Can’t See the Message for the Socks

Even when I have a clear memory of a dream…

…I’m probably not going to be clear about everything in it.

But I’ve found that I need not remember every detail in order to get the message.

In a recent dream…

I’ve just woken up. It’s early in the morning, just before dawn.

I start rushing about—there’s much to be done. I’m thinking I should’ve risen sooner.

I start to put on some red sneakers. My socks are wadded up inside the shoes.

I’m in such a hurry that I decide to forget about the socks for now. I’ll slip into the shoes and put the socks on later.

Though I thought this dream might have an important message for me…

…I got hung up on the color of the socks.

I had a clear image of the wadded-up socks inside the shoes. But for some reason, I couldn’t recall their color.

Were they white? Were they gray? Were they some other hue?

Fortunately, I soon saw how I was distracting myself.

I’m not saying details aren’t important, but there’s so much else happening here…

The dream tells me that I’ve begun something new. In the dream, I’ve just moved into that house, into that city. It’s a new day in a new place.

Though I’ve gotten a early start, I’m criticizing myself for not rising sooner. Again, I’m not giving myself a fair break in a dream scenario (as also happens in waking life).

True, I do need to get a move on. But maybe I shouldn’t be rushing about—I could actually cause problems for myself.

Perhaps that’s the reason the color of the socks didn’t register with me—I was in such a hurry.

Again, the dream mirrors a waking life condition—I can miss things when I try to go too fast.

Furthermore, I do have time to put on the socks. I mean, how long does it take? If I wait, I’ll just have to take my shoes off later and drag the socks out of my pocket—if I don’t lose them in my blind rush.

Though I can’t recall the color of the socks, I still see those red shoes. So that’s the detail to consider. In any case, the most important thing in the dream is what I’m thinking and doing.

Dream Steps : a bloneironic