Your Dreams: Channels of Inspiration By Cathleen O’Connor
By now you probably know that Twilight author and Mormon house- wife Stephenie Meyer began her best-selling saga awakening from a dream filled with characters so real and compelling that she could not put the dream aside. That very first day she began to write, complet- ing the first of the Twilight trilogy in three months, typing away each evening after her children were put to bed. With that mystical begin- ning to a career and life of fame and fortune, Stephenie joined the ranks of painters such as Gauguin and inventors like Elias Howe, each of whom awoke from dreams inspired to create.
In fact Elias Howe was completely stuck in perfecting his invention of the sewing machine. No matter how he tried, he could not figure out how to thread the sewing machine needle. Then one night he fell into a deep sleep and dreamt he was being
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chased through a jungle by a tribe of natives throwing spears at him as he ran. The spears in his dream were a strange tear-drop shape with a hole in the top. And when Elias awoke the next morning he had the solution of how to thread the needle and the sewing machine was born.
Your dreams are gateways to flashes of genius, moments of inspiration and visits from creative muses. Writers often talk about feeling as if they are channeling information when they sit down to write, so easily does the information flow. The same is true of painters, composers, inventors and others engaged in creative work. With my own writing, I have learned that if I am experienc- ing a dearth of ideas I have only to ask for inspiration in my sleep and blocks disappear upon waking. One of the keys to creativity is simple curiosity – the more curious you are about something the more you send
June/July 2011
that questing energy out into the universe seeking an answer.
The original meaning of inspiration comes from Greek mythology. The Greeks believed that all creativity came from the gods and goddesses and that mortal beings received the spirit of the heavens and cre- ated some form of what had been revealed. The Greek gods and goddesses were the creative muses to philosophers, painters, sculptors, musicians and writers of the time. The etymology of the word itself means to “breathe in spirit.” And Stephenie Meyer and other artists living today are examples of those who have been inspired from a realm beyond the waking, conscious mind.
Everyone needs inspiration. You are a creative energy in the world and that creative energy requires expression in order for you to lead a fulfilling life. So how can you work
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