What’s in a Dream?
Messages in Dreams
I had a dream the other night I can’t get out of my head. In the past, a dream well-remembered contained a message, though all too often, the message was something vague I was being tasked to figure out. This one follows the pattern, much to my frustration.
In the dream, everyone is involved in a quest of some kind. Each level has a color (1 is silver) and involves several puzzles the team must solve. As the quest had just begun, everyone involved was on Level 1 at one step or another, and had brought whatever knowledge and skills they had to the game. The end game wasn’t clear. All I really remember is that everyone played and each of us was on a team.
I seemed to be the most skilled person on my team, and though I don’t recall actually leading the team, I seemed to figure things out most often. We reached a point where I was suddenly pulled off the team, and handed several pieces of fabric in different shapes, all in a rust color. Somehow, we all knew Level 2 was blue, and Level 3 was rust, so I wasn’t sure why I was being given colors for Level 3 instead of, at best, Level 2.
A Solo Quest?
As the dream went on, I was suddenly walking along a road past all the Level 2 tasks, and I was walking completely alone. I somehow knew without being told someone or something wanted me to skip Level 2 entirely, and that I had come into the game with all the skills that were supposed to be acquired in that level. Whoever it was also wanted me to be far enough ahead that none of the other people would be able to catch up with me.
Beyond that, nothing is really clear, and I have nothing going on in my life (that I’m aware of, anyway) which correlates to any kind of quest, competition, or leadership role. The fact that certain specifics from the dream remain clear in my head days later, when I didn’t write any of it down is the tricky part. It means there is something I’m supposed to figure out, and act upon. What that might be is anyone’s guess at this point.
As I’ve done so often in the past when faced with this situation, I’ve asked for clarification when I meditate, and tried to suss out more details while writing my Daily Pages…thus far, to no avail. I decided it can’t hurt to take it to a blog post where I often talk myself around to solutions, or can tap into the combined wisdom of my readers who might recognize the symbolism.
Looking for Clues
I do remember one of the pieces of fabric I was given was circular, and at some point, the miscellaneous pieces became some kind of clothing which identified me as having progressed to Level 3. The silence at this level was heavy inasmuch as I was the only person there, and for miles between me and the people still making their way through Level 1. The landscape wasn’t barren though. There were trees, and a unique terrain. There just weren’t any people, animals, or even insects.
Over the last few days, I did feel twinges of recognition where there was something in my life the dream was asking me to act upon, but even those twinges have faded back into the recesses of my subconscious, leaving only confusion in their wake.
Frankly, there isn’t a whole lot going on in my life at the moment. For the most part, I’m focusing on my physical health, and have seen a marked improvement in the pinched nerve affecting my left arm and shoulder, despite the long wait for Physical Therapy. Movement and stretching seem to be my best friends at the moment. I’m stretching every morning, and finding more reasons to get up and move throughout the day, whether it’s housework, cat care, or an extra day of errands. I suspect the first 12 sessions the orthopedist gave me will be more than sufficient to work out the rest of the kinks, where it used to take several months.
Focus on Physical Movement
Although improved physical health isn’t helping me solve this dream-induced riddle, it’s certainly moving one problem out of the way, freeing my brain to work on the dream rather than pain abatement. Granted, the drastic reduction in work-related responsibilities I encountered a few months ago has given me more opportunities to step away from the computer. The addition of a foster cat also means getting up more often to not only see to her needs, food and environment-wise, but to give her attention as she remains isolated from the other cats.
At this point, I guess I’ll continue focusing on possible quests, improving skill sets, and some kind of solo mission as those are the main components of the dream lodged in my memory. In a way, they seem to be poking at a locked door in my memories, slowly chipping away at the blockages preventing the door from opening. In some ways, it’s like a door that’s been bricked over, then covered with plaster. Maybe there was even a large piece of furniture in front of it for awhile that’s since been moved out of the way.
At the moment, the plaster seems to have been removed, and I’m facing a wall of bricks. I’m slowly chipping away at the mortar, and somehow know care must be taken to clear the doorway. Otherwise, I might already have tried blasting the bricks out of the way, or removing them with an air hammer. Whatever is hidden behind the door is somewhat fragile, and must be handled like the most delicate piece of blown glass.
Patience Revisited…Again
Once again, patience seems to be the game plan, calling upon all those still-immature resources in my virtual tool box. The answers to the riddles won’t come by bulldozing my way through, or trying to force the answers to appear full-blown. My normal tendency to blow past the steps from problem to solution won’t work here. Instead, I’m being asked to continue honing my still-developing skill of patience, while bringing into play those more mature ones of stubbornness and perseverance.
While I’m thinking I hope I’m up to the task, and won’t fall back on old habits of giving up when things get too hard, I know previous tests of patience have strengthened that skill beyond what it was when I allowed frustration to prematurely end a quest. If nothing else, this is another lesson meant to improve on a skill which, if no longer in its infancy, is still barely beyond the toddler stage.
Grateful for More Lessons
My gratitudes today are:
- I’m grateful for the harder, more challenging lessons.
- I’m grateful for messages, even if it takes me awhile to decipher them.
- I’m grateful for opportunities to improve on my patience.
- I’m grateful for quests, even when their purpose isn’t immediately clear.
- I’m grateful for increasing opportunities to move my body.
About the Author
Sheri Conaway is a Holistic Ghostwriter, and an advocate for cats and mental 
health. Sheri believes in the Laws of Attraction, but only if you are a participant rather than just an observer. Her mission is to Make Vulnerable Beautiful. In her spare time, she’s also an accountant with extensive experience in Government Contracting.
I really hate when I’m feeling down, or lost, or lonely, or left out. I know it’s part of the normal cycle of things, but slogging through muck of my own making is not my idea of a good time. Yet that’s where I seem to have landed the last few days. I suppose growing tired of it is part of the process of yanking me back out by my bootstraps…a not-so-subtle reminder I’m still the captain of my own ship for the most part. Still, through all the cycles I travel, this one is my least favorite, even as it’s probably where I do the most healing.
Granted, the last year or so has had more than its share of challenging moments. People drift in and out of my life these days, but few remain for more than a cycle or two. But all have their purpose. Some were meant to help knock me out of my comfort zone before drifting off so I could see whether I’m able to maintain the shifts on my own. Others slip in for mere moments to remind me to be more discerning about who I trust.
The last bits of that ship are pieces of driftwood, scattered far and wide now. Some have become part of the sea floor, while others have gone aground far from the shipwreck site, carried, by tide and time to places where sun, sea, and air will complete their demise. That ship hasn’t so much sailed, as disintegrated. Yet, is it so different from The Tarot in Tarot, which depicts a building crumbling to the ground in various scenarios depending on the deck? Is this simply a time when old ideas and structures are no longer useful, and must be destroyed before rebuilding on a stronger, more resilient base?
health. Sheri believes in the Laws of Attraction, but only if you are a participant rather than just an observer. Her mission is to Make Vulnerable Beautiful. In her spare time, she’s also an accountant with extensive experience in Government Contracting. 
Once again, despite 2 local opportunities, I didn’t dance at all last week. I did, however, meet friends for dinner one night, but it’s still been as quiet on the social front as it’s been on the work front the last couple of weeks. Could there be a connection? Am I less inclined to clean myself up and go out amongst people because my daily life has gone from a dash to a crawl of late?
What it all boils down to, is I’ve basically traded one rut for another. I went from being the hare to the tortoise, literally from one minute to the next, and am still trying to figure out how to get a little more pep back into my step. The one thing I’m not going to complain about, though, is how well I’ve been sleeping. That, alone tells me shifting gears has been a good change.
health. Sheri believes in the Laws of Attraction, but only if you are a participant rather than just an observer. Her mission is to Make Vulnerable Beautiful. In her spare time, she’s also an accountant with extensive experience in Government Contracting. 
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Embracing Vulnerability Courageously 
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