(Warning: This blog post talks about violence. Don’t read it if you don’t want to. There will be another softer topic tomorrow.)

Since 2009 I’ve been deeply studying and reflecting on the mental state of an individual which can lead them to a pattern of acting with violence. Violence used to show up in my dreams a lot. I dreamed of being shot at, beaten, raped, killed in car crashes, drown in water, tortured. What was tricky for me to consider then but now with enough practice comes somewhat easy, is to detach from the negative emotions which come up around violence (mainly fear) and consider ways to do the positive opposite of the violence in my real life.

What I mean is that if I dream of being shot at by a close range gun for example, then that is a sign to me that I will bring happiness and support to others by saying or doing positive things in close range, such as calling someone and offering encouragement or support.

I can think of it as shooting positive guns of encouragement and when I do this it moves things forward at home, in the community, and in my work.

In our culture, we tend to easily find fault and talk about it behind the backs of others but why not find strengths and acknowledge them? I was trained how to do this as a Virtues Facilitator back in 2005 and I consistently applied the approach in every area of my life since then.

Anyway, what more of violence in dreams?

Recently I had a few more which really took some time to be able to process. Here are the key elements:

Dream: Train Collision and Icey Mountain

• in a car in a train wreck
• a train goes by and tears people to part
• it rips at the top of my head then stops

I am in a car which goes high up a mountain, someone else driving but I am cheering them on.

I also climb high up a mountain on an icey path and get to the top

In these dreams, I saw people getting torn apart physically. It was gruesome and disturbing. The symbol of that means in real life I am seeing people get torn apart by negative conditions, circumstances or words.

In the dream, I was sitting in the back seat of a car and I leaned my head forward to protect myself and a train came by, smashed the car and ripped off layers of my scalp, like slicing a tomato.

I could feel the pain as if it was really happening and I realized that if I didn’t do something different I would die.

So I lifted my head up and started thinking of ways to get myself and others out of the wreck.

This is a symbol for being able to be in really painful or scary situations in real life and being able to keep my head together, keep my thoughts together, stay focused, to find the best solution for everyone.

The good parts of the dream say more…

We are in a car going up a mountain, and although I’m not driving (which in a dream is ideal) still I have an active role in encouraging and helping the driver. That’s really good.

In another part I am physically climbing an icey mountain and I get to the top. That is also a good sign.

So the dream tells me: Do what I know how to do to help and encourage others and use the skills I have for setting my sights high and going for higher goals & aspirations and then I’ll get to the victory.

The shift here was between the means of transportation being by train or by car. Trains are good if you have one way to get to where you are going but they are not so good if you need flexibility and many choices or options, which cars are better at.

This dream says with the particular challenge ahead, cars are needed and even physical climbing.

So the flip is for me to stay away from “one-track thinking” and move with my own skill & strength in ways which have many options & choices.

In this way, no one gets hurt and we all achieve our desired goals.