Part Of A Cocker Spaniel Eating Salmon: Concluding Post

photo courtesy of rf.com

I’ve been working with a dreamer on an unusual and disjointed dream. Even after we went through the process of converting it to a metaphoric statement, its message still wasn’t obvious.

At the beginning of the dream there is a sense of something ominous transpiring within the dreamer. But there is no consensus as to how serious the seeming-problem is. Will it be destructive? Or is it more like Henny-Penny who made a big to-do over nothing? Then comes the next part of the dream about an inner protector that used to be very busy—if a bit over-zealous. This protective part of the dreamer doesn’t work as well anymore; it’s lost its mobility. Finally, there is a healer who prescribes a remedy, something about needing the best kind of nourishment and energy. So the dream seems to have three parts: a problem, an old solution that no longer works, and a new prescription for a resolution.

There is only one person who is qualified to help us understand this dream. That is the dreamer herself. These themes and images are so personal, it would be difficult to generalize and have them fit some kind of universal, archetypical pattern. So now we’ll ask the dreamer for her own thoughts.

The dreamer’s thoughts on her own dream

I know this dream seems confusing to someone else. But that isn’t a problem for me. The dream is talking about an issue that has been front and center in my life for the past few months.

You see, I’ve always been a politically extremely active person. I think that that’s part of our responsibility in a democracy, and I actually enjoy getting involved. So now we’ve had this election that has dragged on for months and has been so contentious. And I’ve wanted to throw my whole weight behind my own beliefs. (And, by the way, I’m not telling you which side of the political scene I’m on, because that is beside the point.)

But I have this problem that when I become too passionate, I get agitated. In fact, I have even been known to make myself sick. And that, I think, is what the weird stuff falling from the sky is about. The dream wasn’t sure how serious it was, but that is exactly the point. It would get as serious as I let it.

I used to try to protect myself by staying really busy. If I put more on my schedule than I could possibly handle, then I wouldn’t notice the emotional toll all of my involvement was taking. So, yeah. Here’s this image of a cuddly little innocent pet running around being busy trying to protect me, but really not able to. And it doesn’t work anymore the way it used to.

So I have to find another, healthier way to be—to REALLY protect myself. The doctor in me wants that to happen. Wow! What an amazing dream! I guess some changes in me are in order.

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