of mind.  This is the kind of dream someone might have as they are learning to receive and appreciate the value of what they have as a person.   Receiving the money to buy the house represents seeing the great value of improving one’s state of mind, and realizing that one has the resources and the self-value to invest in a mind-upgrade.

This dreamer highly values her outer expression, symbolized by receiving money and buying clothing.

S*(female) and C*(male) from what not to wear gave me $5000.  I then went to the mall to spend it.  The first store I go into sells bras.  I then got fitted for one.  She said my size was 2b she then said she has one already made up so I put my clothes back on and she asks me for my phone # I say no and run out of the dressing room she then runs in front of me.  Ok i said ill do it.  I then thought(I know I’ll give her a fake # I give her the # and leave for the next store with my stuff. Female/CA, age not given

The dishonesty and avoidance at the end of this dream are attitudes that stop prosperity.  When people forget to honor the source of what they have (kind of like trying to avoid the woman who gave the dreamer money in this dream), they don’t maintain a flow of abundance.  In fact, the attitude of “get what you can and move on” instead of cultivating long term relationships of mutual benefit has been blamed for several economic problems, including the present economic slump.

 

How we see the world can have a big effect on us.  In difficult economic times, it’s important to expose yourself to positive images, and avoid unnecessary doom and gloom from TV, radio, or even other people.  Fear and worry come from negative imagining, so it’s good to stay away from negative images and have positive ones instead!  This dream shows how a person can allow negative thoughts and images from her environment to affect her own thinking and lead to fear.

I was at Disneyland on a ride, I was there with my nanny, my cousins and my sister, the ride stopped in a movie theater and we all got off.  When we got into the movie theater, someone left a message on my cell phone.  I put the message on speaker phone so that we could hear it.  The message was a strange and scary sounding man, he said that “I know you’re with your sister, nanny, and your cousins, and I know where you are, and I’m going to get you.”  Then I saw a file folder on the ground an brought it to them, my nanny, opened the folder and there was a picture of a very scary looking strange man, there was also a piece of paper that said im going to get you.  We were then all scared for my life and their own. Then we got back on the ride with the file folder and phone in hand…  Female/CA, age 15

Receiving a negative thought from our environment and reacting to it is like receiving a scary message on a cell phone, and turning up the volume.  Sometimes, like this dreamer, people receive a disturbing image from news or even from gossip, and they carry that image around with them so it gets in the way of enjoying life.  We get to choose what images we hold in our minds, not the news station or the movie makers.  As people practice visualizing what they want, there is less fear and more positive creation.

This next dream graphically shows how fear can come from getting swallowed up in the imagination, whether your own or someone else’s.

I was sitting in my room across from my tv (which hasn’t been turned on for several years) and for an unknown reason I began to feel as if there was a threatening image in the reflection.  I am one to stand up to my fears so I decided I would touch the tv.  I reached toward the screen to give it a tap, and as my fingertips made contact the material consistency of it became undefinable (like a portal of sorts).  As I went to tap it my hand started to sink and disappear  INTO it.  Simultaneously I suddenly, and abruptly, began losing consciousness.  It felt as if I was dying and my body and breath went limp.  My instinct was to stop myself from going through this portal.  I used all the intent and concentration I could to pull out.  I woke forcefully into my body (which felt heavy) and I felt grateful to have been able to pull out o the “portal” before it swallowed me.  Female/CA, age not given

As we mentioned, imagination figures big in a lot of these dreams, and that imagination needs to be harnessed to create prosperity, instead of allowed to make fears and create what we fear.  As it was said during another economic challenge, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”

So how can dreams help people respond to today’s economic challenges?  First, when people can interpret dreams, they can take better care of their mental health, and help others, also.  It’s like free counseling from the world’s foremost expert on YOU, every night.  Second, dreams are free and abundant. That’s important, because in over 30 states, including California, mental health services are being cut at the same time that more people are seeking help.  Third, dreams help us learn from our experiences and create a better future, and if everyone’s doing that, the economy is bound to improve.  Finally, you can learn to interpret dreams.  In fact, you can start learning right here and now at this website. 

If people want to have control of the economy, first they have to control their own lives, their own minds.  Learning to interpret dreams helps people do that.  Now that’s a wise investment.

by Jonathan Duerbeck

Contributing writers include Heather Hunt and Tad Messenger

Special thanks go to Dr. Barbara Condron and her students in a Wednesday evening dream class at the College of Metaphysics, as well as the Dreamschool staff