James Rutnam, Author at DreamsSynergy

Did You Leave One Gift Unopened?

Fellow Dreamers, I wrote this article in 2016 to welcome in the 2017 new year. While reading it again, I am struck that the message is the same today as it was when written. It is NOT too late to give yourself a gift in 2019. Get your dream journal and begin today to record your dreams. Read more for more thoughts on the topic… Christmas and Hanukah have been celebrated and hopefully you, like me, have many good new memories in your memory bank. You have a gift that you may not have opened yet. You may not have noticed, but it is waiting for you to open. The important gift is the wisdom [...]

A Lowcountry Christmas

Everything is abuzz here in our house. The Christmas Season is often chaos for most of us. How do we make it simpler, filled with peace and joy? After all, isn’t that the purpose of the season… to recognize the blessings and gifts in our life? My dreams are helping me. A couple of nights ago I had a nightmare. In the dream, my home was total chaos; nothing was as it should be. I called for help over and over, but no one seemed concerned or answered my pleas to make things right. It was up to me to solve the problems. It felt overwhelming. When I awoke, I knew that I had to [...]

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Have you ever felt as if you were caught between a rock and a hard place? While sitting quietly on our cottage porch overlooking the White Mountains this past week, I mused about the formation of such majestic mountains. How did such a beautiful mountain range arise? I started to think about the pressure that created the mountains. Amazing! I had never really thought about pressure and force creating beauty. Always thinking symbolically from my love of metaphorical dreams, I reflected on how being "caught between a rock and a hard place" at the time feels dreadful. But then if we hold the "tension of the opposite" forces, we individually transform into something more majestic [...]

Visions of the Holiday Season

Dear Dreamy Friends, How quickly this holiday season came upon us! What visions are dancing in your head? This can be a very emotional time of year for many of us. We have expectations of the Holiday Season that often cannot be met. We remember the joy of anticipation and then the joy of surprise and the warmth of being surrounded by loving family and friends. Sometimes the season does not offer that for us as adults. Why? Perhaps we are more into the angst of making it all happen and trying to live up to the expectations that others put on us, or more likely that we put on ourselves. After all, we hope [...]

Nightmare on Hilton Head Island

I love trees and always have! As a young child, I lived and played in forests for days on end. I felt protected and understood by my favorite trees, climbing up high to sit and view the situations below. When I was in High School, my father decided to have the forest behind our home thinned out for the well-being of the trees. I cried for days. I could not stand to see one life lost. As an adult, when I often saw bulldozers clearing land in Atlanta. I pulled the car over, got out and waved until the driver stopped. I yelled out “Why are you killing the trees?” They said they were told [...]

Dreams Are the Perfect Valentine!

Our dreams truly care about us. They are our Valentines for life! As we step forward into February, the winds of change are upon us. As with the preparation of all of nature for the emergence of Spring (hard to believe for those of you under a blizzard this weekend), we personally need to prepare for new growth. During such times, the guidance of our honest inner voice becomes vital. Through dreams our inner voice can be heard and our truth can emerge (personally and collectively). When we allow ourselves to embrace the insight and emotions of our dreams, we can hear our innate wisdom. When we listen closely, we are given personal and collective [...]

Living the Dream

As I await the birth of the first child of my eldest daughter, I realize that I’m living the dream. Dreams are magical, mystical and contain the nature of the universe that we do not understand – cannot fully understand. Births are much the same. It is beyond my human understanding as I watch while the baby prepares to enter this world. It all seems impossible, but it’s not! Dreams have taught me to believe in a way that expands my thoughts and, therefore, my life. I don’t question as often, but instead, embrace all that surrounds and is given to me. Recently I noted that presently I am remembering the essence of my dreams [...]

Professional Opinion: Why Can’t I Remember My Dreams?

This week, Justina Lasley -- founder of the Institute for Dream Studies, a dream therapist and author of "Wake Up to Your Dreams" -- discusses why some people can remember what they dream while others cannot. Question: Some of my friends can remember their dreams in great detail, but I never seem to have dreams or remember any details from what I dream. Is this normal or could it mean something is wrong health-wise? Answer: There is no definitive reason that some people easily remember their dreams and others do not. Why Can't I Remember My Dreams? Throughout my twenty-five years in the study of dreams, I have tried to figure out why some people [...]

Resources

Resources From DreamSynergy. Questions & Answers For Students' Dream Research – Prepared by Betsy Grund, MEd (Click here for pdf) Students often contact us at the Institute for Dream Studies for answers to their questions about dreams as they relate to research projects. Betsy Grund, a graduate of the Institute for Dream Studies, prepared this helpful document with some of the students’ frequently asked questions. A special thanks to dreamer and friend Peter Van Every for sharing some of his beautiful photographs with DreamSynergy. www.vaneveryphotography.com

A Blank Slate in the New Year

Oh, my! It’s a new year and a blank slate to create your desires for 2015. What do you want to happen in the year ahead? It’s hard to achieve a goal that you don’t have. I encourage you to take 15 minutes today to make a list of how you would like 2015 to unfold. It’s much more likely you will find it happening if you write about it in your journal. (Hopefully, you have a journal by now!) There is a big difference between thinking about something and writing it down. Writing brings it closer to reality. If we just toss it around in our thoughts, we really don’t move the thoughts forward. [...]

About James Rutnam