Monday, February 05, 2007
Dreams...do they have meaning?!?
Lately I have been having many odd dreams, however I rarely remember them in the morning. I am sure that my mind is moving at light speed while my body is "out". Sleep has not come easily for the past month or so, much to do and the uncertainty of the coming year do weigh heavily on my mind. I am, however extremely optimistic about our coming adventure and I know that we will make a happy home and have a great time. But the dreams still wake me in the night I do not wake with a start, as if I had a nightmare, it is more like waking from a nap on the couch somewhat refreshed with a feeling of, "where am I" was I asleep. It is rare that I wake in the morning with a full recognition of the nights inner movie.
This morning was an exception. I woke up unusually refreshed and instantly thought of the odd dreams I had just had. As I haven't had this same level of recollection for some time I put some weight on it and looked up dream symbolism on the Internet. The funny thing about dream analysis is that I cannot find two sources that put the same meaning to my dream.
Let me tell you about one of my dreams. I was at a gas station in a smallish car pulling a smallish trailer. The car was fairly new and the trailer was full of stuff, not junk and not necessarily new items either. It wasn't anything that I really treasured but I had to take it from one place to another. I had someone with me in the car, not a family member and not a friend though I think it may have been a friend from high school. We pulled out of the gas station onto a moderately busy street that curved to the left, as I approached the curve I tapped the brakes only to find that they were not working properly, I assumed it was just the added weight of the trailer hindering the stopping power and proceeded through the curve with no trouble. Then we came upon some slow moving traffic and it became clear that the brakes were not working at all. My passenger began to panic but I remained calm and went through the cars like an expert race car driver. With screaming idiot beside me and more and more traffic on the road I focused on the task at hand and maneuvered the car and trailer through slower moving cars and trucks until I could see a red light ahead at a busy intersection. Cars were passing quickly from left to right as we approached the light and I moved to the right lane easing close to the curb. I was moving at about 80-90 clicks when I jammed the car into a lower gear to try to slow down and barely missed a speeding car as I crossed the two lanes and squealed around the corner heading up a small hill. I thought the hill would be enough to stop the car as I had shifted down a couple of gears, but we crested the hill at about 40-50 and quickly gained more speed on the down slope again weaving through traffic and gaining speed due to what now seemed like a busted transmission. I was going pretty fast as I approached the bottom of the hill and crossed a narrow bridge
that led to a steep up slope. This is where the car finally began to slow down enough that I could jam it into first gear which seemed to work and slow the car so that I could
hit the curb and finally came to a halt. The passenger was ecstatic and ran screaming from the car. I calmly got out and kicked the tire looked at the trailer walked around car and trailer to make sure it wouldn't roll back down the hill. It was secure and I woke up.
So there it is, a vivid dream, rich with symbols I am sure mean something greater than the fact that I am a great driver. I have proven this time and again, from the time I fell asleep at the wheel and dreamt of riding a bicycle only to wake up moments later still driving straight down the road, or the time a truck ahead of us dropped a 45 gallon drum that careened toward us and I drove mere inches from the guard-rail so the drum only contacted the rear bumper with little damage and no loss of life. I know I can drive so that can't be it. If I listen to the wise words of the President of ASD, the Association for the Study of Dreams, (who knew) Patricia Garfield, PhD. I would have to interpret this particular dream in one of two ways; first, the fact that the vehicle had lost its brakes and I went through a red light denotes some sort of lack of control my skills for coping with difficult life situations. On the other hand the skill of my driving under the circumstances has significant meaning and means, according to Doctor Patricia that I have easy "access to skills for coping with difficult life situations." So I will take the latter and say that all is well and believe that someone actually has a PhD in the study of dreams.
This morning was an exception. I woke up unusually refreshed and instantly thought of the odd dreams I had just had. As I haven't had this same level of recollection for some time I put some weight on it and looked up dream symbolism on the Internet. The funny thing about dream analysis is that I cannot find two sources that put the same meaning to my dream.
Let me tell you about one of my dreams. I was at a gas station in a smallish car pulling a smallish trailer. The car was fairly new and the trailer was full of stuff, not junk and not necessarily new items either. It wasn't anything that I really treasured but I had to take it from one place to another. I had someone with me in the car, not a family member and not a friend though I think it may have been a friend from high school. We pulled out of the gas station onto a moderately busy street that curved to the left, as I approached the curve I tapped the brakes only to find that they were not working properly, I assumed it was just the added weight of the trailer hindering the stopping power and proceeded through the curve with no trouble. Then we came upon some slow moving traffic and it became clear that the brakes were not working at all. My passenger began to panic but I remained calm and went through the cars like an expert race car driver. With screaming idiot beside me and more and more traffic on the road I focused on the task at hand and maneuvered the car and trailer through slower moving cars and trucks until I could see a red light ahead at a busy intersection. Cars were passing quickly from left to right as we approached the light and I moved to the right lane easing close to the curb. I was moving at about 80-90 clicks when I jammed the car into a lower gear to try to slow down and barely missed a speeding car as I crossed the two lanes and squealed around the corner heading up a small hill. I thought the hill would be enough to stop the car as I had shifted down a couple of gears, but we crested the hill at about 40-50 and quickly gained more speed on the down slope again weaving through traffic and gaining speed due to what now seemed like a busted transmission. I was going pretty fast as I approached the bottom of the hill and crossed a narrow bridge
that led to a steep up slope. This is where the car finally began to slow down enough that I could jam it into first gear which seemed to work and slow the car so that I could
hit the curb and finally came to a halt. The passenger was ecstatic and ran screaming from the car. I calmly got out and kicked the tire looked at the trailer walked around car and trailer to make sure it wouldn't roll back down the hill. It was secure and I woke up.
So there it is, a vivid dream, rich with symbols I am sure mean something greater than the fact that I am a great driver. I have proven this time and again, from the time I fell asleep at the wheel and dreamt of riding a bicycle only to wake up moments later still driving straight down the road, or the time a truck ahead of us dropped a 45 gallon drum that careened toward us and I drove mere inches from the guard-rail so the drum only contacted the rear bumper with little damage and no loss of life. I know I can drive so that can't be it. If I listen to the wise words of the President of ASD, the Association for the Study of Dreams, (who knew) Patricia Garfield, PhD. I would have to interpret this particular dream in one of two ways; first, the fact that the vehicle had lost its brakes and I went through a red light denotes some sort of lack of control my skills for coping with difficult life situations. On the other hand the skill of my driving under the circumstances has significant meaning and means, according to Doctor Patricia that I have easy "access to skills for coping with difficult life situations." So I will take the latter and say that all is well and believe that someone actually has a PhD in the study of dreams.
