10 June 2017

Today I want to write about some thoughts which came to mind when I read Richard Hastings’ post Healing or Development.

I can think of no two environments which are more polar opposite than a resort and a crime scene. Interestingly, these are the two types of environments which have the greatest impact on me when they show up in dreams.

Here’s a fun fact about me though. Do you want to know my idea of a really enjoyable afternoon? Relaxing on the beach and reading a crime-filled book like Frankenstein. It’s strange isn’t it?

This didn’t really make sense to me until I read Richard’s post about Healing and Development.

Let’s put the real description of my enjoyable holiday aside for a moment and just look at the metpahor of the resort and crime scene.

In a recent dream I had of a resort I was a resident there – lived in a state of healing – and a negative person showed up with a task for me which appeared impossible for me to accomplish. It took me out of my relaxed state and put me into work mode. In the past this used to make me feel angry.

But now that I am understanding the difference between a resort as a metaphor and opportunities for development better than I can see there is nothing to get angry about when opportunities for work come up. When a negative person shows up in a dream and brings “work” it means there has been some sort of unlawful action and the work is to get to the heart of the matter by understanding what principle was infringed on, where the bad behaviour showed up and how it can be prevented in the future.

In real life, people have done some bad behaviour to me or around me which has resulted in some negatives and some positives. The most negative is that it has led to my condition of seemingly-endless state of poverty and the most positive is that it had developed in me a keen ability to assess criminal behaviour, to understand the criminal mindset and to move forward through every wall which arises so that I feel a general sense of fulfillment in my life, despite not having a lot to “show for it” in the way most people judge success.

No awards. No big house. No fancy car. No brand-name clothing. No elaborate holidays. No shiny hubcaps. No valuable collections of anything. Nothing that meets the status quo for “success.”

But what I can do is spot a criminal in a crowd. I do it when I’m dreaming and I do it when I’m awake.

I can identify one lie in a sea of truths.

I can also spot one truth in a sea of lies.

I can look at humanity’s most ugliest truths head-on and I can slice through illusions like a sword through fabric.

I do it so easily it’s like I’m vacationing even while I’m dealing with gangs, cults, killers, and thieves.

This kind of work, in a dream or in real life, requires being open to developing at every moment. It’s work because you always know something and also don’t know everything.

There is a willingness at every moment to learn new facts, new information, new ways. You can’t walk into a crime scene and be close-minded. All your senses are on alert at every moment. Listening. Watching. Observing. Smelling. Touching. Tasting. There is no more alert state I can think of than when walking into an environment when a human life has been taken and the answer to how and who is right there in front of you if you just pay close enough attention.

I can’t think of a state which is more opposite from being at a resort than this. If a resort is healing, than a crime scene is development at it’s height.

In real life, I’ve been working on investigative work into crimes on a part-time basis since I was 19. Only in the past year have I started to be more open about this work that I do because it’s just time to share the results of what I’ve been investigating.

It’s my hope that one day when I take vacations I can rock climb, and bungie jump and scuba dive and do really fun adventurous things. But at the moment, my work life is so intense that when I vacation I love the physical rest and relaxation.

But I go to the beach and bring along Sherlock Holmes. Go figure!