myself  making  a  mistake  part of  me (Mistake: miss-
take—a  take on life which misses the mark; no shame
or blame, but calls for a re—take) how  I  have  myself
keep  activating  these  contrivances part of me, in me.
"I  didn't  know!" I  have  myself cry. "I  never meant to
evoke the robot  mechanisms in me.  I  only  wanted to
open  the doors  in  me. "I  have  the  man  part  of  me
show  me  another  way part of  me to open  the  doors
part    of   me   without    having   myself    trigger   the
mechanisms part of me, in me.
     Putting    this    dream    into    dreamlanguage   shows
me  how  I  have  my  "buttons"  pressed   while  I  behave
as   if  they're  not,  and   how  complicated   I  make   the
whole  machinery  of  this  concealment.  I  keep  myself
"out of touch" in  many ways,  like  always being busy, so
that  the  situation  gets "over  my  head." I  make  myself
helpless, putting it  beyond  my  ability  to understand, to
grasp,  to  take  responsibility for.  With   the disclaimer,
"I  didn't  know! I didn't mean to!" I  reveal to myself how
I  was  unintentionally   making  myself  a  victim,  trying
to  make  an  everyday  craziness  appear  "normal,"  even
at a  high  cost  in  energy.  But  by   becoming  aware  of
the  pattern,  seeing that my actions  were automatic  and
not achieving  the desired results, and by asking for help,
I  become receptive and ready  to learn a more  effective
pattern.  I  suspect that many of our dreams are similarly
oriented toward  helping us become aware of  automatic,
but  ineffective,  patterns   and   are  suggesting   creative
alternatives. The  sense of despair   in  the  dream  is  the
crucial   opening  whereby   I  allow   myself  to  become
receptive to  the part  of me  that  knows  and can  put me
on the  right  track.  This  character,  this part of  me  that
knows,  is the star in my cast.  Coming to me as a man in
this dream, and as a child or woman,  bird or light, words
or often as myself—this is the voice of my inner self.

DOING MYSELF

     "Doing   myself  is  an  apt  phrase  in   dreamlanguage
that puts in a nutshell my basic approach to dreams.  It is
shorthand for owning  the effects  I  create. For instance,

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