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Prompt ~ The Dream
The prompt for this weeks Writers Island is The Dream. I love to dream. Problem is (and I have no idea why) since I turned about age 40, I have a hard time recalling my dreams in the morning. There was a time I used to remember them in vivid detail. Some of them from years ago I still remember.
Dreams have always fascinated me. Probably because nobody really understands their meaning or even why we have them. I've often wondered if perhaps we really do lead a parallel life. In other words, I'm here right now typing this......but maybe there's a nether world where I go during my sleeping hours. And that world is just as real as this one. Who knows.
Anyway, sometimes I write my dreams down because I'm happy to have recall of them when I awake. And I always try to find some meaning or symbolism to them. So all week I've been pondering one that I had a few nights ago.
I was at the bottom of a staircase.....a fairly non-descript staircase, gray in color. I couldn't see what was at the top, but the steps were very steep and high. And on the floor beside me was......a baby. The baby seemed to be about 3 or 4 months old, wrapped in a blanket. In the dream I knew (as we do) that I was supposed to carry that baby up that staircase. But I was frightened to do this. For some reason, I thought I might drop the baby. So my dilemma was to stand there, staring down at the baby and up at the staircase.........and.......I woke before I actually did anything.
Okay.....so what's your take on this? The only thing I can come up with is.......since I had the dream after I won the writing award last Saturday evening, I'm thinking perhaps the "baby" represented my writing. My unpublished manuscript. The "stairs" represented all the agents and publishers that I'm sending query letters to right now. Since I'm actually DOING something ie: sending out the queries.......I'm not clear as to why I was frightened to actually pick up that baby in the dream. Unless it represents the possible rejection that could follow.
As I said, dreams and their interpretation fascinate me. And then again.....the dream could have meant my legs ached from walking that day and the thought of lugging a baby up some stairs was out of the question.
Do you easily remember your dreams? Do you write them down? And do you enjoy trying to figure out what they mean?
Sweet dreams to you and see you here next time...........
Posted on Tuesday, November 20, 2007 at 6:00AM
by
Terri DuLong
in Writers Island Prompts
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15 Comments
Terri DuLong
in Writers Island Prompts
|
15 Comments
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Reader Comments (15)
'flown' in years, really miss that.
I also try to remember dreams and some of mine are just day things and I know don't relate to anything big but some have good symbols. I would say the baby, the blue blanket, fear, and the staircase all were symbolic. Sometimes dreams are for the future also. I have had some that it took several years to see what they were telling me was coming. That's where a dream journal is a good idea, writing them down somewhere as the future meaning often is quite clear-- in the future.
The parallel life thing is also interesting as I had a psychic reading recently and was told I am leading one and connecting to it too much right now is part of my problem. She tried to help me cut the connection but it didn't work-- yet anyway...
I found your blog through Michele and thoroughly enjoyed it!!! Your pictures are awesome, your writing in delightful and you have created an awesome site! I love Cedar Key now!
I remember little of my dreams and have never committed them to paper - although I remain intrigued by dreams....
My best and I will be back!
Jerry in Tampa
Good luck with your publishing and for that manuscript finding its home!
A staircase is usually a change or transformation. A baby can be a new beginning or a responsibility. By you being afraid to pick it up it sounds like their is some new responsibility that you aren't sure you are ready to take on?
I used to remember reams better when I was younger, too....But often what I come away with now IS what I felt while I was dreaming whatever it was....
Fascinating, all this, isn't it?
I hardly ever dream, or rather, hardly ever remember what I dream. Most of the time, when I do, it's because it was a nightmare and it woke me up. But this is about once a year! I have friends who dream so much and remember everything. I used to dream a lot when I was young. But not any more
You're faced with carrying this young tender self up the stairs with you. I can't speak to specifics (as one person said, it's your dream so you know the "meaning"), but your immediate take is about your writing. Carrying that baby up that stairway, maintaining your balance, etc., is a great image for seeking publication, or surfacing with a palpable manifesatation of your inner work.
I'd ask: What's your felt-sense of what will keep you balanced? (Is there a stair-rail?) Will you be able to rest along the way? Is it a solitary path, or will other people be going up and down? And, when you go into that dream-space and look at that baby, what do you see? Is it a boy or a girl? What do you see in the baby's face? And how heavy is he or she? Do you have what you need to take care of him/her? (Food, diapers, etc.) What's your feeling as you linger in the dreamscape?
But I wax Jungian. . it's a gorgeous dream, like a beautiful work of art or a poem. I appreciate your sharing it,