recognize the truths presented in our dreams, or even  to
recognize that our dreams are stories.
     The story quality of the dreams in Howard's journal is
quite evident. As a result, when  I  went back to read over
my dream journal,  I  could then  see the story  quality in
my  own dreams. Like  a halo, the  atmosphere of "story"
surrounds  all  the dreams in Howard's  journal, inducing
respect for  even  the  most  fragmentary  of  the dreams
recorded—the kind of dream fragments we all too often
disregard  as  being  worthless for  their incompleteness.
For   example,  Howard   records, "I  mine  my  body  for
diamonds,   hard   to   find."   And   on   another  morning,
"The  birds  in  the cage  by  my  bed  have  died—I  have
forgotten  to  feed them."  Such brief  vignettes  speak  to
to  me  so  directly about the ups and downs of  the inner
life  and teach  me new  respect  for the little  phrases of
dreams that I  sometimes find in my mind when I awaken
in the morning. I want to write more of mine down.
     Reading    Howard's    journal   I    came   to  a   better
understanding  of  some  of  my own  dreams  and dream
symbols,  because  I  could  recognize  them in Howard's
dreams and the different context provided by his dreams
gave  me a  fresh perspective. I  would  imagine  that you
would  recognize  many of your  own dreams and images
in  Howard's  journal.  See how many  of these first lines
from  some  of  his  dreams  you find familiar: "Another
walks beside me while  I  explain, in the dark... All at once
I  notice a young girl watching me..." "I  walk in the fields
outside the house  we once lived in..."  "I  receive a large
package...""I look into a mirror and see..." "I row a boat
over  flooded  waters..." "I   fly  from  my  body and  float
beside blossoms..."  "My friend and I are baking bread...
A  crime  has  been  committed..." "My  father  takes  me
down in the basement..."  "A  snake that has proved to be
dangerous..."  "An  invasion..."  "Two   new  rooms  have
been added  to my house..."  To  use  an  expression from
the language of dreams,  I  feel  like  a  new  doorway has
been opened inside me by reading his journal.
     As  I  read  through   his  dreams,   I  kept  getting  this
strange sensation in my body.  I  finally recognized  it  as

214