Another Bridge Dream....

[Callie McAllie]

This one was not as pleasant as the last one

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=245x90218

In this dream, My husband (shall I call him Mr. CMcC? ;-) ) was in the car ahead of me, and I was following him. We were rolling down hill, and I was sort of coasting to save energy (as I'm prone to do in real life. Although he is such a leadfoot in real life I would never be able to follow him hat way). It was a pretty day.

We came to a bridge just as the sky started to get cloudier and the wind picked up. The bridge was a long, narrow, rusting, trestle-type bridge. As we drove onto the bridge, he started pulling away from me and I realized I'd have to hit the gas a bit. I did, but there was no response.

The car wasn't turned on! The keys were in my hand!

Now I realize I'm going to have to start the car while on the bridge. My bridge phobia kicks in big time at this point. The bridge is really narrow and I'm traveling in the middle rather than one the side (being too close to the edge is part of what really scares me on a bridge).

I have to pull to the right a bit to avoid the oncoming traffic. I pull over too sharply and the car bounces off the right guardrail, over to the oncoming lane, bounces off that guardrail...I am panicking. The car spins around 180 degrees and I think to myself this is great, I'll just coast back down the bridge (the engine is still not engaged, keys still in my hand). I'll get off this darn bridge and start the car.

For some reason, though, the car is not rolling very fast. Now it's a really narrow car, like a go-cart almost, and I have to reach out the window, grab the railing and roll the car along by hand, like a wheelchair.

And the keys are still in that hand! Normally I would stick a finger through the key ring and wear them like a ring for safe-keeping, but no, not in this dream. I'm just holding them, reaching out with that hand to the bridge railing, pulling my car along, traffic now backing up behind me.

OMG, don't drop those keys!

I woke up with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach and thought "This is going to be really bad."

The economy, the car companies, the swine flu...I have stopped listening to NPR in the a.m., and I am a news junkie. It's just too much. But that's for a different post, I guess.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. Definately sounds like an anxiety dream to me

And I can relate, as I'm spooked by bridges of that sort, too. I immediately thought of the Irvin S. Cobb bridge over the Ohio River at Paducah KY, which is very much like what you described, and one I dread to cross. It would seem to me that the dream indicates that you are anxious because things are speeding up and you can't--or perhaps don't want to--move up to that pace. The "speeding up" could refer to the mass hysteria about the flu, depression about the economy, etc--it's the speeding up of mass thought/emotion I'm talking about. You have decided you are not going the route of most people's thinking, and are turning things around (like not listening to NPR), and moving at your own pace (pushing the car along). Yeah, you're stressed because you are bucking the swifter movement of paranoia and anxiety, but you are taking charge, and doing things your own way, at your own pace. The power (the keys) is in your own hands, and you've chosen to go about doing things your own way.

That's my take on the dream, anyway. I may be well off. Please let me know if any of it rings true to you.

[Callie McAllie]

4. That bridge is just what I dreamt about

I googled the Irvin S Cobb bridge to get a look.

"At 716 feet the south span of the Cobb Bridge is the second longest simple truss bridge in the world. Built in 1929."

See the pictures here:

http://bridgehunter.com/il/massac/brookport/

Indeed, to drive across that thing would scare me silly.

Thanks for your excellent interpretation of my dream. It rang true and I really appreciated it.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

6. Now I'VE got goosebumps

to think you were experiencing the Cobb Bridge. There's one other factor I didn't tell you--the deck is a latticework of metal rather than solide concrete or tar, and the noise it makes as you ride across it is unholy. Plus as you climb up to the main span from the Illinois side I swear you can see through the deck.

[NJCher]

2. you had me on the edge of my seat with that dream!

the adrenaline is still coursing...!

You wanted to give the engine gas but when you did, there was no power. You hadn't turned on the car. That certainly says something: maybe you are out of resources somewhere and feel you, yourself, are to blame.


Cher

[MorningGlow]

3. Yikes!

:scared:

Sounds like a "you have to take charge" kind of dream to me, Callie. Anxiety, sure, but YOU have the keys in your hand--you're in control. I like that you were thinking ahead about the different ways to deal with the problem. In real life, turning off the news is a good start, for sure.

Your recount of your dream reminds me that I had a dream last night, too. I was in a small motorboat with the family, going nice and slow, seeing the sights. The stream was kind of in a cavern or in the middle of a developed area, because there were concrete sides, steps, etc., even at some places in the middle of the water. And some parts were shallow enough that people could wade in it and walk for a while. After a bit of time, MG Jr. got out and was wading or something--he was outside the boat, but I knew he was perfectly safe. Then Mr. MG got out too, to do stuff with Jr. So I got bored being in the boat by myself, and hauled out a surfboard with a sail attached. (Where was that stowed? I have no idea! :) ) I started to windsurf (don't know where the wind came from either), and I enjoyed a bit of flying as I soared over small waterfalls and down those steps I mentioned. (That's the way I fly in my dreams--in a toboggan that goes off the side of a cliff, or extended periods of catching the wind like this--strange but never scary. Someday I hope to "graduate" to "real" flying. ;) ) Eventually Mr. MG, MG Jr., and I regrouped, but we realized we had left the boat, with all our stuff in it, behind. We didn't mind much, though--we knew it likely just drifted to the side of the stream and we'd go collect it later. I'm never usually that relaxed about losing stuff in real life!
:rofl:

[Callie McAllie]

5. You all really nailed it with your analyses

I am feeling way more personally responsible for fixing the things around me than I should, all of it is speeding up exponentially (at least it feels like it), and I've been at it so long I really am out of gas.

Thanks for the great take on this dream!

[Stevepol]

7. The main thing is you have the KEY to the anxiety-provoking situation. Just don't lose it.

It's an old bridge, going back over some old territory, maybe lower level physical changes. You're in the driver's seat but you're not the "driver," the "driving force" in the situation whatever it is. Souncs like your husband is a lot more comfortable in this transition or change than you.

But the main thing is YOU HAVE THE KEY. Just don't lose it and at some point, when you have some quiet time, USE IT!!

If it were my dream, the key would be the knowledge that this world doesn't control the attitude I take toward it. I can remain calm under all circumstances, I can know that "This too will change."

There's some sort of mental and spiritual strength you've developed and used as the "key" to situations in the past and you can do it now again.

Sounds like you're taking some steps to solve the problem or meet the challenge of the change, even if it's sort of a backwards attempt, playing it safe when you could perhaps use your key and ride over your fears, etc.

Good luck.

[Callie McAllie]

8. Thanks!

"Sounds like your husband is a lot more comfortable in this transition or change than you."

No, he's just the kind of guy who rushes in where fools fear to tread, or something like that. :-) Jump first and ask questions later, that's him.

[Why Syzygy]

9. Do you

do dream interpretations in any professional capacity?

[Stevepol]

10. I am in and often host a dream group, have done so for years.

Highly recommend it BTW.

[winyanstaz]

11. I am a lucid dreamer/astral projector and one of the classes I teach is dreaming.

When you have a repeat dream, we call that a "signpost dream" and it can be used to trigger a lucid dream (a lucid dream is one in which you KNOW you are dreaming during the dream itself).
This is done by giving yourself the command that "if I have such and such a dream tonight, I will know that I am dreaming" as you fall asleep.
If you trigger a lucid period you should try to look at your hand or your leg or whatever...the point being that if you have enough personal power to stop the dream long enough to look at your hand (or whatever you have with you ..could even be your navel or your big toe..doesnt matter..what matters is the command which is given BEFORE you get out there) you will have enough power to stop the dream and go explore the astral/dreaming plane.
If you wait until you are out there (at least for beginners) it is too late to change your mind about what you are going to do because you will just lose control of the dream. That is, unless you already have a lot of personal power in which case you would already be a lucid dreamer.
As for symbols in dreams it is best to remember that we each have our own internal programing of what certain images mean to each of us..so therefor the books etc that claim certain symbols mean certain things are only a general guide and not to be taken as the last word.
For example, if I say apple, what image comes into your mind? Was it a red apple, a green apple, or maybe a pink lady apple or was it an apple pie?
The best way when you feel you are seeing a symbol from your subconscious is to go with your own feelings on what it means to you.
We can also learn to dream together and the best way to stay together if you are both lucid dreaming is to link arms or hold hands.

[crikkett]

12. Questions...

Thanks for this information. I am intrigued by what you wrote but it raises questions.

When you're half-awake and still dreaming is that lucid dreaming or something else?

When you know you're dreaming and willing to go along with it, is that lucid or simply telling yourself a story?

I was able to change my outfit with a thought in a dream this am, because I didn't think that broke any 'rules'. It hasn't occurred to me that it's OK to halt a story except to wake up. When you stop a dream and go exploring, do you have to make up the entire story from that point on, including characters and setting? Are you interrupting a lesson you're trying to teach yourself?

Thanks.

[winyanstaz]

13. In a Lucid Dream, we know we are dreaming and...

we are consciously directing the dream OR we can chose to stop it and go explore.
When you are half awake and still dreaming that is a form of lucid dreaming which is also a form of "Seeing" but only if you know you are dreaming. It is not a complete Lucid Dream because a complete lucid dream you will be totally projected on/in the astral/dreaming plane itself.
It is still Lucid Dreaming if you know you are dreaming and to just go along with it is just fine..if that is what you wish to do.
I am sure you are aware by now that it is our own thoughts/images we are seeing in most dreams before we are aware of having the thought consciously. This is because the astral/dreaming plane is one of the planes we learn to get around on and the astral dreaming body is one of the vehicles we learn to control.
For example, you can not just change the outfit you are wearing...you can change which way is "down" and walk on ceilings, go through walls, look at the past or the future and even shoot energy when needed. You can levitate, or come back to the physical plane and explore there as well...including walking through physical walls and doors etc.
If you ever become aware of watching your astral dreaming body during a dream..you have just projected to the next higher plane (the energy plane) and are "Seeing" "down" to the lower plane and are observing your vehicle on the astral plane. If you have enough power you can send your astral dreaming body off to do things and report back to you.
For us beginners, all the action is on the first three planes. The physical plane, the astral/dreaming plane and the energy plane. While the energy plane is certainly beautiful, it is just forms of energy, light and patterns.
The higher planes we are getting into the planes of thought and spirit..
When you stop a dream to explore, you need to have in mind already what you wish to do.
As far as lessons, Lucid dreaming is the lesson that is most important for you to learn as we have power at the level we vibrate and "Down"..never "UP". To control things on a lower plane..you must have some power on the higher planes.

[winyanstaz]

14. Just wanted to add..

that we can also shapeshift the astral/dreaming body as we gain control over it.

[crikkett]

15. Thanks for taking the time to share this information

I find it very illuminating.

[winyanstaz]

16. yw, :)