14 Jan Dreaming and Living a Life with Heart
Recently I attended a weekend workshop entitled “Dreaming a Life with Heart” with Robert Moss at Mosswood Hollow. During the time I was preparing for my trip, I came across a children’s book. The Land of Stories by Chris Colfer, a Number 1 New York Times best seller for middle grade students. Briefly, in the story, 12-year old twins Alex and Conner journey through a book belonging to their grandmother into a magic kingdom where their favorite characters from childhood fairy tales are real. I opened to the chapter entitled “The Heart of Stone,” a tale about the evil Queen who poisoned Snow White with a shiny red apple, and how her heart was turned to stone.
We all know the main story. The evil Queen possessed a Magic Mirror of Truth with a man inside the mirror who could only tell the truth. In the revised story, the queen tells the children why she is so heartless with accounts of personal loss and pain. She adds that her true love, Mira, was imprisoned in the mirror for eternity by an Enchantress. No matter how hard the Queen tried she was never able to liberate the man from the mirror. He became a mere reflection, no longer recognizing the cold cruel woman she had become. The Queen tried all means possible to reclaim her youthful beauty and appealing image. One day the man in the mirror discovered beautiful Snow White, and being pure of heart, she was seen as the fairest of the land.
The Queen’s pain was so unbearable, so she found an old witch by the name of Hagatha deep in the dwarf forest and begged for help. The witch could do nothing about the reflection in the mirror. Instead, she treated the Queen’s heartbreak. She cut out her heart and turned it to stone. From then on, the stone heart rested on a stool beside the mirror. The queen no longer suffered with emotions, but in the process she had lost her soul. In this story, when the Queen picked up her stone heart and held it in her hands, the Mirror of Truth reflected her true nature, the maiden she had once been, and she saw the soul she had lost. But alas, the remembered heartbreak caused her to lay the stone back on the stool, and she became once again the heartless Queen. And when Alex, one of the twins, looked into the Queen’s mirror, she saw lovely wings attached to her small back, and she realized she had the power of flight.
As in this mythic story, we all have experienced pain and loss throughout our lives, events and circumstances that caused us unbearable pain, and perhaps for a time turned our hearts to stone. The death of loved ones, a health crisis, family situations, relationship loss. I liked this backstory and its message. If we embrace the radiance of our hearts, and have gratitude for the gifts it holds for us and for our healing, even the pain of heartbreak, we will experience and express our true nature. And we will view reflections of that nature in the “Magic Mirror,” one that invokes light and love.
As the workshop came to an end, I recorded in my dream diary the journeys that the members of our group made in order to access the qualities of the heart, along with my own dream images from three nights. As a personal reminder of this powerful group experience, I created the list below.
The 12 Keys for Dreaming and Living a Life with Heart
- Be GRATEFUL for each day. Eat it up and drink it in, without biting down on yourself or others.
- Let the worn-out and used-up drop away. Nurture new birth.
- Navigate the upper worlds for guidance while standing firm in the Now of time.
- Keep the bigger picture in your sights, while diving into the depths beneath perception.
- Surf unexpected waves rather than be swept under them.
- Dream a shared vision. Include others in your creative efforts and life’s mission.
- Tell a more interesting story. Practice your skills and step courageously forward. You will become better and better over time.
- Embrace your inner squirrel. Look for the gifts in those tricky moments of life and enjoy the nuts.
- Do what you love and don’t think so much. In other words trust your own FEELINGS, intuitions, and judgments.
- Thoughts and feelings are real things. Express them in ways that are heart healing and helpful. You are dreaming your world into being.
- Laugh, Laugh some more, then REALLY laugh.
- Above all develop a loving relationship with Life.
It’s about romancing Soul’s gifts, holding an open heart and keeping your eyes on the Magic Mirror of Truth. You just might discover a lovely pair of wings.
Seer of light
Revealer of essence
The heart knows the way
Allow it to navigate
To Soul’s Delight
Return to the Meredith’s Mindful Moments archive page.