The Dream: Aunt Peggy, who has dementia and recently went into a care facility, has managed to make phone calls and undo most of the sorting out that Clark and I have been attempting on her behalf. I’m not sure if it was in the dream or in a half awake state that I thought, “That isn’t possible. She can no longer make a phone call.”
Interpretation: The obvious interpretation of this dream is that I am feeling anxiety over the many tasks involved in sorting out another’s affairs. I am afraid our work will be for nothing; that somehow my aunt, who has always been a difficult person, will screw things up. But there are dream workers who suggest that a dream does not come to tell us what we already know. If they are right, I have to assume that some part of me doesn’t accept the fact that my aunt has dementia. In this dream, as in a previous one, I struggle to come to terms with the reality of my aunt’s condition.
I think the first question that has to be asked is if this is about my waking life aunt, or is this about an Aunt aspect of myself that needs care or is troubled about possibly my own forgetfulness or need to reach out for my own support. I think we need to look at these dreams with known people in them objectively or personally. Or both. Emily
ReplyDeleteThat's certainly true, Emily. In dealing with my aunt's failing health and mortality I see my own future and struggle to accept the human condition.
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