My Truth

For our 2nd unit of our Who Am I class we were asked to create a dreamcatcher and to analyze our bliss and our truth. Throughout the whole unit we learned about doubt and dreams and the meanings behind them. We also partnered up and interpreted each other's dreams. I really enjoyed having my dreams interpreted even if my partners argued more than actually got work done. I was really excited to be able to create a dream catcher as I love doing hands on projects and making art. I also am very creative and I love to express myself in different forms of art. I had made a dreamcatcher before in pre-school that actually hung in my room pretty much all of my childhood. I never really have nightmares. I wonder if that's why? I thought the most challenging part was just making the dreamcatcher, and I thought the most rewarding part was seeing how pretty it looked when I was finished.

CM, Dreamcatcher, (2017)

Here is my explanation:

What is a dreamcatcher? What does it symbolize? I asked myself this question when I made a dreamcatcher for my class Who Am I. A dreamcatcher is a piece derived from Native Americans, specifically the Ojibwe Chippewa and Lakota tribes. The Natives believed that you could filter out bad dreams using a piece called a dreamcatcher. In the dreamcatcher the hoop symbolizes the circle of life. The dreamcatcher catches bad dreams and keeps them there until the sun comes up when they are burned by the sunlight. The good dreams float gently down the tassels and through the feathers to the sleeper to bring them good dreams.

In the story of The Great Spider which comes from Native American Tales, the center of the dreamcatcher is the “Great Mystery” and the web around it is the universe. This is why I chose to put 3 holo covered beads in the center of my dreamcatcher. I wanted to symbolize my one true love: Holographic Glitter. Holo glitter is glitter that reflects rainbows. I usually use this on my nails, but I like it in pretty much any form. Holo to me symbolizes happiness and fascination. When I am looking at holo, I feel calm yet excited and I feel entranced. To me, this is my bliss. Holo is the great mystery,the creator, or simply my bliss in life.

 I want my dreamcatcher to filter out stress dreams. I never really have nightmares, but since I am a performer I get stress dreams a lot and I really get upset when they happen. The dream that I analyzed in our External Investigation was a particularly stressful dream in which I was late to the show and I had forgotten to put on my costumes and my skates as well as remembering I hadn’t shown up for any practices so I didn’t know any of my numbers. I want my dream catcher to bring me better sleep and rejuvenation. This is because I am always a tired person and it seems like I can never get enough sleep and I always feel tired.

Part of my dreamcatcher design is rainbows. Holo is rainbows and I wanted to symbolize color, as I love color. I covered my hoop in grey suede and then painted it with craft glue and covered it in holo. In order to achieve the rainbow, I decided to make my web rainbow as well. To achieve this look I started weaving with pink, and then when I got all they way around, I cut the pink and tied orange to it and kept going. The obstacle I encountered was that in some tribes, they believe their should be no knots in the weave because it can trap evil spirits and can give you nightmares. However in some tribes they purposely put knots in their weave because they believe that it will keep evil spirits from being entangled. This is what I believe my dream catcher does for me. I also chose grey suede as I like the darker cloudy colors. Grey is associated with emotionless, and dingy feelings. In my opinion the holo represents my id which is the part of my mind that has the most instinctive impulses, and if it were up to me I would cover everything in holo. I believe the grey represents my ego meditating between my conscious and subconscious telling me that I can settle for a less intense version of what I want which is holo, but I also like grey for more subtle things.

Works Cited:

Shabi, K. "Dreamcatcher Meaning: History, Legend & Origins of Dream Catchers."LEGOMENON: What Is the Meaning: Online Literary Journal & Magazine. N.p., 14 July 2016. Web. 26 Feb. 2017.

CM, Knots, (2017)

CM, Center of Dreamcatcher, (2017)

CM, Beads, (2017)