ABSTRACT
Definitions of shattered dreams will vary from person to person and from time to time for the same person. Shattered dreams can be symbolic, tangible, timed, or about one’s identity. Key to understanding and responding is the perception (meaning, hopes, plans, life course) that the shattered dreams hold for individuals, families, or communities. Even the term—shattered dreams—is but one of many choices. Alternatives include: loss of the assumptive world; altered and lost expectations; reordering of a person’s world; adjusting one’s personal theory of reality; working models that require change; and re-learning one’s world. In this chapter, specific examples, perspectives, and responses for shattered dreams will be discussed. Accounts found in literary resources will be utilized (bibliotherapeutic approaches) to highlight and personalize the impact of shattered dreams. Stories not only evoke stories; they also can test and inform perspectives, paradigms, and practices.
