I was really pleased to read your insights on the beach dream, as I was able then to put together several more pieces of the puzzle. It suddenly made so much sense. What you say seems consistent with my recent tarot readings and a few dreams I had lately pointing out to a preparation time, and a gradual learning, in relationship to a spiritual union, as if I was learning, little by little, how to build more inner strenght and confidence (a stronger identity, in your words) and how to free myself from what binds me as well as ties from the past, precisely so that I may eventually, and gradually, experience the Source closer (union, in your words).

As for your –very long! – post scriptum, I agree completely that its is very important to find persons whom we trust to whom we feel we can reveal our true self, and that such relationships are to be treasured. I do feel very blessed to have a wonderful `support team`, on this side of the veil, as well as on the other... I also agree that there would be no use to open up entirely, all of a sudden, to someone who is not likely to be receptive to such a download of information. I found however that people are often more receptive than we think they are, and that when I test the waters, when I open the door slightly, I often come to find common grounds I would have never guessed were there otherwise. So, revealing our true self gradually, one layer at a time, is also a key, as I see it now.

I find the dynamic slightly different when it comes to group settings. This is actually what I struggle most with. We can choose the type of environment we want to work in for instance, but we don’t exactly choose our co-workers. We can choose to study in a field where like-minded people are likely to be found, but we don’t choose every single person we study with. Yet we will have to expose ourselves to all of them, as a group, to some extent, and so expose ourselves to acceptance as well as non-acceptance. This is actually, for me, a more difficult area than intimate relationships. I may feel within a strong impulse to share something but then keep myself from doing so because I am concerned about being misunderstood or judged…by a few hypothetical persons. It can be really binding. It may seem strange but I feel I am actually learning to expose myself to both acceptance and non-acceptance, and that non-acceptance is actually not a threath to who I am… And when I forget so, loved ones are there to remind me so