At the time when I had this dream, there were changes to be made in my personal life because of the virus, and changes to be made in my professional life as I transitioned from a life filled with administrative duties (serving as the president of a graduate school), as well as teaching and consulting in countries throughout the world. As Agnes and I noted in our essay, returning to the old shore is quite tempting when we are “at sea.” As Bill Bridges proposed, grieving for what we left back on the old shore will (and must) be engaged while we are on the boat; otherwise, grieving will take place when we arrive at the new shore, and will disrupt our adjustment to the new beginnings.
One final point about Transformational dreams and the end points to be reached in a journey portrayed in this dream. I can identify six different types of transformational dreams associated with six different outcomes. The first type is a dream when the endpoint is actually anticipated. This is the classic prophetic dream, such as the noted dream of Abraham Lincoln, when he predicted his own death. Lincoln’s law partner and bodyguard reported that a few days before his assassination, Lincoln told him about a dream he had where he walked into the East Room of the White House to find a small group of mourners. He asked one of the guards who had died, and the guard said, “The president. He was killed by an assassin.” He was shot three days later.
If what is predicted concerns such a thing as increased production of grain or a shift in the stock market, then the prophecy might be considered transactional. Conversely, if what is predicted concerns a fundamental transformation in one’s sense of self (such as Lincoln’s existential transformation from life to death), then the dream might be considered transformational. For instance, if Joseph dreamt not just of droughts and grains (transactional) but also of his new status as a powerbroker in the Egyptian empire, then his dreams could be considered transformational. However, Joseph knew better than to mention his own potential shift in power; so, if his dreams were transformational, he probably would have kept this transformation to himself.
A second kind of transformation dream is one in which the endpoint becomes clearer and more compelling when portrayed in the dream. We find that many utopian images were first produced in a dream. As Fred Polak (1973) suggests, it is in the envisioning of a future state that a society will find a reason to remain viable; without a compelling vision of the future, societies enter into a period of decline. The leader as dreamer might be of great value—and they don’t even have to dream of granaries, as did Joseph.
Transformational dreams can also provide endpoints that are quite realistic. We might find that our dreams can be engaged to produce an actionable pathway to a desirable endpoint. The dream can be a testing ground (“wind tunnel”) for alternative pathways to end points or even a testing ground for the end points themselves. Emil Gutheil (Gutheil, 1951, p. 156) even introduces the notion of “personification” into our appreciation of the remarkable capacity of dreams to test out ideas.
Personification is a form of reverse symbolization. Instead of a person or type of person being represented in a symbol, the symbol is replaced by a person. An idea is enacted by this generated person. This allows the person to take action based on the idea. Results of the action (and idea) can be tested out in the dream. For instance, as dreamers, we might consider being more thoughtful and kinder in our relationships with others. We try out one version of this kindness and thoughtfulness in our dream and envision how others react to it. We may, in turn, recall our reactions and other people’s reactions to this thoughtfulness and kindness when we wake up.
