Where Dreams and Visions Live: Anthologies of the Heart, #1

By Mary Blowers

Where do you go in your dreams? In your nightmares? Reach new vistas in this anthology by author Mary Blowers which provides an audience for 38 authors, many publishing for the first time. Challenge your beliefs about Dreams and Visions in this anthology of short stories, essays, and poems.

Where Dreams and Visions Live is an anthology about the many types of Dreams and Visions we can experience and perhaps some we hope not to experience. As always, it's best to strive for positive experiences in life, but in some areas we have no control. These are interesting viewpoints from 38 different authors and I hope you will enjoy them.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mary Blowers
• Release date: Nov 29, 2014
• ISBN: 9781503179554

Mary Blowers

Mary Blowers was told in school that she had a gift for writing essays and was even compared to Emerson. Now she writes on topics from faith, to health, to fiction, and loves all of it. In addition to books listed, her essay is included in "Best Life Stories" from Readers' Digest http://www.amazon.com/The-Best-Life-Stories-Resilience/dp/1606525646, and she is a contributor to Halo Magazine. Sometimes she gives away free books! Get on the mailing list to take advantage of this at http://eepurl.com/bmKaL5 and get a free book within 24 hours! View her writing/book review blog at http://maryblowers.com. She lives in Southwest Michigan in a mid-century 1900s home with her husband and two cats. When she's not writing she enjoys knitting, gardening, and walking for fitness. Long-time student of natural health methods and certified Master Herbalist, Nutrition Consultant, Holistic Health Practitioner and Weight Management Coach.  

Book preview

Table of Contents

Introduction-Mary Blowers

DREAMS

The Role of Dreams in the Stress Response-Cyril Abbott

She-Robin E. Mason

God Knew All Our Folly-Robin E. Mason

Eyes of the Soul-Robin E. Mason

For There is Nowhere-Robin E. Mason

Your Light in Me-Robin E. Mason

The Lady In My Dream-John Needham

A Glandiose Tale-John Needham

The Sea of Dreams-Bill Hiatt

Chariot Dream From God-Jaclyn Tibbe

A Dream of End Times-By Jaclyn Tibbe

Dream a Little Dream of Me-Megan Cyrulewski

Dreams And Visions-by Isaac Iziken

Dreams—A Figment of Reality-Marc Mullo

Dreams of a River-T.W. Barton

Open Your Eyes-Chris Redfern

Signs In The Earth Beneath-Ada Brownell

My Indigenous Old-Chidolue J. Chinonye

Whiskey-Brittany Davidson

Shattered Dreams-Brittany Davidson

Charcoal-Brittany Davidson

Dreams and Visions-Brittany Davidson

Fairy Tales-Brittany Davidson

Sycamore-Alan Meyrowitz

The Guide-Sreesha Divakaran

A Story in Three Dimensions-Rose Fortune

Confessions of a Literature Student-Marlouise Le Roux

These Words-Felicity Johns

Daydreams-Jane Dougherty

The Dream Job-Roz Warren

The Dreamer’s Lament-Keith Jaret

Nannie Trilogy-Peter Bouchier

VISIONS

A Journey Into Time-Deborah Simmons

Heaven’s Breath-P.S. Winn

Experiencing the Lover of My Soul-Lisette DeFoe

Finding Rest-Lisette DeFoe

My Final Meal-James Rasmusson

Roamer and Scarback-James Rasmusson

Estranged-James Rasmusson

The Puffin Epoch-James Rasmusson

She Watches-Jen Helvie

And Finally I Realized-Jen Helvie

Tribulation Begins-Edward Varga

Pop’s Gone to Heaven, Again-Ron O’Gorman

NIGHTMARES

Whippoorwills-Janice Canerdy

Good Girl-Helen Whapshott

Girls and Boys Come Out to Play-Helen Whapshott

A Bad Dream . . . Or Maybe Not-Laurie WJN

Long Shadows-Tracy Fahey

The Night Mare-A. E. Rivenbark

Students Beware! The New Age Wellness Fair-C. Dunamis

What They Saw-Vanessa Wright

Linked-Traci Kenworth

Introduction

Mary Blowers

http://maryblowers.com

I started this project when I was recuperating from hand surgery and had some time to think, as I had a week off work at my day job. (This is proof that writers need down time in which to think and plot).

I have always been interested in dreams and visions. I sometimes write down my dreams, if I am not too rushed in the morning. Later in the day they are wispy shreds of memories, if they exist at all. But if forgotten, what use are they? Sometimes a memory will come to me days, weeks, even years later of something I dreamed. And I know exactly where the memory came from. At least most of the time. At times I remember something and I can’t remember, at least at first, whether it is from a dream or a waking memory.

My recurring dreams include remembering two weeks late that class has begun at college; being chased by bears; and exploring the attic of an old house. Sometimes I dream about relationships with people who are no longer with me. Not in a longing way, but as if they are hanging on if only in my dreams. Movies have been made around the premise that people can enter one another’s dreams.

This could involve lucid dreaming, which is the awareness in your dream that you are dreaming. Once aware, you can control the dream to some extent-to make yourself fly, for instance.

But this book is not solely about night dreams. It could be a dream the author has for their life, or a vision that they saw while awake. It could be a dreamlike story and it will be up to the reader to decide whether or not it really happened. I purposely made the topic a bit vague, to allow for the authors’ interpretations and contributions to include things I had not experienced.

Some of the dreams are nightmares. Again, I wonder the purpose this type of dream serves. They can be like horror stories, which hold fascination for some, including myself. In this sense dreams may be thought to be merely entertainment, but have also been called a way for the brain to process events of each day.

It is my vision for this book to bring to life dreams which exist but do not exist; to open the reader to the other, better worlds they can create for themselves through books; and finally, to provide a venue for writers everywhere to show their published work. Where Dreams and Visions Live is the first anthology in a series, to be called Anthologies of the Heart.

I’m so proud of, and grateful to, all these authors. We’ve accomplished something great together.  Thank you so much for participating.

DREAMS

The Role of Dreams in the Stress Response

Cyril Abbott

http://www.abbottwellness.ca

An anthology of Dreams and Visions is a wonderful idea and opens the doors to all kinds of interesting insights that I am personally looking forward to reading. There are many possible ways of adding to this rich exchange of ideas; ideas that can come from many disparate cultures, religious and spiritual traditions, as well as a number of different academic and philosophical backgrounds. My approach to this discussion is perhaps a bit different and stems from my work as a Natural Health Therapist. In that role I deal with a lot of clients who have chronic pain problems. How my work in pain therapy ties into an anthology on Dreams and Visions is outlined in this paper.

Fundamentally, my comments are rooted in physiology and how we are physiologically designed to use the dream state as a mechanism for enhancing health. A necessary presupposition for my discussion is that we are able to reach a deep restful sleep regularly. One of the first things I work on is ensuring that my clients get this deep, regular sleep.

We all know the wonderful benefits we get from a good night’s sleep. A sleep that leaves us refreshed and ready to face the day rather than that feeling of being hit by a truck. But as a culture we are moving farther and farther away from that concept of sleep. Both quantity and quality of sleep are impacted by our lifestyles, and this is one reason for the decline in health that we see around us. An important part of sleep, from my perspective, lies in the dreams that are part of the deep sleep process.

Dreams, by my definition, can have a number of different functions in the human body. Each of those functions can impact our health in significant ways. One of those functions, and the substance of this paper, argues that the dream state, specifically, is critical for metabolizing the many stress hormones that are created in our bodies each and every day. But how does this process work?

A look at the stress state is in order. Our nervous system is divided into several parts. The Central Nervous System (CNS) is comprised of the brain and the spinal cord. Pretty much everything else in the body is part of the Peripheral Nervous System (PNS). A subset of the PNS is the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS) which refers primarily to the parts of our nervous system that are not under our direct control: digestion, blood regulation, hormone balance, and the like. Breathing is a bit of a hybrid in that we do have some control over that process – to a point. As we may all know, breathwork is an important part of learning to balance both sides of the ANS.

This ANS has two parts; the Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) and the Parasympathetic Nervous System (PSNS). The SNS is a protective, excitatory state that we often refer to as the stress response. It governs the functions of fight or flight, as we know it. When the SNS is engaged we are looking at survival by some definition.

The PSNS is pretty much the direct opposite of the SNS and is what we refer to as the rest and relaxation part of the ANS. For this discussion, it is critical to understand that healing of the body cannot take place except when the PSNS is engaged. The sleep state enables that healing process, since sleep is when the PSNS is dominant.

Our stress response is a beautifully designed part of our body that is a delicate dance of hormones. When the lion jumps out of the bushes there is an almost instantaneous flood of these hormones to address the imminent danger. Blood vessels to the large muscles and many internal organs dilate to increase the flow of blood and the oxygen it carries – running and climbing trees is hard work. At the same time the vessels in the outer parts of the body constrict, partially through the use of the fascia, so that we do not bleed as fast if bitten.

Our basic senses increase so our awareness is amplified, making us better able to deal with the imminent danger. Meanwhile, our digestive system is severely inhibited. The energy required to digest food is far better spent figuring out how not to be digested, as I like to say. All of these physiological responses are governed by the flood of stress hormones, chemicals that are created and flow throughout our bodies.

When those dangers are past our system stops producing those hormones, for the most part. But they are still in the body until they are broken down. If, for some reason, these chemicals are not broken down or metabolized efficiently, then our health can suffer. But what does this discussion have to do with sleep and dreams?

We have all heard the notion that various emotions reside in different organs of the body. For example, the emotion of anger is related to the liver. The emotion of anxiety is related to the lungs, and so on. But what does that really mean?

In my estimation, these are not benign ways of describing the mind/body connection of emotions and organ systems. They literally represent the many chemicals and hormones that the body produces and stores in these various organs before being metabolized by the body. When we are healthy and experiencing the stress state the way it was supposed to be experienced, on an intermittent basis, then all is well. Our bodies will naturally get rid of these chemicals as part of the day-to-day process of living. My contention is that dreams play an important role in that metabolizing process.

A healthy sleep pattern typically follows a cyclical fashion throughout the night. The first cycle lasts somewhere between 70 – 100 minutes and consists of a shallower sleep, followed by a deeper sleep known as REM sleep where dreaming takes place. The cycle is completed by a shallower period before the next cycle starts. The second cycle follows the same pattern but seems to last about 90 – 120 minutes. As the night progresses we tend to spend more time in the deep or dream state.

Stress hormones are obviously physiological in nature but are often linked to intense emotional situations. The most effective way for them to be metabolized by the body is to replicate those emotions in a safe way. Dreams provide the surrogate experience for that process to happen. Simply, as we dream we experience emotions. Those emotions are fueled by the chemicals that are deposited in various organ systems allowing for them to be metabolized efficiently.

The release of these chemicals is critical for the long term health of the individual. In effect, a build-up of these chemicals tends to keep us more in the SNS state rather than the PSNS state. We can have excess chemicals for a couple of reasons. First, our lives tend to be more stressful for any number of reasons, chronic pain being one of them. When we are in this more constant stress state the production of chemicals is allowed to build up in the body since it is difficult to get rid of them efficiently.

Second, if we are sleep challenged then we are not able to find those levels of sleep necessary for proper metabolizing of those chemicals. The spiraling effect of both these situations can cause the long term negative effects that we relate to stress and lack of wellness that is prevalent in the world around us.

So there you have one way of understanding the important role that dreams might play in our health and wellness. It is a different view but seems to make sense when understanding the physiology of stress. It also provides a therapeutic focus for dealing with many of the modern day problems that continue to plague us. While deep and restful sleep that promotes the dream state may not be the only answer, it is an important first step for just about any ailment.

She

© Robin E. Mason

14 August 2006

http://robinsnest212.wordpress.com/

Sat she in lonely darkness brewing

Heart-storm across horizon sounds

Endless waves, emptiness spewing

Silence echoes, buffets and hounds

Isolation and doubts ~ questions rampant

Will I ever realize my dreams?

While in heart-corners deep hell-voices chant

And success is borne to hellish schemes

Captured in her ignorance ~ weak

Lack of knowledge and perishing there ~

Yet in heart-corners deep Word-Voice speaks

And louder and stronger and ever more clear.

So dreams yet rise through raging heart-storm,

Offer hope ~ and yet persist

The notion that they’ll never take form ~

But Author of dreams does not bow to this.

For the dreams are borne for Kingdom Purpose

And will their fulfillment see

A birthright endowment of the Father’s Rose

Dreams and vision for His glory.

Now, sits she in splendid chamber royal

Vantage point vast horizons displayed

Endless waves ~ now rapturous joy.

And in Father’s own glory-robes is arrayed.

God Knew All Our Folly

Robin E. Mason

© Robin E. Mason

27 October 2006

Before the world began

God knew our fatal error

All that lay ahead ~

The agony and the terror.

Throughout the ages ~ all of time ~

One by one we came,

Marching in magnificence

And glory self-proclaimed.

Yet on our knees we fall

When pride comes face to face

With Glory of the Father

~ Atonement shall take its place.

And restores in sweet communion

Righteous, now by His side.

Walk in days to come

As Christ’s pure, holy bride.

But there remains the fallout

Of fleshly weakness gone by.

Consequence and repercussion

Hounds frail memory.

Taunts with what might have been,

And better, surely still,

Than this present circumstance ~

Less than His best will.

Yet nothing catches God off guard

Nor takes Him by surprise

For while His perfect plan

May seem compromised,

He allows for all our folly

In eternal scheme

And what shall then come after ~

Though conflicting holiness it seems

Shall be more glorious, more blessed

Than human heart untried ~

Now purged of earthly folly

And under His shadow abide.

Eyes of the Soul

Robin E. Mason

© Robin E. Mason

22 April 2009

The windows of the soul,

Are the eyes, they say ~

Searching, seeking, perceiving.

Glimpse of vista broad

the door ~

Opening, embracing, receiving.

Pages of a book

Unlock ~

Welcome concepts taught.

Words the keys

that turn the lock ~

Distant shores are brought.

Leaves on trees

Swaying in th’breeze ~

Flutter, shimmer, swirl.

The leaves in

Forest cathedral