A New Passion

The Dream: John, we discover when we visit, has a new girlfriend. They stand above us as if on a higher level. John is beaming, a wide smile on his face. I've never seen him so happy. He doesn't look like himself, but rather like a young boy.

Interpretation: In waking life John is a failed old man. His wife is about to divorce him. He has no discernible purpose in life and has alienated most people. In the dream his salvation comes from a new love. And, since he and his girlfriend are looking down on us, this new love is on a higher level.

It's always tempting, when recounting a dream, to think the dream is about the person dreamt about. But experience has taught me that the characters in my dreams represent parts of myself, usually parts that I'm out of touch with. The dream is telling me that the old embittered John part of myself can be saved by a new “passion” in life, perhaps a spiritual passion (something on a higher level). Once I find it, I'll be energized and rejuvenated.

Guest Dreamer: Getting Ready to Roll

Tyler, who contributed the last dream featuring feet and shoes, here shares a dream that has a different image--but one that still relies on self-propelled movement.
 
Tyler's Second Dream: I was at my ex-girlfriend's sisters house (which is coincidental because I used to live in that neighborhood). I may or may not have been with a friend. My ex may also have had a friend there but I can't be sure. It was raining relatively hard, and she was standing in the garage and I was out in the rain in her driveway. There were no cars in the driveway, but there was a bike propped up on the outside of the garage. I moved inside the garage and got out of the rain where I remember seeing another bike lying on the floor. We both looked at it, but I can't remember any dialogue. After that, the rain had slowed down to a nice drizzle, but I remember the sky still looked pretty scary, like it was about to thunderstorm even harder than it had before. And then I walked out into the drizzle and I woke up.

Carla's Thoughts: If this were my dream, its meaning would hinge on the images of bike and weather. That it's raining heavily tells me that, as in my last dream, I'm dealing with a highly charged (like a thunderstorm) emotional situation. My ex is standing in the garage (where I store things). What I store here (bike or car) is connected to my ability to move (alter my current emotional state). The bike represents moving by means of my own personal effort, and the floor is associated with something exasperating or difficult to overcome (I'm floored!). To sum it up: When I am in the place where I've stored my ex my grounded bike makes it difficult for me to move on. Once I have this dream realization, unconscious though it may be, the rain abates and becomes a drizzle. In other words, I've released some of my negative emotions. I'm still not out of the water—the sky looks threatening; but I've managed to walk out of the garage and into the drizzle, so I'm on my way.