Intruders

The Dream: I am returning home in the evening with the family. We are walking along the sidewalk to our townhouse that opens onto the street. As we approach our door I notice a window ajar. I point this out to the others, feeling clever that I have noticed. “I didn’t leave the window that way,” I say. I walk up a step or two and push the front door, which opens at my touch. In the dim interior light I see a young man scrambling into his clothes; we’ve apparently caught him in flagrante delicto: but what is the crime? Not really caring whether he is using my home for a sexual encounter, as it appears, or whether he’s come to steal, I am frightened and angry. “Call the cops,” he suggests. I am so frightened that I have trouble deciding which phone to use—cell or land line—and can’t find either. Somehow I manage to make the call, telling the cops a burglary is in progress. Then I wonder who else is in the house. There must be a girl, I think, since it seems we’ve caught the fellow having sex. “Did they use my bed?” I wonder, feeling grossed out.

I stand near the door steaming with self-righteous indignation as I await the police. Part of me, some dim little part I try to ignore, imagines this young man going to jail and worries for him. But when he comes toward the threshold as if trying to escape, I firmly hold him. He isn’t going to get away with this! Once we are close to each other he is about half size. Even though he’s a young man he is the size of a child.

As the dream unfolds, the room becomes packed with these half size people, who are now teenagers. They are having a party in my house. When the cops finally arrive I’m disappointed to see they’re two women. One of them interacts with one of the children, now about toddler size, as if she knows him and finds him adorable. Where, I wonder are the tough cops who will demand these unruly children take responsibility for their actions? Who is going to clean up my house and put things back in order? Are the little perps going to get away with this?

At this point a man arrives who said he sent the kids over to my house to party. “What’s the big deal?” is his attitude. I’m surprised that my position gets no sympathy.

Interpretation: The thing that stands out to me in this dream is that what started out as a threat diminishes over the course of the dream: the intruders get smaller and smaller. Over time they appear to be not so much ill-intentioned as playful and irresponsible. The concerns of the dream ego are over-blown, even according to the “authorities.” The dream ego feels this is all very well and good—we don’t want to destroy young lives by locking them up—but who is left to clean up their mess?

Although the intruders diminish in size they increase in number. Toward the end of the dream the space is absolutely crammed with unruly irresponsible toddlers. They want to do what they want to do, and they are unable even to think of what the consequences might be.

The dream reveals an unresolved rift: responsibility: dull, oppressive, self-righteous, and efficient versus free will: playful, sexy, no regard for consequences, self-indulgent, careless, and care free.