Dream Work: How Are You Coping?



"Dream Work" is a new series because I want to address dreams, but I don't want to do it in one breathy long post. It's too important and there's too much to say.

People ask me about dreams a lot. Things show up in dreams that are disturbing, out of place, and just plain weird. No matter what the plots and who the characters are, none of it really is relevant except for an exercise in skills. Look at it this way, you're riding to jury duty and your mind is thinking ahead about what might happen if you get picked and how you'll have to sit in the boring courtroom and maybe do it or days on end and you wonder if the people you're sitting there with are interesting or total morons you have to fight with. You just daydreamed a scenario to prepare yourself for what's ahead. We do the same thing in sleep. Our dream state tells us just how well we're coping or not coping in our awake world.

Suppose you have the dream about someone stalking you in a forest. There's a lot of ways this scenario could turn out, but what's critical is how you're handling what happens in the woodlands. If you run, scream and hide, you're showing similar coping skills in your wake state. If you face the beast and fight it, you're feeling competent and ready for a confrontation.

Ever have that dreaded naked in a public place dream? If people see you naked and point and laugh, then you are feeling that everyone sees what a fool you are. But, if you're naked and ashamed, but no one seems to notice, then you are feeling foolish but also believe others don't see what a fool you are. Only you seem to know how vulnerable you are.

I've had the teeth falling out dream. It happens every time I lose someone I love. Adult teeth are irreplaceable. There's a feeling of permanence and inability to do a damn thing.

I often have end of the world dreams and they are always the same: I'm the designated leader, having to tell people who are crying and helpless what to do and make them do their jobs. I'm calm as can be, but annoyed as hell. This pretty much says how I feel about where I am in my life now, a bit overly responsible and practical about what needs to get done.

So, next time you have a dream, just stop and look at it; now the situation, but how you handled the situation. It reveals exactly how you feel inside about your abilities right now with what you're facing in the waking state.

Comments

  1. Very interesting...looking forward to more!

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  2. a dream within a dream within another dream...
    INCEPTION!!

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  3. I'll be covering repetition dreams next time.

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  4. I like my dreams a little more pleasure oriented.

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  5. Yeah. I've been having those pleasure-oriented ones lately. They end up making me late for work, if you know what I mean.

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  6. I very seldom remember my dreams. I've been trying to consciously remember the ones I do, so I can "analyze" them later. I should keep a journal, but I've never been good at that. I had one last night that I now wish I could remember more of it. Of course I woke up with anxiety again due to upcoming personal things...but I did what my big sis said and went out this afternoon and bought some Passionflower capsules. They are helping somewhat. I'm sure it will take a few days. LOL I'm such a mental wreck right now.

    I'll be interested in the dreams I have tonight and this week if I can remember them. Big things are going to happen with the Beau this week....I'm getting sick just thinking about it! Maybe my dreams will hopefully put me at ease!

    The only thing I remember from last night that I had on a strange bikini swimsuit that was way too big and kept falling off or stretching and stretching to where it wouldn't stay on well. Then it moved into other weird stuff. My brain!

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  7. Lil Sis;
    You are in transition, dear. It should cause upset. Just remember what junior high was like. Sometimes, remembering dreams means waking up during the dream, so you'd actually need to set your alarm clock to wake you up at a different time and see if you wake during the dream. I had an amazing dream the other night and I know it will stay with me for the rest of my life. I'm going to talk about that in one of the installments coming up soon.

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  8. I've been having nightmares lately, but I can't pin point any of them.
    Some of them are from my point of view, others are from somebody completely not mine (I had one dream about a week ago from a guys POV... I think that one had something to do with a murderer stalking the guy.)
    The one that I had that still sticks in my mind was I was out with my one friend, and we were standing on a deck overtop of a lake... And suddenly a water moccasin popped out from the floor and bit my foot like 3 times. I wasn't sure if it actually bit me or not and then I walked a little and realized my foot was bleeding. I was waiting with the owner of the property (I think it was a club or a bar) for paramedics and suddenly I started convulsing. And I woke up convulsing.
    It was strange. Other dreams have gone from zombies to somebody bullying me.
    Dreams are strange.

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