As a child, I was guided by a quiet voice that taught me how to paint pictures in my mind that would make me feel good and help me cope with the paralyzing fear I was experiencing at night. Working with my guide and the images seeded something deep within me of the power of images to heal.

One of the foundations of working with your dreams begins with a simple but radical act: learning to turn toward the dark figures in your dreams instead of away from them. This is what is known as ‘Shadow Work,’ a concept popularized by Carl Jung, which refers to the process of exploring the unconscious, rejected, repressed, or denied parts of ourselves. 

If you're serious about learning how to work with your dreams, keeping a dream journal is foundational. One of the first steps to working with your dreams is establishing good dream recall, and there's no better way to improve your recall than by recording your dreams regularly. Dreams are elusive; most of our dreams are forgotten. Even our remembered dreams, if not written down, will fade from memory over time.