Message Delivery System

         a dream fragment Sunday morning 
                         January 22, 2012


        I am supposedly in Disneyland, but a very strange underworld dream Disneyland that does not include fun fantasy rides, but weird exaggerations of things in everyday life--storefronts, businesses, and curiously dark dwellings.  There are many people on the streets and passageways of this place.  Their spirits seem individually festive, but their is a certain sad sense of chaotic silence in the place.  I accept it as it is.  After all this is a dream.


       My mental state is apprehensive, bordering on frantic and desperate.  I am trying to do something that is not quite clear.  I believe I am trying to sell some goods that I have in my possession.  I am in urgent need of money.  I wander this dark Disneyland with a sense that time is running out for me.


       In my mind I have an awareness that I am in this Disneyland with a group from my church.  We are being paid to do something but I'm not sure what that thing is.  As the dream progresses, my mission becomes more ambiguous, my mental state becomes more lacking in direction, and I am more confused about where I am and what I am supposed to be doing.


        Then I seem to emerge in a somewhat brighter place--perhaps I've gone outdoors now.  I come to a well-known steak house chain location.  Chris, a young pastor from my church is standing at the entrance of the restaurant.  He calmly says to me, "I think we've got a big problem."   He doesn't appear to be angry.


         He explains that the park management is unhappy with what I've been doing while I was supposed to be working for the park. (Now the park is no longer Dream Disneyland but Knott's Berry Farm).   Our church is going to have to return the money the park paid us to do what we were going to do. And now, due to my actions of taking care of my own business on company time we were relinquishing our pay.  The explanation is matter-of-fact, coming across to me with no tone of judgement.


         I am--concerned--I'm not sure exactly what it all means.  And then after I wake up I think I know the meaning of the dream.

          That's as much background as I'll give you.  You tell me if you think this dream is delivering a message.  What is your interpretation of what that message is saying?

         All I can say is that I've been thinking about this dream--this message--all day.  It got me thinking about my life in general. I've been doing a lot more of that lately.   Maybe it has something to do with my impending birthday next week.  I won't say how old, but it's older than I used to be.  But still I do dream.

             And I have miles to go before I sleep.  To sleep, perchance to dream.  Will my journey be long?  Or much shorter than I think?   Time will tell.  Time is bad at keeping secrets.

        ...but that's another post for another day.

Dream Code

Art by Ada

         In my dream I was trying to copy and paste a code to my blog.

         These days it is not unusual for me to dream about blogging since it is activity that takes up a good bit of my time and something that I frequently think about.   I typically dream about activities that are part of my normal life although the imagery might be quite abnormal and confusing.

         In this dream about the computer language code, I was apparently having some difficulty in getting the code pasted onto the page I was working with.  Studying the code it appeared to me that it was different than when I had first seen it.  In a state of perplexity, I saw the code differently each time I looked at it until I eventually realized that this code was no longer usable.

         Dream imagery is like a code that needs to be translated before it can be clearly understood.  An image from one dream may mean something entirely different in another dream.  It is usually necessary to look at the entire context of a dream to better understand what a thing symbolizes.

          If you dream of a snake for example, the snake may represent uncertain fears, an impending trip, or just a snake.  Think about the image in context of things you have seen or thought about recently.  Then also consider how that particular image fit into what happened in the dream and how you reacted to the dream image.

          In my opinion, dream dictionaries are sometimes fun diversions and interesting contemplatives, but they are not all-encompassingly accurate.  A thing symbolized to me may mean something entirely different to you.

          When you are trying to interpret or understand your dreams you must decipher the code.  Every detail should be considered and each thing must be taken in proper context.  Especially for those who say they don't remember their dreams, think back and try to remember a detail and then try to relate that detail to another and another until you begin to see the entire picture more clearly.

           Think of a dream as a page of computer language code or text written in a completely foreign language.   At first what you see may seem a garbled mess, confusing and nonsensical.  But as you study more and learn the code you begin to see the patterns and understanding becomes clearer.

            Do you have recurring images in your dreams?   What in your dreams tends to make you afraid?  What dream imagery makes you feel a sense of peace or happiness?

   

..    

I am a dreamer

           I dream.  We all dream according to sleep researchers.  I've heard it said that if you didn't dream then you would go insane.  Your mind would create dreams that would then be forced upon you by your subconscious.  Your hallucinations would become indistinguishable from your reality.  Your reality would be dreamlike.

           In a sense I suppose one could say our dreams are a form of controlled madness.  Not in a bad sense usually, but in a strange, often incoherent sense--even a lack of making any sense.  We see, we hear, we experience things good, bad, and indifferent.  Entranced for a while in sleep until our mind awakens us.  Perhaps we remember, perhaps not.

          My dreams are events seen at a distance as though looking through an ethereal telescope.  I have a faraway view of things that seem to make sense as I see them and yet don't make sense when I think about them.  The dreams are mysteries to be solved.  Or are they explanations that are delivered in a language I have yet to decipher?

          What do these faraway views mean--these dreams?  Why do we dream?  What purpose do our dreams serve?

            I see a faraway view clearly until I try to remember what I have seen.   It slips from memory quickly if I do not preserve it to my memory.  It must be written.  Few are the dreams that stay with my mind.  And if they stay why do they stay?

           I dream because I am a dreamer.   I want to remember sleep in my wakefulness.  I want to awaken my memory of a faraway view that I have seen.

          How about you?  Have you deciphered the language of your dreams?  Do you run from your dreams or do you try to embrace them and let them fill you with their mysteries?



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