Prologue: I'm going to experiment here, okay? Instead of attempting to gather some thoughts into a coherent something-or-another before writing, I am using this writing space as a way to understand more of what is happening inside me. Consider yourself my lovely therapists. If the whole post feels a bit disjointed, don't say you weren't forewarned!
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Good God.
I swear -- I SWEAR -- I have no idea what is going on.
Nest number two found me today. After we came in the house from the bus stop, Richard came to me and said, "There's a nest in the front yard." Gasp! For those who are keeping track, this is two nests in 10 days.
So of course I leapt from my chair and went to inspect. Then ran back in to grab the camera.
This is not a half-nest. It is whole. And filled with leaves. It's amazing, amazing, amazing. So delicately and powerfully woven is this nest, crafted together with grass and branches and horse hair and sheep wool fuzzies and tule fabric. Tears fill my eyes as I write. What is this nesting thing about???
Indulge me, will you, as I read a bit about nests in one of my symbol books:
This book, Denise Linn's Secret Language of Signs, says this:
Nest:
- A nest is a sign of incubating ideas or projects.
- When you are nesting, you are creating a warm, cozy, safe space within your home. This is an excellent sign for congenial family life and domestic affairs.
- A nest can be a sign that it is time to pull inward for rejuventation. Go into your inner nest and incubate there for a while. There are times in life when you need to be still and inward and times when you need to be outward and expansive. if you see a nest, this could mean that it is time or you to withdraw into yourself for a period of renewal.
Okay. Sounds a bit like getting ready for winter. I like that.
None of my other symbol books (some of which I like better for their historical context and/or women's spirituality connections) have "nest" listed. Hmmm. Doesn't this seem like an archetypal symbol???
Some background information:
- The half-nest was in the backyard; the whole nest was found in the front yard.
- The half-nest was an immediate reminder of death and the women I know who are dying.
- The whole-nest comes to me on a morning when I am thinking about the dance in my life between these things: food, exercise, money/debt, lack, abundance, spiritual practice, teaching/learning, (meditation, prayer, writing, art-making, songwriting, etc.). They all seem to inform one another in ways I cannot untangle right now.
Well, golly. As long as we're experimenting, can we try something else? If you've been hanging around here awhile you know that dreams are important to me, and dreamwork is one of my spiritual practices. When sharing dreams with one another, it is standard practice to share one's insights by prefacing the comments as such: "If it were my dream...". This isn't a soft way to whip the dreamer into shape with the sharer's most dazzling sagacity. It truly is a practice of seeing through the lens of one's own life, and sharing what would be true for that individual if she had had the dream herself.
So I ask you: Knowing what you know about this nest story (limited though it may be), what would it mean if you had found it? If this was your "dream" what images, thoughts, stories, insights, blessings and questions would arise for you?
Now, are you ready for this picture? As with the half-nest I placed it around and inside my home snapping pictures. Rather than sharing them all, I will share just one. I played around with this image in Photoshop - I have no idea how I did this as I am so new to this software and usually just flubb things up instead of making them prettier. This time, however, something in the spirit of the nest came forth.
I am absolutely smitten.
(Click on the photo to see full-size.)
She seems to want a name, though I don't yet know what it is.
Scattered around it are buckeyes, a pecan from my neighbor Ev's tree, and yes, that IS a little two-pronged, lime-green Lego. (What good eyes you have!) I am a mama, afterall. The nest is exactly as I found it, leaves and all. I took the liberty of adding the buckeyes, pecan, and Lego that were in a red, octagon-shaped bowl on our bookshelf.
Whatcha think?
P.S. I must shower now and scamper out the door. As soon as I found this nest this morning I called my spiritual director to see if she had an opening today perchance. She does!
P.P.S. I joined RevGalBlogPals! My site should be listed among the other amazing sites soon. Who among you is part of this community?
The topic at hand is Dream Work.