The cartoon above is based on a dream…
…a sleeping dream from a few years ago.
In the dream…
I’m climbing up a set of stairs.
I come to a place where two steps are far apart—one stair looms high above the other.
To reach that step, I really have to stretch, to make an extra effort.
But I’m able to pull myself up and then continue on.
The message of the dream seemed obvious. I’ve carried that message for some time now, and it’s helped me—the message has given me strength, has given me hope, during a difficult time.
Recently, the dream spoke again. As I reflected back on it, I saw that the dream holds a hidden message—a message hidden in plain sight.
The dream supports my belief that, throughout our lives, we are climbing, ascending, working our way up, developing ourselves spiritually.
Towards what end, the dream does not say. Perhaps the goal is simply to climb and keep climbing: to gain more and more perspective, to continually strive to elevate ourselves.
Yes, it’s my personal dream; it refers to my experience. But since you and I can not be so different—after all, we’re both human beings—I think its not-so-hidden hidden message can apply to you, me, and everyone else.
But what if my unconscious mind, in this dream, is merely reflecting my conscious belief system—what I want to believe, what I’ve chosen to believe?
I have no proof that life is a continual growth process—a growth of spirit. I can’t really say that the dream proves this belief to be true.
But whether or not it is true, this belief system helps me. It keeps me working to develop myself. It keeps me working to gain more perspective. To follow the Golden Rule—as stated in all our good books…
It’s brought me to set this goal: to decrease my fear, to increase my understanding. It keeps me working toward this goal, despite daily failures.
So, by holding this belief, I not only help myself, I help all of us—in some small way, I help this troubled world of ours.
This belief helps me when I’m confronted with those big steps…
…those steps that require that I stretch, that I push myself, that I go beyond what I think I’m capable of—those steps that we all face, at various times in life.
So, though I can’t prove it’s true, I’m keeping this belief.
This belief also tells me to focus on the here and now, tells me to “watch your step!”
Nonetheless, I can’t help but wonder where the stairway leads…
Which reminds me of another dream, told to me by a friend, years ago.
In the dream…
…she walks slowly, ploddingly, up a series of steps—the steps of a pyramid.
Finally, after much effort, she reaches the top. And what does she find there?
The top of the pyramid is a wide level platform: a place of work.
That wouldn’t seem to be a very encouraging dream—a very encouraging belief. We work and work just to arrive at a place of work!
But doesn’t the dream tell her that she’ll eventually reach a place where she can sit down…
….sit down and enjoy the view, enjoy her hard-won perspective?
Wherever the stairway goes, it’s also my belief that we—every single one of us—have no choice but to climb, to keep climbing.
How does that belief help me?
Well, if I have to climb…
…then I might as well not fight it, I might well try to be aware of what I’m doing, of what I’m trying to accomplish…
…and, in that way, make greater progress.
© 2012, Michael R. Patton
sky rope poetry



