I do my best to capture messages from my dreams, but sometimes it’s difficult. Yesterday morning I woke with a fragment of a song. It felt very familiar and I could hum the melody, but the only word that came through was “water”. I eventually was able to categorize it as new wave music from the 80s but that wasn’t enough for the search engines. I put it to simmer on the back burner.
Today I woke with some actual lyrics that led me to Talking Heads, “Take Me to the River”. Well, that’s clear enough! I have the morning free, am overdue for a visit to the woods, and the heatwave is in a temporary reprieve, so this assignment is actually doable.
My usual trek is a 2 hour long loop that would have me home just in time for the online meeting that I’m hosting. Of course, I’d be hot, sweaty, and verging on hangry while chatting with my friends about the somatic self-compassion training that we’re taking. Ummmm… that won’t work! I’d be a shining example of someone who didn’t listen to her body’s need nor act with compassion toward herself.
Still determined, I recalled an alternate route that would Take Me to the River, not my usual spot, but still compliant with my mission, and get me home in time to have a quick shower and breakfast. “And bring your iPad”, my intuition chimes in. So here I sit on a rock, typing up my experience while still in it, drinking my mate latte from a mason jar, listening to the water rush by and a chorus of birds.

As I’m sitting here, immersed in the healing vibes, four yellow butterflies flit past me. As I haven’t seen any like these yet this season, I suspect this was the ultimate goal of my excursion. Intuition is urging me to receive the message of “four yellow butterflies” through the lens of my own personal lexicon. While that’s a no-brainer for me to decipher, it would be challenging to explain by keyboard. I’ll just say that my efforts were rewarded with a deeply personal and significant indicator of how to proceed in a challenging matter. Thanks to a melodic snippet stuck in my head when I woke up!
If this is something that appeals to you, I’d suggest keeping your phone by your bed, ready to record information (melodies, lyrics, or whatever!) that peeks through the dream veil. I’d also suggest turning on airplane mode to reduce electronic smog emissions and turning down the screen brightness so the light isn’t too jarring in the middle of the night. It will help your attempts at capturing and deciphering the message when you’re awake for real. It’s a small investment to make for potentially large rewards.