A Waking Dream About An Ink Smear: Post #3

This week I’m looking at a waking dream of my wife’s. It involved finding ink spots on unexpected surfaces throughout her day. She found ink on paper towel, a pad of paper and on the end of a scarf. Last Wednesday we looked at the symbols of her waking dream, and she converted them into metaphoric associations. Below is that part of Wednesday’s post; you can see how that information is then used to reconstruct the dream:

Converted symbols

Tell me about…

Mopping up a spill:  It’s when you make an unintended mess and you have to clean it up.

Paper towel:  It’s a handy absorbent. It soaks up unwanted liquids.

Liquid:  A fluid substance that is difficult to manage if it’s not in a container.

Ink:  Well, we have an expression: “Get it in ink.” That means, make it permanent so no one can change their mind.

Milk:  For infants, it’s their sole source of food. For adults, it can be a nutritious food assuming there are no allergies.

Writing myself a note:  It’s a way to remember things that I might forget.

A pad:  It’s a device for use when you want to be especially aware of something.

Scarf:  It keeps your neck and throat warm and protected.

Neck and throat: It’s where your voice comes from.

Voice:  What you use to make yourself heard and known.

The reconstructed dream

There is a part of me that is having to clean up after making an unintended mess. I use the part of me that is a handy absorbent. It’s the part of me that soaks up unwanted fluid substances that are difficult to manage if they’re not in a container. But then I notice that the part of me that is the handy absorbent is permanent so no part of me can change its mind. I have been cleaning up what was my sole source of food during my infancy. But now that I’m an adult, this food could either be nutritious or something I am allergic to. I find myself using a device within me that is designed to help me when I want to be especially aware of something. It’s a way to remember what I might forget. This sense of permanency is also on the part of me that protects where my voice comes from. And my voice is what I use to make myself heard and known.

Thoughts

I have been analyzing dreams for more than four decades, but I never cease to be amazed at how dreams—waking dreams and sleeping dreams—convert themselves from odd and implausible symbols into a coherent, specific, focused message. Who could have guessed that an encounter with ink spots would have delivered the insightful prompt that the paragraph immediately above offers.

We still need the input of the dreamer to help us understand what the “mess” is that she is so “permanently” “cleaning up” in order that her “voice” will be “heard and known.” We’ll ask tomorrow.

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