Author and Jungian analyst John A. Sanford begins his book Dreams and Healing with these words: “Suppose someone told you that there was something that spoke to you every night, that always presented you with a truth about your own life and soul, that was tailor-made to your individual needs and particular life-story, and that offered to guide you throughout your lifetime and connect you with a source of wisdom far beyond yourself. And, furthermore, suppose that all of this was absolutely free. Naturally you would be astonished that something like this existed. Yet this is exactly the way it is with our dreams.”
I am thankful that when I saw a therapist many years ago to help me with some difficulties going on in my life that I was introduced to dream work. Before that I had never given much thought to dreams and didn’t recall having dreamed very often. In the years since learning about dreams as a source of guidance and information about myself, writing down and paying attention to my dreams has been an essential part of my life. In writing that dreams present each person with a truth about his or her own life and soul, Sanford is pointing out how each person’s dreams are unique to that person, just as each person is a unique individual different from every other human being. Each of us was created with certain potentials, and the symbols within and stories of our dreams can guide us toward reaching those potentials. I have also found that making the effort to record and pay attention to my dreams adds a sense of purpose to my life so that even at those times when what the dream is created to tell me isn’t clear, my being open to the dream’s message also matters.