Guest Dreamer: I'll Walk a Mile in Your Shoes

Guest Dreamer Travis Wernet recounts the second dream in his shoe series:
Travis' Second Dream: There's a second dream two days later with an old friend wearing clogs that are black and white and I am hovering above the ground when we meet each other and he says how happy and different I look (with glasses) and I comment on how his shoes look good on him - he's not the sort I imagine would wear 'effeminate' shoes like clogs in waking life, they're not 'guy-like' enough for my conception of him.

Carla's thoughts: The second pair of shoes shows up in a second dream two days after the initial shoe dream. There are 3 sets of 2's here, emphasizing that I'm resolving pairs of opposites. My friend is wearing clogs, a style of shoe that I see as effeminate and wouldn't have associated with this manly friend. That these clogs are black and white tells me that I tend to see this particular issue without nuance—no shades of gray. I'm flying high when we meet—perhaps I'm not being realistic since I don't have my feet on the ground, but nevertheless my friend tells me how good I look in glasses: I'm beginning to see something clearly, and I like it (it looks good, even if it didn't line up with my expectations). The part of me this friend represents is now willing to “walk a mile” in a woman's shoes. I have a better understanding with my anima and women as a result, and I've relinquished some of my conceptions of what being manly means.

So Ugly She’s Cute

The Dream: My college friend Mary has a baby who’s so ugly that she’s cute. She is brown with straight golden-brown hair cut in long bangs, and she wears glasses. The baby is very young, only a few months old. She nurses with delight at Mary’s large breast. It soon becomes clear that the baby is very precocious. She can sit and talk; we can tell she is extremely intelligent. Mary is thrilled with her baby.

Interpretation: I think the newly arrived brown babies (this is the second one recently) are linked to a more authentic artistic self emerging as I work on my illustrated dream journals. Not all will find these drawings “beautiful,” yet I find them immensely appealing: so ugly they are beautiful. In waking life Mary is someone who has expressed her own artistic proclivities through others: she married a writer and has many friends in the arts. In the dream the Mary part of me—not quite brave enough to be an artist—has given birth to someone who might manage it. Mary nourishes the baby and is thrilled with her arrival: both good signs.

The Beautiful Girl

Dreams often point out what is wrong in our lives, but they also can point out what’s right. In a world in which we are often encouraged not to think too well of ourselves, our dreams can let us know it’s okay to celebrate what’s good about us.

The Dream: I’m in a class. There is a beautiful girl sitting next to me. She is young and has curly, light brown hair. She is very petite, but well built. I wonder if she is rich. I know she lives in the city, but I wonder how she lives. Is she part of a rich family or married well? She puts on dark glasses and looks even more glamorous.

Interpretation: This dream seems to be a little gift, some encouragement. Many dream experts tell us that the people who populate our dreams are different aspects of ourselves. So with this dream I can ask, “What part of me is beautiful, self-confident, living in the world she loves, sexy, a little mysterious, well-cared for and full of potential?” Of course I don’t get off Scot free: since I’m in a class the dream is also telling me I still have something to learn.