Dreams

A question by the bed

To invite a dream to keep company with something you want to understand.

You need

A notebook · A pencil

When

Before you go to bed and when you wake up.

Time

Five minutes at night and ten in the morning

1. Before you go to bed, write an open, gentle question: “What image would I like to explore?” or “What do I want to understand about my creative process?”
2. Below it, add: “I don't need an answer tonight.”
3. Leave the notebook within reach and sleep as you always do. Don't set alarms for the middle of the night or cut your sleep short.
4. When you wake up, if you remember something, write down the scenes, the words and the sensations first.
5. If you remember nothing, write “no memory.” Don't fill in the gaps to get a complete story.
6. In a separate paragraph, write what each image reminds you of.
7. To close, choose one image you would like to draw or use in something you are making.
8. Don't take the dream as proof of a fact, a diagnosis or another person's intentions. If something unsettles you, stop interpreting and look at what is in front of you.

Lying still when you wake

To remember more of what you dreamed.

You need

A notebook and a pencil by the bed

When

At night, when you go to bed, and in the first minute of the day.

Time

Three minutes

1. When you go to bed, say the words three times, slowly.
2. When you wake up, don't move or open your eyes yet.
3. Stay in the position you woke up in and look for the last image of the dream.
4. From that image, go backward: what happened before, and before that.
5. If the memory slips away, roll gently into another position you usually sleep in and wait a moment.
6. Open your eyes and jot down a few key words before you get up or look at your phone.
7. Fill in the rest later, when you have time.

“Tonight I dream, and tomorrow I remember what I dreamed.”

A lavender dream pillow

To go to bed with a scent that readies you for rest and peaceful dreams.

You need

A square of cotton fabric the size of your hand, or a small fabric pouch · Two tablespoons of dried lavender flowers · If you like: a tablespoon of dried chamomile or dried rose petals · A needle and thread, or a ribbon

Time

Fifteen minutes

1. Mix the dried flowers on a plate.
2. Put them in the center of the fabric or inside the pouch.
3. Sew the edges or tie it closed with the ribbon, with a tight knot so nothing spills out.
4. Hold the little pillow between your hands and say the words.
5. Slip it inside your pillowcase, on the side that doesn't touch your face.
6. When it loses its scent, open it, add the flowers to the compost or a potted plant and fill it again.

“Lavender, keep me company as I rest. May I sleep in peace and remember what is worth remembering.”

Keeping a waking memory

To give something you lived through a place without forcing it into a single explanation.

You need

A photograph, an object or a scene you remember · Your notebook · A pencil

Time

Twenty minutes

1. Choose the photograph, the object or the scene.
2. Write three headings: “what I remember,” “what other people told me” and “what I don't know.”
3. Add why you want to keep it.
4. If you like, ask someone for their version, without telling them what they ought to remember.
5. Note the differences with respect: a shared memory is not always an identical story.