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ABSTRACT

Long-term Journal Keeping:
Taking Stock and Looking Ahead

A panel and open discussion with
Peggy Coats, Cynthia Pearson, Richard Russo,
Dennis Schmidt and Gloria Sturzenacker.

At ASD-13, Dennis Schmidt chaired the first panel on long-term journaling, framing and exploring the personal dream journal as the fundamental instrument of dream study. The concepts and issues that emerge from this appreciation are still as Dennis described them in 1996:

"…In the tradition of the naturalists whose patient observations prepared the ways to elegant understandings of physics, chemistry, and biology, home journal keepers record and discover events and regularities that astonish and enlighten…Scholar and journal?keeper alike need to recognize that the personal journal is a uniquely sensitive instrument that may enlighten not only the individual dreamer but the whole field of dream study."
At the 1997 conference, long-term journalers met informally to compare approaches to long term record keeping. In 1998, we held a panel session to continue our cross-fertilization, discussing how our individual interests are reflected in our record keeping. In 1999, panelists focused on the compelling reasons each of us has for doggedly maintaining our dreams records over the years.

In 2000, in keeping with the conference theme of "Millennial Dreaming," panelists will reflect on what we have learned from the practice of keeping long term dream journals, and what we look forward to exploring in the future.

Peggy Coats will focus on how the development of a computerized journal keeping system has aided in discovering correlations between the evolution of personal dream symbols and underlying patterns of personal history; and how attention to these patterns and symbols has created a bridge between technology and being, serving as an impetus for dream explorations in cyberspace.

Cynthia Pearson will reflect on the study of her own journals and of journal keeping in general, and speculate on the advances and frontiers that journal keepers may address in the future, such as: applying the findings of brain research to our dream records; discussing the limitations of language in accounts of fantastical dream experiences; and evaluating our experiences with synchronicity and "hidden stories."

Richard Russo will discuss how keeping a longterm dream journal has enriched both his creative life and his personal dreamwork. In an approach analogous to that of the art historian, individual dreams are understood and appreciated in the broader context of the dreaming psyche's entire body of work, and provide a rich source of creative inspiration.

Dennis Schmidt will provide an assessment of where he stands in his dream studies thirty years along -- what is clear, what is not clear, and what prospects he sees for extending clarity at the edges of what is clear and into what is not clear.

Gloria Sturzenacker will discuss how some long-term journal keepers have witnessed an intricate "magic" connecting dreams and waking life. This web of synchronistic meaning is extended through time and among people in a way that defies a mechanistic understanding of cause and effect. Believing this phenomenon to be the growth tip of human evolution, she will speculate that long-term journal keepers are developing future technologies that can help save the planet.

Whatever facet we focus on during our panel presentations, our ultimate objective remains constant-- to stress the importance of journal keeping, and to highlight the unique and invaluable instrument that is the dream journal.

Peggy Coats, M.P.A., is Director of the Dream Tree, an online and offline resource center for dreamers since 1995, and the News Director of Electric Dreams, an online e-zine dedicated to developing a global dream community.  A journal keeper since 1972, Peggy also serves on the Board of the ASD.

Cynthia Pearson (chair),* co-author of The Practical Psychic and Parting Company: Understanding the Loss of a Loved One, presides over “Dream Journalist: A Website for People Who Write Down Their Dreams.” At past ASD conferences, she has chaired Long Term Journal Keeping panels and given papers on extended synchronicities and precognition.

Richard A. Russo, M.A., a writer, editor, and dreamworker who lives in Berkeley, CA, has published short fiction as well as two literary anthologies and a book of dream-related texts, Dreams Are Wiser Than Men (North Atlantic, 1987). He is Chair of the ASD Arts Committee and Senior Editor of Dream Time.

Dennis Schmidt (Falmouth, MA) has worked with his dream journals for 30 years.  A member of the ASD Board of Directors, he has taught classes on dreaming at Tufts University, and presented talks and artistic productions at previous ASD conferences.  At ASD‑12, he presented a journal study spanning two decades.

Gloria Sturzenacker (New York City) is a journalist and designer with special interests in information management, critical thinking, and spiritual development. She’s developed a symbol system called Inner Guide Mapping to track the multilayered magic of how dreams and intuition play out in external experience.