learning curves

Blogging Oblivion: I suck at keywords!

I’m in Blogging Oblivion and apparently, according to the SEO (Search Engine Optimization) spam, I suck at keywords and most things technical. But to put a more positive spin on this, I’ve learned a lot but there’s definitely a learning curve for me when it comes to blogging! I just want to talk about dreams, Soul Coaching®, spirituality, life and the meditative benefits of doing dishes (or rather the benefits of my husband doing dishes), but my SEO plugins make it clear that what I want to say isn’t what people are searching for. Sigh. So it should come as no surprise to you that in an age when the local Librarian is as lonely as the Maytag Repair Man, that I named a tab on my website the “Dream Library”. Ya, I’m clearly not in the Adword groove yet.

Akashic? Isn’t That A Grain?

If you’ve just found my blog, scroll down to my post about Dream Dictionaries (June 10th, 2015 filed under Dreamwork Hacks). If you’ve already read it, you may remember that I have some strong opinions about dream dictionaries. While some offer interesting possibilities with symbolic and metaphorical associations, most are Dime Store hooey. (Btw, the “Dime Stores” are now Dollar Stores that seem to have a lot of labels with $2+ on them!) So why, then, do I have a section called the “Dream Library” and why does it resemble a dream dictionary? All good questions. I’ll try to explain.

Calling it a library, is a nod to the Akashic Records, the vast, other-dimensional storehouse that holds information about all things for all times. Theosophists and others started talking about it in the 19th century and many connect it with Atlantis and Lemuria. If you haven’t been in this library lately, get thee to the Akashic Records, available only as a download- no, not from iTunes-but during meditation and out-of-body journeys to alternate planes of existence. On Earth, in our times, perhaps the NY Public Library on 42nd Street or the Library of Congress in Washington comes close. Or, for a more current reference, it is like the Long-Term Memory in Inside Out. And, yes, I’m a bibliophile. I admit it. Don’t judge me.

Dream Dictionaries Again?

What’s up with my non-dictionary, dream dictionary then? It all started when I discovered that the most common question I get asked is “What does it mean when you dream about…?” (Never “when I dream about” but it was always a generic “you“! “Interrrresting”, says my psychotherapist-trained brain.) I get invited to speak at a lot of service organizations and women’s groups and I would prepare lots of information, historical, psychological, mystical and mythical. But no matter what I prepared I would often get interrupted with someone asking about a particular dream. And, since we’re friends, I can tell you that it used to bother me. No, I’m used to being interrupted, but these days, if I lose my train of thought, I might just miss my station. But it bothered me because it tells me that people still think they can just look up the meaning of a dream (or ask) et voila, the one-size-fits-all definition will appear and their dream will instantly become clear! They wanted me, as Dream “Expert”, to pronounce meaning on their dream and all I wanted to do, besides get through the material that I prepared, was coach them in finding the meaning for themselves.

library

Your Very Own Library of Possibilities

Still waiting to hear why I grew this Dream Library with symbols for dreamers to look up? Here’s the reason I did it: As Soul Coach, dream teacher and coach, and former body-mind therapist, I ultimately believe that we need to meet people where they are, start there, and from a place of respect, teach them how to work with their own dreams, without giving them all the answers. So, for those who were getting stuck on different symbols, I offer my Little Library of Possibilities. They are there to prime the pump of the dreamers’ own, personal associations, and they are not there as the final say for any of it. Only the dreamer can really say what any given symbol means for them. Radical, I know.

My goal is to expand this section over the summer so please write to me at patti@pattiallen.com and let me know what symbols you’re stuck on. We just won’t call it a dictionary so much as a resource library. Ok? As for keywords and the business of blogging… If everyone who finds their way here would tell three friends about this site, it will all take care of itself. I thank YOU… Though I still feel like I’m in blogging oblivion!