That which has no name

When you hear "he who cannot be named," the mind may wander to J.K. Rowling's fictional character Lord Voldemort in her Harry Potter stories.  Similarly, "that which has no name" often evokes feelings of confusion fear or dread in the mind. Why is that?

Take your dreams for instance.  You are conditioned to be able to name and thus, think you understand and have some level of control over your destiny. When you are unable to name or identify a thing, the mind cannot grasp it and assumes something is wrong.  What happens as you listen to the heart? What does it resonate that is beyond mind?

Consider "that which has no name" is not reason to fear, but reason to awaken to who you are. Perhaps it feels like a layer of a dream.  Indescribable sensations arise. Roll with this. Allow it to flow freely.  Notice what happens when there is nothing left to say. You Transform Your Life by admiring and identifying with others only to see yourself.

"Music...can name the unnameable and communicate the unknowable."
-Leonard Bernstein

Invite fictional characters to dinner?

Imagine the dinner conversations that would develop from a lively mixture of your favorite fictional characters. Consider what your guest list would tell you about yourself, your priorities, values, fears and expectations for your life in reality. Perhaps you dream you had the abilities and traits of these characters? What's to say your focus on these protagonists doesn't help you pinpoint meaningful purpose, ambition or traits you can develop in yourself? My top 15 choices are listed below:

1) Ellis Peter's medieval detective monk Brother Cadfael
2) Patricia Cornwell's pathologist-detective Dr. Kay Scarpetta
3) Paulo Coelho's Santiago (the Alchemist),
4) Charles Dicken's "reformed" Scrooge (*A Christmas Carol)
5) Ian Flemming's James Bond (007)
6) Agatha Christie's Miss Jane Marple or Hercule Poirot
7) Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes
8) Jules Verne’s Phineas Fogg (*Around the World in 80 Days)
9) Pamela L. Travers’ Mary Poppins
10) J.K. Rowling's Dumbledore (okay, and Harry Potter Hermoine Granger too!)
11) J.R.R. Tolkien's Gandalf (*Lord of the Rings)
12) Yoda (*Star Wars)
13) L.M. Montgomery's Anne Shirley (*Anne of Green Gables)
14) Mary Magdelan (*The Bible)
15) William Shakespeare's Hamlet