My Wife's Waking Dream About Her Broken Shoulder: Post #2

photo courtesy of bonejoint.net

My wife and I were walking after some stormy winter weather. She slipped on the ice, fell and broke her shoulder. After visiting the E. R. and the orthopedist, we knew it was time to examine the incident as a waking dream. You can read her own description of the incident in my last post.

We used that description as we slowly and thoughtfully pondered each of the symbols that her narrative offered. In each case we tried to understand the symbol metaphorically, making an association that would be meaningful to her.

When I’m with a client I do this in one sitting. But in our case we had time, and we thought that a slower, more thorough examination might yield even better results. As always, we were trying to reply to the neutral prompt, “Tell me about it.”

Tell me about…

*  Afternoon walk: Exercise. A change of pace and scenery.

*  Cold:  Uncomfortable but also invigorating.

*  Crisp:  Stimulating.

*  The sun was out:  A sense of joy and of spirits being uplifted. It added to the beauty of the environment.

*  Brightness:  Illumination, highlighting.

*  New fallen snow:  Pure. Fresh. Peaceful and beautiful.

*  Natural beauty:  Not manipulated or manufactured. It was authentic.

*  Talking animatedly:  In passionate, heartfelt dialogue.

*  Stimulating book:  A source of knowledge and education. Ideas were being presented that excited us.

*  Read:  Absorb and understand.

*  No warning:  Totally unexpected.

*  Feet went out from under me:  I lost my sense of balance, my grounding, my stability, my rhythm, my centering.  I nose-dived and went crashing down.

*  Hitting:  An impact that was hard enough to create a break.

*  Left shoulder:  We have an expression: “To shoulder a burden.” This was my left shoulder and I am right-handed, so it was not my principal side, but I was put out of commission, for sure; I could do nothing for myself.

*  Completely stunned:  In shock and unable to function at all.

*  Left arm hanging at a really odd angle:  Something was definitely wrong! Things were not working right. And there was a sense of alarm.

*  Unnatural:  It wasn’t the way it was supposed to be.

*  E. R:  It’s where you go if you need immediate help.

*  Orthopedic surgeon:  The doctor who would be in charge of my healing.

*  Didn’t think I’d need surgery:  Although it was bad, it could have been much worse.

*  Pain killers:  To ease the discomfort and allow for peaceful, un-stressful recuperation.

*  Lucky:  Fortunate.

*  Hit my head:  It’s the area of motor control and thought production. If I had injured it, I would have been far worse off.

Initial observations

What a powerful dream! If you simply read my wife’s comments while skipping the highlighted words on the left, a definite scenario presents itself. It has a beginning, middle and end with severe consequences. At the beginning, she is going along enjoying a “source of knowledge and education.” Then, unexpectedly, she goes “crashing down,” loses her sense of “balance and stability.” Something is wrong!

We’ll explore that more on Friday.

ANNOUNCEMENT

On March 11 & 12 I will be participating in the Body Mind Spirit Expo in the town of Hillsboro, just west of Portland, Oregon. I will be lecturing and helping with dream interpretations. Click on the Events page for details.