“Our dreams seek to lead us to a kind of inner wholeness. But if we are to truly realize this inner wholeness it must be expressed in our outer life of work, relationships, love and commitment.” These words are from the book Dreams: God’s Forgotten Language by Jungian psychotherapist and Episcopal priest John A. Sanford. Dreams bring to conscious awareness information that helps us to grow toward the inner wholeness of which Sanford writes.
When a person reads about dream work and Jungian concepts, records in a journal his or her dreams and related thoughts and associations to dream images, and meets with a spiritual director or Jungian therapist, it might seem as though only that person benefits. And of course she or he does benefit. But Sanford makes clear that doing dream work and through it becoming a more conscious and whole person results in much more than individual personal growth. For becoming more genuine and grounded persons affects every aspect of our lives. It influences the work we are led to and how we approach that work, the people we know and love as well as all people with whom we interact, and the commitments we make, commitments that are based on direction we discern from our dreams, synchronicities, and other meaningful life experiences.
An example of inner wholeness being expressed in a person’s outer life in the form of work, commitment, and love for others is Sanford’s sharing of his knowledge through his writing. He chose to devote many hours to writing, while also being busy in his professions, first as a priest and then as an analyst, and also while raising a family, so that those of us who read his books will have more meaningful lives. This is true of other writers as well who write about concepts that matter, thereby helping those of us who read their books as we try to follow our paths to wholeness.
Our world is comprised of negative and positive, ugly and beautiful, evil and genuine goodness. By endeavoring to realize inner wholeness, we add to what is positive, beautiful, and good, both for ourselves and for others.