May 27, 2023-- One day, Meredith Sabini found a large dumpster in front of her neighbor's house, packed with all her treasures and belongings. The widow had passed on and her family members quickly loaded her possessions and left the dumpster behind. Ms. Sabini, founder of The Dream Institute of Northern California in Berkeley whose mission is to restore the dream as a cultural resource, muses: "It is common these days to lament how materialistic we have become, but I do not believe this is accurate. It seems to me that we have not yet begun to value matter. Much that is made today is not intended to last... We may ask where objects come from, but they no longer have stories to tell. They too have lost their roots. How, then, are we to leave tangible mementoes of ourselves when we go? What will be left to caress?" (23356 reads)