HAIKU

DREAM REALIZATION

Somewhat like a moment of self-realization, when I can look through the eyes of my dream's ultraconscious vision and experience some truth—that for me is a dream realization. Creative writing, playing with the words in my dream record, often fosters dream realization. Sometimes it also provides an avenue of self-expression.

Dream realization and creativity require a relaxed, playful spirit. The limitations of a fixed form, however, may paradoxically stimulate such playful creativeness. As Rollo May suggests in his book, The Courage to Create, there can be no creativity without the presence of limits. If we are willing to accept and work with them, limitations breed transcendence. With that in mind, I offer a traditional form whose limits provide an excellent opportunity for dream realization through creative writing—the Haiku.

I've found three applications for Haiku in dream work. First, in playing around with the words in my dream record, and with new words that come to mind as I try to fit my writing into the form constraints of Haiku, I discover new feelings about my dream images. In fact, Haiku is well suited to developing and expanding an impression of a single dream image or symbol into a full expression of meaning.