A Stuck Car Key: Concluding Post

I’ve been examining a waking dream about a car key that wouldn’t work. You can scroll down to my post of April 13 to read the original dream. The dreamer and I went through the steps of converting the symbols into their metaphoric meanings. I then restated the dream substituting our new-found metaphors for the original symbols. Here’s the restated dream:

Metaphorically restated dream

There’s a part of me that is supposed to have a pleasant diversion—something I look forward to—with a part of myself that is lighthearted and fun to be around. The two of us always have a great time together. I need to use the part of me that gets me around to go places, but I can’t turn it on so that it will work. There’s something invisible that’s sticky and is designed to hold things together that is preventing this. I go to the part of me that is good with its hands and mechanical things. It solves the problem. The delay is a non-issue, but I feel concern and fear that this will prevent me from returning to the place inside myself where I live and work.

The dream’s main themes.

There are two principal themes that run throughout this dream. One is the expression of a desire for something lighthearted. The other is a reference to a “sticky” substance that is trying to hold things together, but which is also so dominant that it is preventing the lighthearted side of the dreamer from expressing itself. Further, there is the fear that the sticky substance will be so effective that it will prevent the dreamer from “returning to the place inside myself where I live and work.”

Waking dreams are as insightful as sleeping dreams

This dream is a typical expression of a conflict inside of the dreamer. Through metaphor it is pointing out that she is draining energy that could be put to more constructive use. We all do this, and we are all given these kinds of helpful “heads-ups” by our dreams.

The difference is that this incident with the sticking car key did not occur while the dreamer was asleep. It happened during her day while she was wide awake. But the dreamer couldn’t get it out of her mind; that’s how she knew it was an important waking dream.

The dreamer discusses her dream

When I asked the dreamer what she thought her dream referred to, she told the following story: When the incident with the key occurred, she had been trying to organize a class. There was lots of interest so she was anxious to help make the class happen. But she soon found that there were numerous scheduling conflicts, and she was spending an inordinate amount of time emailing and on the phone, all to no avail. A usually buoyant person, she soon felt weighed down and frustrated. The issue was sapping her energy and affecting her mood. Her dream was a warning to return to balance!

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