Making Sense of Your Dreams
Are dreams nonsense or do they mean something? An April 7 workshop in Halifax acts on the belief that dreams are worth considering. Chaplain and spiritual director Ami Hudson, M.Div. will lead a process for exploring–and hopefully drawing meaning from– dreams. Attendees may participate or just observe during the one-hour workshop offered at mid-day and repeated in the evening.
“We receive guidance through dreams,” says Hudson. “Inventions, great ideas, inspiration, works of art and solutions to tough problems have come to people that way.”
But many of us don’t take them seriously. “Too often dreams are treated like junk mail or spam,” says Sister Carol Davis, OP– a counselor, teacher and retreat leader in upstate New York whose dreams-retreat Hudson recently attended at Durham, NC. “We need to pay attention or else we miss a lot.”
What to expect
What exactly will happen in the Halifax workshop? “It’s easygoing and conversational,” says Hudson– a process participants can use among friends. “We’ll explore a dream by asking the person to tell the dream like they’re telling a story and to give it a title. Then I’ll ask some questions about the feelings involved, what they are most curious about, or what stood out.” Others from the group will be invited to share observations and impressions of the dream– not as interpretation but just as input to consider. “We don’t ‘interpret’ other people’s dreams,” cautions Hudson. “Only the dreamer can know what a dream means to them. The rest of us only help explore it.”
Mary Helen Stafford of Vernon Hill tried out the process with Hudson recently among a group of friends. ”I really enjoyed going through the dreamwork process with our group. Hearing the input of others in a constructive way was very enlightening. It was a good way to help make sense of even the most bizarre of dreams,” says Stafford.Attention to dreams started at a young age for Hudson, who got the idea to keep a cassette recorder by her bed to capture dreams. “Most of the recordings turned out mumbled and unintelligible though,” she laughs. During seminary she studied Gestalt Pastoral Care, which includes a therapeutic approach to working with dreams. In recent years she has taught about dreams locally at her Halifax office, for the Southern Virginia Higher Education Center, and for The Prizery’s “Affair of the Arts” event.
A Christian spiritual director, Hudson is self-employed and meets with individuals at her Halifax office to help navigate through life. She also offers couples sessions, speaking, sermons and retreats.
If you go
“Making Sense of Your Dreams” will be offered at noon and again at 7 p.m. Light refreshments are planned and participants in the noon workshop may feel free to bring their lunch. “I’m hoping people who work nearby may be able to join us around their lunch break,” said Hudson.
The event is set for Thursday, April 7 at Hudson’s office on North Main Street in Halifax with a choice of times, Noon-1:00 or 7-8:00 pm. Participants should register for the workshop ($5) by Tuesday 4/5 by calling Hudson at 476-4111 or online at www.AmiHudson.com indicating a preference of noon or 7 p.m.
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