Feathered Friends Could Be A Sign

This column is intended as entertainment. But psychologists who work with clients’ dreams say that dreams can hold a tremendous amount of significance; a particularly disturbing or repetitive dream may indicate the need to see a therapist.

Dear Nancy: I am a nurse practitioner and administrator at a clinic. I feel like my desk is a “dumping ground” for all of the other workers there and this is really getting me down. This dream seems to be about work. Can you help me with it? - Doreen.

I am on my way to the clinic and I’m running late. I stop at a store for supplies and along with other items I purchase a robin and a parakeet. The parakeet is in a cage and the robin is not. I arrive at the clinic. People are covering for me but it is very hectic. I feel incredible pressure, nearly panic, to take care of the patients who are increasingly demanding to see me.

The pressure is tremendous from all sides because I know I must take care of the birds first. I realize the birds have been stuffed under blankets and other things in the back seat of my car. They have had no air, water or food. I take them up to the room in the clinic and frantically try to feed and water the parakeet. I am so distressed by the clamoring and demanding people around me that I spill the food and water.

I open the window and the robin flies out. I’m relieved that he’s not dead although I can see he has some injury around his beak. I regret bringing him here because now he’s a long way from home. I turn and look at the parakeet and he’s dead at the bottom of the cage.

Dear Doreen: Oftentimes dreams will show us directly what is happening in our lives and your dream seems to be doing this. It is about your work, the subject of your frustration.

Birds usually represent transcendence and freedom. They show up in dreams to inform us that we may need liberation from a situation that is too fixed or rigid. They remind us to rise above our circumstances, using our own flights of imagination, inspiration and creativity.

You bring two birds with you to work. The robin has an injury or disease around its beak. This gives us a hint that you must communicate your need not to be a “dumping ground” for your co-workers; you need to speak up for yourself. You care for the robin by setting it free. The parakeet is still in its cage and even though you try to care for it, it dies. The cage is a self-created prison and shows how your inner-self feels locked-up and uncared-for.

What part of you needs to take wing and fly? Think about what you can do for yourself, saying “no” when appropriate.

This dream may be calling for the death of the “caged” bird to make way for your own evolvement. It may also be a warning: If you don’t find some way to be nurtured, to be creative and to play, the part of you that is the “free spirit” may die.

xxxx