DREAM A LITTLE DREAM
by Kathleen Bittner Roth
Dream researchers report that
our dreams might be our greatest untapped resource connecting us to our
subconscious and inner knowing. Think of nightmares as an overblown shout-out
from your subconscious screaming at you to pay attention.
Elias Howe (1819-1867),
inventor of the sewing machine, couldn’t figure out how to get the threads to
lock together. He had a nightmare that he was forced to build a sewing machine
for a savage king. He thought the king had given him twenty-four hours in which
to complete the machine. Should he not complete his project, death would be his
punishment.
In the dream, Howe failed. He
thought he was being taken out to a courtyard to be executed. Before him stood
a cadre of soldiers dressed in crisp red uniform jackets, white slacks and tall
fur hats. They paraded single file past him, each carrying a long, thin spear.
In rhythmic precision, they proceeded to stab him, one after the other.
Terrified as he was, he noted a hole at the end of each spear.
He had his answer!
In the middle of the night in
1846, Howe awoke from the nightmare and rushed to his laboratory where he
quickly created a working machine.
The nightmare with all its
horror was his subconscious screaming the answer at him.
Howe is not the only person
who’s dreamed solutions to a problem. Dream researchers say people who
experience déjà vu most likely experienced a precognitive dream which is why
whatever they currently confront seems familiar. These researchers say there
are certain symbols that indicate a person is experiencing a precognitive dream
(one of them is if the dream contains three round circular objects of some
kind). I paid close attention to those symbols thereafter, and since I keep a
dream journal, I can recount three precognitive dreams that led to my move to
Europe.
Everyone dreams, even though
some think they don’t. They simply don’t recall. However, they can train
themselves to remember. One night, I dreamed THE SEDUCTION OF SARAH MARKS in
its entirety. It was like watching a movie. Although I’ve dreamed bits and
pieces of other stories, I’ve never before or since had the pleasure of having
an entire story unfold from start to finish. Thus, when Sarah’s story ended up
being my debut novel, it held a special meaning to me. Was it destiny? I don’t
know, but it’s fun to think it was. I once read that Danielle Steele often
dreams her books.
I happen to be particularly
interested not only in my dreams, but in those of others. Having spent years teaching
a dream recall seminar in a wellbeing center that I founded, I’m used to paying
close attention to my dreams, and do so in a particular manner that I’ve taught
others with some good results.
We dream in symbols, some
archetypal, others personal interpretations that we have to learn to decipher,
so if you want to start paying attention to your dreams and how your
subconscious is speaking to you, the first and most important thing to do is
keep a journal and pen by your bed because you only have about ten minutes to
recall everything correctly. You may want to keep a small flashlight as well.
In your journal, quickly note the colors, symbols, feelings, and content.
After a while, you’ll likely
notice a recurring theme.
Also, when you slip off into that
space between wakefulness and sleep, it’s an indication that your brain cycle
has dropped into what’s called the theta level. Here is where your
conscious and subconscious overlap; the perfect time to repeat an affirmation
or “send a message”, if you will. Twenty-one days is how long it takes to
create a new habit, so if you use a simple affirmation like, “Easily and
effortlessly, I remember my dreams. My dreams give me insight into the
direction of my life,” and keep a daily journal (even if you think you got
nothing) something is bound to happen. After the twenty-one day period ends,
you can give yourself other directives. I like to start with, “Show me what I
need to know about such and such.” I get lots of answers to various questions
that way.
I do not plot, I write by the
seat of my pants, and often use this method for helping me write my stories.
When I wrote A DUKE’S WICKED KISS which has a lot of conflict in it, I would
often go to bed and drift off with affirmations something like: “Show me what
happens next to Ravenswood.” Or, “Is now the time for such and such to happen?”
Learning to trust yourself is a
vital aspect of dream recall. Your intuition is always 100% correct, it’s never
wrong. You just have to learn the difference between intuitive feelings and
human emotion. Like building a muscle in a gym, you don’t go in the first time
and expect to walk out pumped up. It takes time, effort and consistency, but
there is always a payoff.
What about you, do you recall
dreams? Or have you had an experience or result by following the directive in a
dream? I’d love to hear from you.
While on a secret mission
for the Crown, a proper duke falls for an improper daughter of an Indian royal
and British noble.
Miss Suri Thurston knows the
pain of abandonment. Intent on confronting the grandmother who tossed her to
the lions, she travels from England to her birthplace in India. Her plans run
afoul when she encounters the man who, ten years prior, left a mark on her soul
with one stolen kiss. But he is a duke, and far beyond the reach of even her
dreams.
The Duke of Ravenswood, secret
head of the British Foreign Service, has no time for relationships. His one
goal is to locate and eliminate key insurgents involved in an uprising against
the British East India Company before it's too late. But when Suri appears in
Delhi, his resolve is tested as he finds his heart forever bound to her by the
one haunting kiss they shared once upon a time.
With Suri's vengeful Indian family looking for
her death, and insurgents intent on mutiny tearing their world apart, can their
love rise above the scandal of the marriage they both desperately want?
Read it now!
Kathleen Bittner Roth creates evocative stories featuring characters forced to draw on their strength of spirit to overcome adversity and find unending love. Her own fairy tale wedding in a Scottish castle led her to her current residence in Budapest, Hungary, considered one of Europe’s most romantic cities. A PAN member of Romance Writers of America®, Kathleen was a finalist in the prestigious Golden Heart® contest.
You can find Kathleen at:
Twitter: @K_BittnerRoth
Book trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GzWQNWFHvhU
Pinterest https://hu.pinterest.com/bittnerroth/
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