The Dream Of The
Boneless Chicken
Ever wonder how William Styron came up with Sophie's Choice or why
Art Spiegelman couldn't sleep while writing Maus?
Author Naomi Epel considers the mystery and power of dreams.
ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM ASSISTANT EDITOR
T
he garden was
arranged in distinct,
overlapping plots.
"You have to preserve
it," the woman was
told repeatedly. "You
have to preserve the
garden." The woman
picked up a jar of
formaldehyde and
began pouring it over
the brightly colored
flowers. Quickly,
their vibrant reds
and blues and greens
began to turn stale
brown. Everything in
the garden had died.
It didn't take long
for the dream to
make complete sense
to Naomi Epel. The
key was asking the
right questions.
"You
mention
`plot,' " said Ms.
Epel, a former Naomi Epel: Exploring dreams.
Detroiter who leads
workshops on dream
published. The remarks had
analysis across the country.
literally poisoned her
"Are you a writer?"
dreams.
Her client was surprised.
The author of the new
"Yes, I am."
book Writers Dreaming,
"And who was with you in
which features William
the dream?"
Styron, Elmore Leonard,
The woman mentioned an
Maurice Sendak and Maya
acquaintance, a history pro-
Angelou among others, Ms.
fessor. The acquaintance,
Epel always has been fasci-
Ms. Epel's client admitted,
nated by dreams.
had hardly been encourag-
She was born in Detroit,
ing when it came to her
where her family are long-
writing career. "It's impossi-
time members of
ble to get an agent," he told
Congregation Shaarey
her.
Zedek. After attending the
That's when the dream
University of Michigan for a
began to make sense. As a
short time, she went on to
result of her friend's dis-
the University of California-
paraging comments, the
San Diego.
woman had all but given up
Her first aspirations were
hope of ever having a book
to become a filmmaker, but
working on a movie
about sea urchin
fertilization piqued
her interest in sci-
ence. She served as
a research assistant
for a UCSD geneti-
cist, then found
work in genetics
comparison at the
San Diego Zoo.
In 1979, Ms. Epel
took up acting. She
joined a women's
theater ensemble
and "was becoming
this hot actress in
San Diego," she
says. "But I couldn't
act."
So she moved to
Berkeley, where she
planned to study
with a top acting
teacher. Instead,
her focus turned to
dreams.
She was looking at
notices on a bulletin
board at the University of
California-Berkeley. One
announced a dream work-
shop weekend. Though most
dream analysis courses and
books she knew of reflected
Freudian perspectives —
Ms. Epel couldn't believe
there wasn't more — she
decided to give the work-
shop a try. The experience,
she says, was a revelation.
"Here we were, a group of
strangers telling each other
dreams that didn't seem to
make any sense," she says.
"But within half an hour we
had all bonded."
Soon after, Ms. Epel
found work as a counselor
for the St. George Home, a
residential treatment center
for schizophrenics, "the kids
no one wanted to take
because they were so
severely disturbed." One
girl had constant hallucina-
tions; one boy always
walked backwards.
Dream sharing was a reg-
ular feature at the St.
George Home and became
an integral part of therapy.
If a client had dreams that a
certain counselor was trying
to kill him, the staff made it
a point for the two to spend
fun time together.
While working at St.
George, Ms. Epel became
close with fellow counselor
Jeremy Taylor, author of
Dreamwork. She liked his
approach to dream analysis
— "all dreams come in the
service of health and whole-
ness" — and incorporated it
into dream workshops she
began leading.
The key, she says, is ask-
ing questions, preferably
from a myriad of sources.
She recalls leading one
workshop at which a dream-
er recalled his vision of
being off the coast of a wild
island. It was beautiful,
though marred slightly by a
massive wall of cement.
Then wonderful music
began.
CS)
One workshop participant
offered this analysis: The
dreamer had a beautiful
soul (the island) but lately
had felt dark and gloomy, c'
almost dead (the cement
wall).
Another said the dream <
reflected what was happen-
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