One of the areas I worked in earlier in my training to be a child psychologist was childhood fears and anxiety. I was reading a friend's blog about his fears the other day, and something I learned about in my training came to mind as I reflected on fears in general. It is called a Dreamcatcher.
Dreamcatchers themselves did not originate in the field of psychology. They are actually Native American in origin. They were originally hung above a baby’s cradle with the belief that bad dreams and thoughts would be caught in the spiderlike web of the Dreamcatcher and dissolve like dew in the morning. In contrast, good dreams and thoughts would pass through the opening in the center and go to the person who slept under the Dreamcatcher.
What gives a fear power is not the feared situation itself, but rather the belief or expectation around the fear. This is then compounded by our avoidance of the feared situation or object – the more we avoid, the more our fear is reinforced. So the psychological treatment of most fears is typically two-fold: first, addressing the person’s thoughts and beliefs about the feared situation to examine where they may be misleading; second, doing some form of exposure to the feared situation. That is, a person must enter the feared situation in order for it to lose its power.
From a psychological perspective at least, the way a Dreamcatcher works is by addressing the first area – our beliefs. If we believe that our bad dreams are going to be caught in the Dreamcatcher, our nightmares will diminish. With children, I have seen it work over and over again when introduced correctly.
So, this made me think about how I actually have a Dreamcatcher of sorts in life. God has offered to catch the fears that block me from my dreams so that I can be all that I am meant to be. 1 Peter 5: 6-7 says:
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
God has offered to carry all our fears, worries, and anxious thoughts, taking them captive and leaving only those things that empower and encourage us in the path he has chosen for us. But our job is to cast them onto him. We have to be willing to let them go - to actually hurl or cast them away. For some things in life, I find that this casting has to be done daily. For other things, it has to happen many times daily (which is exhausting on the days I even come close to doing it). For still others, it is easier (thank God!!). But for all things, the casting eventually becomes easier and lasts longer as I continue to do it. There are some things that are no longer even fears anymore, because he has taken them so completely in response to the casting.
My life, as it turns out, is teaching me one very important lesson (among others). God is our fearcatcher, and he leaves us with only our wildest dreams to pursue.
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4 comments:
So would you put a dreamcatcher in your house? I've always been told that there can be some spritual ickiness that comes with them.
this is good stuff, marsha... i need to be letting God catch some fears for me... :) *sighs*
psychosomatics can be a powerful thing. as forward-looking mamals, perception is definately reality. this is how i found empowerment. in the army, theres a repel wall challenge. youre strapped to a pully and supported by 3 soldiers. all you have to do is repel down a 100ft wall. There is Zero chance for injury. At the top of the wall, everyone is scared witless. but there are two types of people: people that breathe deeply and then leap from the wall, and the people not strong enough to fight off irrationality. i've watched soldiers cry and wet themselves. i've seem soldiers sit down on the wall and refuse to move. i've seen soldiers refuse to even go up the wall. but for those that can look into their souls, rationalize and control themselves and then fly - we learn that we ARE, infact, strong enough. that big, mean wall? no big deal. that sense of empowerment is a dreamcatcher in itself.
A friend and I were shopping for inspirational magnets (yes, we can be corny at times) and I got this for her that says "Do not doubt yourself, only doubt your limits"
Sounds really cheesy but we know it is that very fear and lack of confidence of what God can do through is that makes it sound cheesy. Some cool quotes below. Enjoy hopefully. I am praying for you, and you are a work in progress in the hands of the Master Artist.
We but half express ourselves, and are ashamed of that divine idea which each of us represents. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
To myself, I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, diverting myself now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than the ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me. - sir Isaac Newton
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