Chanella Clarke · Founder of DRUMI®
My story
What had felt like a chase turned out to be an invitation to come home to myself.
The ground felt cold and wet beneath my bare feet. I ran through the dark forest. Behind me, footsteps drew closer, faster and faster.
A light shone in the distance. A house. I would be safe there.
My fingers touched the door handle, and then…
My heart pounded in my throat. Startled, I looked around the room.
It was only a dream.
But why did it keep coming back? At least once a year: the same forest, the same chase, the same fear. Every time, I woke before discovering who or what was following me. As though there was something within me I wasn’t ready to face.
Eventually, I decided to stop simply experiencing the dream and follow it further. I wanted to know what I was running from. So I did something different: before closing my eyes, I asked my dream one question.
And there I was again, standing among the trees.
The fear was still there, but this time, something else was there too. A small opening. Curiosity. I stood still and listened. The footsteps came no closer. The forest grew quieter. Slowly, the trees faded, and I found myself back inside the house.
In front of me stood a mirror.
I looked at my own face. At first, all I recognised was fear. Then I saw something I had avoided seeing for years: no one was chasing me. I wasn’t running from someone else. I was running from myself.
That realisation felt less like relief and more like a quiet shock. As though something within me had finally been seen. As though I no longer had to keep running.
The mirror became a familiar staircase leading down. I didn’t know what awaited me, but for the first time, I felt no need to run. I chose to stay. With curiosity, playfulness, and courage, I walked down the stairs.
What I encountered there, I began to recognise in my waking life.
I had left my home country at a young age to live in the Netherlands. I was trying to find my place, but often didn’t know who I was supposed to be. As I kept going, I diminished my feelings and needs. I carried a constant sense that I wasn’t enough. Gradually, I drifted further away from myself.
In my dream, I kept running. During the day, I began to see how much I was avoiding within myself: my insecurity, my sadness, my desires, and even my own strength.
Once I recognised that pattern, I gently began to break it. I put words to my feelings and made room for my needs. By writing down and exploring my dreams, I came to understand myself more deeply. My own voice began to shape my choices. I found ways through challenges, answers to difficult questions, and a renewed sense of playfulness and curiosity.
Slowly, the way I saw myself changed. I no longer had to become the person I thought others expected me to be. I could listen to what had been waiting within me all along.
I found direction.
That recurring dream has never visited me again. Not because I pushed it away, but because I listened. The pattern had been recognised. The message had reached me. And what had felt like a chase turned out to be an invitation to come home to myself.
My curiosity stayed. And from that curiosity, DRUMI was born: a space to explore your dreams, recognise patterns, and discover what gives you direction.
I know what it feels like to lose yourself. And I know what it can mean to find yourself again, one step at a time.
I came home to myself.
With DRUMI, I’m opening the door for you.