Anyone wanta interpret my weird dream?

[VelmaD]

I just woke up from the weirdest dream.

I was standing in front of a door holding a bunch of books and sarted to open it for the people behind me when whoever I was with said "If you do that you're gonna be standing here for a long time". I just kind of blew them off and they went in and lo and behold they were right - I ended up standing at that door, holding it open for a mass of humanity - felt like at least 10 minutes while people filed pasat and no one offered to let me in and take my place.

Anyway, I get inside and walk into a room and set the books down on a table and then go to find a bathroom. When I walk back out of the room I realize that I'm inside the building where all the children's Sunday School classes were in the church I grew up in. Which meant there were not NEARLY enough bathrooms and I ended up standing in line forever.

I finally got out of the bathroom and back to my classroom (the boys 4th-6th grade Sunday School room - why I was in that room I don't know) and I was late, class had already started. The prof gave me a nasty look for being late. So I grabbed my books off the table and took a seat next to this guy I've known since the 4th grade. (We went all the way through school together and were even in some classes together later on as undergrads.)

The rest of the class was kinda odd. Beside my friend it included a very young Lon Burnam (member of the Texas House of Representatives), sonias from here at DU, and a bunch of other people I didn't recognize at the time. The prof was the woman who taught my undergrad classes in Social Work Macropractice and Social Welfare Policy.

We were discussing the economics of boxing.

It was really odd and I'm sure there's some deeper meaning to it all. Anyone wanta try their hand at dream interpretation? :-)

[speckledgator]

1. whew

I'm just really glad I'm not the only one that has very strange dreamS. I see patience and kindness in holding the door, penis envy in the long line at the bathroom, hmmmm

[teryang]

2. I'm an amateur but...

I think this is a dream about loss of individuality or a struggle by the unconcious to retain individuality. You are standing in front of a door, symbol of the barrier to the unconcious mind. You are confronted by the "mass of humanity." (also macropractice, social welfare policy). No one offered to let you in. The role of the unconscious is to insist on individuation.

Next the role of religion and "mass" education in getting your individuality to conform. You must conform because there aren't enough "bathrooms" for everyone. The classic fear of not making to the bathroom in time in a classroom, (someone might realize you are human, also the power of the mass to humiliate or reduce the individual) but beyond that the deeper meaning that the throng of the masses (macropractice, policy) cannot permit privacy (individuality) for everyone, hence the queing or waiting for privacy. "I ended up standing in line forever." Your individuality in not realized.

"I sat next to this guy I knew since the fourth grade." This isn't the individual that you knew, this is the individual self that you don't know, your animus, the unconcious masculine nature of a woman.
"In its primary 'unconcious' form the animus is a compound of spontaneos, unpremeditated opinions which exercise a powerful influence on the woman's emotional life..." (Jung) This "person" accompanied you during the (as yet uncompleted) development of you as an individual.

The "prof" who was a "woman" who teaches "macropractice" gave you a "dirty look." "We were discussing the economics of boxing." This may refer to some external conflict which has triggered this instructive dream. I can't speculate as to the other references. I've probably taken this too far. It's supposed to be interactive. Tell me if its bs. You should write your dreams down as they experienced because they will reveal more as each is examined.

[bearfan454]

3. Deep thinking here teryang.

Real deep.

[VelmaD]

4. Interesting ideas to ponder...

I'm not sure I have a particularly unknown animus - I'm pretty in touch with my masculine side. The rest of it I'm going to have to think about. I have been undergoing significant personal change in the last couple of years so maybe all the stuff about development as an individual is relevant. I've also recently opened up and started letting new people into my life and maybe I need to work out where "I" fit now. Hmm...gonna have to think about it.

I do tend to write down what I dream about or share it in some way. Usually I write things over in my livejournal or in the journal I keep on my puter or I talk them through with my best friend. I just thought today's was worth sharing here instead since a TX politician and another member of DU were actually in it. :-)

[teryang]

17. The contemporary references

...to personalities are those that only you could know. I loved the part about the economics of boxing.

I was just speculating. Development of the individual is always relevant. I started writing down my dreams for a few days and then forgot about it until I saw your post. Generally the solutions proposed by such analysis for me are too selfish and impractical and I return to my long suffering ways.

[dreissig]

5. Interpretation

It sounds like you're abandoning some commitment you've made since childhood because it's no longer feasible. You're not meeting your own needs and you are afraid of being shut out, holding the door for other people to meet their needs. This commitment is fairly important to you; it's something that's as precious to you as your memories of Sunday School.

But time marches on and you are already late ... hence the stern look you're getting from the professor. You want to hang onto this commitment, and you are seeking new allies ... people like Lon Burnam and your social work teacher.

'Economics of boxing' refers to real world pressures which are catching up to you. As St. Paul says, when I was a child, I thought as a child ....

Perhaps you are abandoning your youthful idealism in favor of a more mature appreciation of what actually can be accomplished. There is implied by the segue from Sunday School to your classes in social work.


Edit: spelling

[VelmaD]

8. Now that has some interesting possibilities

I have been contemplating a change of scenery recently - leaving Texas finally. This would involve moving away from my parents and from the woman who has been my best friend since I was 13 years old.

I have to admit that I had my life on hold for a decade while I was waiting on my evil-ex to get out of school and start "our" life. Sinc ehe and I split I've had to start making decisions about what I want to do with my life and I can feel the situation coming to a head in the not too distant future.

[dreissig]

21. The Last Picture Show

You are clearly feeling the pangs of outgrowing a situation that no longer works for you. The Cybill Shepherd film "The Last Picture Show" had that kind of nostalgia.

My daughter says that you don't dream when you're asleep; you dream when you're nearly awake ... and the dream maintains the thread of your sleep. The events pending in your life are taking up a lot of your background thinking, and they come to the foreground as dreams.

[VelmaD]

22. I think your daughter may be right...

I always seem to wake up coming right out of a dream. Either that or I hit that space between awake and asleep and it turns into a lucid dreaming kind of thing where I just doze and play it out to the end.

[demnan]

6. I'm glad I'm not the only person who's bladder intrudes on their dreams

I often remember dreams, especially toward morning where I am looking for a bathroom or can't find a bathroom. I also often have dreams about school, and other things from the past.

As far as the rest of it goes, it's your subconscious, so it's up to you to discover within yourself the meaning of the dream.

[Kamika]

7. Sex !

i didnt read it but im sure its all about sex.

Remember cigars are p*nises

any kind of opening or a hole is the other one.

If theres a relative in the dream its the oidipus complex


thank you

/Dr Sue

[VelmaD]

9. Hee...

that was priceless. Thanks for the belly laugh. :-)

[NashVegas]

10. It Sounds Like You're Ready to Move On

from the things you were indoctrinated to believe, and be your own individual. It's not always pleasant.

[VelmaD]

12. I'm not sure that's it completely...

The part about moving on is probably dead eye accurate. The part about indoctrination rings less true for me.

I was raised to be open-minded and to think for myself. My parents refused to let anyone "indoctrinate" their kids - they encouraged us to be rebels and to question authority and to buck the system when we needed to but pick our fights. I was raised in a church but my parents let me leave it as a teenager when I couldn't take the dogma anymore (in fact they left it themselves not too long after I did).

If I was younger or one of those kids who's trying to work through deciding to become a liberal I'd probably agree with you. But I'm in my mid-30s now and my political philosophy and belief system have been pretty much worked through. I think it has more to do with working through my personal life and figuring out what I want to do with my life. I have a job that drives me nuts. I don't really like where I'm living. And I finally have the freedom to make some changes. :-)

[soupkitchen]

11. "An unanalyzed dream is like an unread letter"

I think that's from the Talmund. In any case, your dream did mean something.
Teryang seems to have some genuine talent for this kind of thing and did a very nice job of presenting an insightful and coherent interpretation.
Of course, Teryang did say that dream interpretation is supposed to be interactive and that's the problem here.
I'm not hearing your voice, I'm not seeing the look on your face when you're mentioning certain aspects of the dream, etc. When one is trying to help another person interpret her dreams any sigh or grimace can provide the needed access into the dream.
And details can be important. Why Lon Burnam? why sonias?. What do they represent? All this could, or could not be, important.
But what I want to say is this: When a person offers you a correct dream interpretation, or correctly interprets any part of your dream, (and if you're way out of touch with yourself, maybe thats the best one can do) you'll know it. It will resonate in your gut.
Ultimately it's your dream and only you can know if it's been interpreted correctly.

[VelmaD]

13. Now that I think about it...

I'm pretty sure why Lon B and sonias. They represent the path I stepped onto recently to be more politically active again. I used to be one of those people who thought that voting and encouraging others to vote and occasionally writing my congressperson was enough. The things that have happened to my country and my State in the last few years has pushed me out of that notion.

Lon B was there when I stepped out of myself and testified at the House Redistricting Subcommittee meeting in Dallas back in July. It was a watershed moment in my life. It was the first time in a long time that I really put myself out there in front of other people. And sonias is one of the new people I've met here in Austin by becoming more actively involved. I've seen here at every event I've been to here in Austin. :-)

[soupkitchen]

14. Well that seems very consistent with the rest of the dream

What are the politics of the person from the dream that you knew since 4th grade? Or does he just represent status quo?

[VelmaD]

15. He's very liberal, but...

uninvolved at this point. He's one of those people who thinks working inside the political process is pointless.

He and I put out the underground newspaper at our college for a while back when he was more of a hell-raiser.

[soupkitchen]

16. Well boxing seems enough like politics

That I think we can interpret the letter very easily as a letter to yourself confirming your decision to become more politcally active.
The door represents the entrance into the arena. And if you don't step inside you're never going to be a player. The books are symbolic of your education, your knowlege that impels you to step inside the arena.
Sunday School represents idealism for sure, but it also is a time when we begin to become aware of hypocrisy. Bathrooms represent a place to dispose of waste. But whether it is a wasted life your lamenting or the kind superficial morality that makes us too easily contenting that your trying to discharge from your soul or both I'm not sure.
But forget the id and the unconcious and all that jargon. As I said before, maybe you're just confirming a life decision.
What does your gut say?

[VelmaD]

18. My gut wants to agree...

with your assessment but I'm just not sure. My level of trust in my "gut" is not as high as it probably should be. I tend to think to much and either not listen to or willfully misinterpret that little voice. The great work of my life is to listen to the voice of the universe when it tried to speak to me and stop always trying to bend it to my will.

That said, the part about trying to discharge my lament over the years I've wasted rings too true to ignore. I've got to stop letting my anger and regret over those wasted years take up my mental and spiritual energy.

[soupkitchen]

19. Well, you've raised some new issues

But the best part is you'll probably create more dreams to address them.
Maybe you're at the point in your life where you might benifit from seeing a therapist that specializies in dream interpretation.
But remember the good ones don't interpret your dreams they help you interpret them.

[VelmaD]

20. The good news is...

my subconscious is usually not so oblique as the dream last night. Usually I wake up and "know" what they meant. :-) This one just had me a little amused and confused.

I appreciate all the folks who chime in with opinions.

[yellowdawgdem]

23. the dream

could show that you want to give something back, like a service, to others. but that a part of you reminded yourself that it would take longer than you thought. You went ahead and held the door open anyway, which was a service to a mass of humanity. but somehow that changed more into a religious space. Among the many meanings of the economics of boxing, you could have subconsciously identified with Barbara Boxer.
:shrug:

[JackDragna]

24. You're deranged.

Become a televangelist or politician as soon as possible.