Leaving your “baby”unattended?…

I had a crazy dream. I had a baby. I had it wrapped up in a small, worn, cloth satchel. But I forgot all about it, then panicked when I remembered that I hadn’t been taking care of it. And when I went to check on it, unwrapping the cloth bit by bit, only bundled string fell out. 

I asked everyone if they had seen my baby.  Finally, I came across two women who were keeping it safe. They told me I couldn’t recover the baby unless it recognized me. (It sounds awful to call my baby “it,” but its gender was never revealed.) I again panicked.  I didn’t even know what the baby looked like. How on earth would it recognize me? When they showed me the baby, it wasn’t a newborn at all. It had grown and matured. And when it saw me, it smiled and laughed and reached its arms out for me.

It’s been a few days now, and I keep reflecting on the dream. I believe the “baby” is something I’m in the process of creating. Putting it in the satchel in my dream illustrates that I’ve neglected it, set it aside, and given it little thought let alone my attention. The dream was a reminder what I’m “birthing” needs nurturing, care and attention.

Dream analysts agree that dreams are compensatory - meaning they’re not arbitrary and meaningless, but have a distinct intention and purpose - to bring material from the unconscious into the consciousness.

It’s funny when a dream calls you out. Refocuses your awareness. Even now I feel a sense of guilt and responsibility. Not attending to the baby in my dream was a wakeup call for me to take greater responsibility for what I create, just like I would take responsibility for the task of raising a child.  

What are you creating? And what have you let fall unattended? What’s calling you back into creation with open arms? 

“Though we seem to be sleeping, there is an inner wakefulness that directs the dream, and will eventually startle us back to the truth of who we are.” - Rumi