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About Peggy Coats
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Dreaming Life
Dreams have been an integral part of my life as long as I can remember. When I was a child, I would tell myself stories about what I wanted to dream before I went to sleep. Growing up, I would write plays and draw pictures based on my dreams. As a teenager in 1977, I began recording my dreams, a practice I've been following ever since. My dreams form a richly textured symbolic description of my life, often presenting a perspective which is more meaningful to me than my memories, or journal descriptions of passing events, thoughts and relationships.
In 1996, after years of working on my own dreams both alone and in groups, I wanted to find a way to deepen my dreamwork. I incubated a dream, asking what I needed to do to make my dream-life more a part of my waking-life. The answer was The Dream Tree (www.dreamtree.com), which I conceived of as a kind of community dream library, and which has evolved into a virtual resource center with a global reach. The Dream Tree, like a dream, truly has a life of its own and I consider myself its keeper, more than its director.
I find that my dreams are a faithful friend as I move along my path in life. They guide me, inspire me, make me laugh, make me cry, nurture my creativity, show me the way, and keep me honest. I'm grateful that I can live fully both awake and asleep!
Waking Life
I've been an appreciative member of ASD for many years, and have also been more actively involved in the following ways:
a. Online Coordinator for the Research Requests web project
b. Member of the Electronic Communications Committee
c. Hostess for the Computer Cafe at the 1999 International Conference in Santa Cruz, California
d. ASD Treasurer 1999-2000
In addition to my work with ASD, I'm also the News Director for Electric Dreams (www.dreamgate.com/electric-dreams), and the webmistress for the Bay Area Dreamworkers Group, or BADG (www.dreamtree.com/badg).
My all-time favorite dream book is The Kin of Ata are Waiting For You by Dorothy Bryant. A wonderful work of fiction, about a man leading an empty life who is rescued after an automobile accident by people who live in a community guided entirely by their dreams. His time with them not only gives him back his life, but transforms it in the process.
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