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So, it's the new year, and it didn't take long before people were asking me if I had made any resolutions. I admit, my standard reply was a rude scoff. That's a pretty unfair reaction to the notion of making a resolution or two. Where's the harm in taking stock of your habitual patterns, seeing where they are leading you astray from your values, and then putting in some effort to correct that? None at all...until there is. We live in a culture that values, I'd say even worships, ambition over all else.

I find myself again affected by yet another human tragedy that seems so senseless. There's something particularly disturbing for us when we don't know, or see, a real reason for why such atrocities occurred. It makes sense that we try to understand; when we can come up with an answer to "Why?" then maybe we can avoid such violence befalling us and our loved ones again. Maybe we can fix it. While it is my personal belief that stricter regulation on firearms would reduce gun violence in this country, I'm under no illusion that it'll fix the problem altogether.

Even those who tell me "I like who I am!" usually at some point come to a realization of self-loathing or shame somewhere in their being. Sometimes, the shame isn't even logical. For instance, I remember blaming myself for my car getting broken into and the stereo being stolen. I had paid the extra money for a stereo that a had a removable faceplate as a theft deterrent, but I hadn't bothered to remove it. It's not rational to blame the victim of a crime, but I still felt some shame about what had happened. Shame or self-blame is a common reaction when things go awry.

I don't know if all dreams are significant, but it does seem that some dreams have something important to tell us. Through the unique and universal symbols in our lives, dreams are a way for our unconscious to speak with us in our less guarded state of sleep. The meaning and depth of significant dreams can sometimes take days, weeks, even years to unfold. But other times what a dream has to say can be quite transparent, and it is of this latter kind that I'd like to share with you.