In the final unit in the Who Am I course, Dream, we were asked to make a dream catcher. Before making our dream catchers, we shared a dream with someone that we trusted and got their feedback on what it meant to them. This process was very interesting and informative. I enjoyed seeing my dream from a different person’s perspective.
A dream catcher captures and eliminates negative dreams, while sending positive dreams to the user. Every dream catcher is made of different materials, and has different elements that symbolize different things. I made my dream catcher using a metal ring, black leather, yarn, beads, peacock feathers and a charm. Each one of these elements represents something different and special. Here, you can read my explanation of what a dream catcher is, as well as an explanation of what my personal dream catcher symbolizes.
A dream catcher is a hoop woven with yarn, and decorated with beads or feathers. It is believed to give its user good dreams, while keeping away the bad ones. I read a story about the Great Spider, that discusses dream catchers, and how everything in the universe is woven together. This story also discusses how working with good forces guides you in the right direction, and creates harmony with nature. If you associate with bad forces, you will be drawn to pain and misfortune. A dream catcher keeps bad dreams away, allowing only good dreams into your mind.
As I made my dream catcher, I was thinking about what I wanted the components to symbolize. In the center of my dream catcher, I put a butterfly. This symbolizes my moving forward with my life, transforming and growing. A butterfly starts as a caterpillar, then transforms into a beautiful butterfly. The butterfly moves on from its past life as a caterpillar. This symbolizes me, as I am moving forward with my life, and changing who I am for the better.
The butterfly also symbolizes both good and bad. It symbolizes me growing and moving forward with my life, as well as the bad parts of my life being left behind in the cocoon. In my dream catcher, I represented positive elements with the color blue, because everyone in my family likes blue, and has blue eyes. I also used feathers to symbolize the positive potential of the future. Since feathers are associated with birds, I feel that feathers symbolize my hopes and dreams taking off and soaring through the sky, like a bird does.
I would like my dream catcher to catch all of my fears about the future. These fears include being alone, unsuccessful, unemployed and unhappy. I would also like the dream catcher to trap my negative thoughts about myself. The black leather around the ring, along with the cocoon the butterfly left behind, symbolize all my fears. I have tried to repress these fears my whole life, not always successfully. Sometimes they recede into my unconscious, but sometimes they are very prominent in my life.
If I think about the meaning of my dreams, I will understand more about myself. I am so glad that I had this dream. It gave me so much insight into who I am, and who I want to be. I am very proud that I already know what I want to do with my life, and what career I want to pursue. This helps keep me focused, positive and motivated. Many kids my age don’t know what they want to do with their lives, so they go to college not knowing what to major in and they spend semesters trying to figure out what their passion is. I am thankful I have already discovered my passion, thanks to my dream. I am, and will continue to work hard to turn my dream into a reality.