Perhaps Freud would’ve said the dream was merely a wish fulfillment…
But I think it’s another “wake up call”.
Let’s consider the dream:
I’m at a large indoor meeting.
I sit with a group of creative types at the front.
Perpendicular to our line of chairs is a line of administration staff.
“E” comes to me from the administrative side and says, “We appreciate the good work you’re doing.”
We embrace for a moment, then she returns to her chair.
I was shocked by that simple dream. Yes, the praise surprised me. But what really threw me for a loop was who delivered that praise.
E was a girlfriend from many years ago. She was not the most demonstrative person…
…to be honest: she was one of the least demonstrative people I’ve ever known.
So, for her to praise me, and then embrace me was a shocker.
To understand this dream, I had to better understand that relationship…
I asked myself, “Why was I willing to endure such a cold relationship, years ago?”
Well, I guess I put up with it because that’s what I expected—that’s what I expected from relationships, from the world.
According to this dream, my expectations may not have changed all that much…contrary to my belief…
That’s difficult to accept, but good to know. Now, I can work consciously to change those expectations…
…and apparently, I’ll have some help in this work. The dream also says the world will surprise me by going against my expectations.
Often, when we need to be woken up, we’ll receive a rough jolt…
But this dream tells me: we can also be awakened to the truth by an unexpected pleasure.
© 2013, Michael R. Patton
OPEN ALL NIGHT
Michael Patton
Dream Steps : a bloneironic 