You’ll Find Path To Better Days
Dear Nancy: My husband is very ill and I have had to take on a great deal of responsibility and make some hard decisions. Normally, I don’t remember my dreams but this one was vivid and easy to remember. - G.C.
A girlfriend and I are going to a dance at a church I attended as a girl. We each have an escort and are separately led through an impossibly difficult maze-like area.
Finally, I come to a spot I can’t get through, so I quit in anger. I ask a man for directions and he points to a beautiful Spanish building among other beautiful buildings. I walk into the building where the dance is being held. My friend is there and she has had the same experience.
Dear G.C.: This dream seems to be about the difficulty you are experiencing in your life right now and the feeling of trying to find your way through it all.
Dancing is a universal symbol of lightheartedness and joy. You are trying to find the dance, but there are trials and complex problems (depicted by the maze) to solve before you can reach that place of joy.
You shared with me that the Spanish building reminded you of your hometown in Southern California and the relaxed lifestyle you had there. When you ask for directions to the dance, you are given guidance to go in that direction. You might want to consider moving back to your hometown as one of your options for the future.
I know this is a difficult time for you, G.C., but the dream shows that you will persevere and find peace and joy at the end.
Dear Nancy: I have a wonderful life with my husband and two children. This dream is a recurring one. My father and I weren’t able to spend much time together because we lived in different cities. Then, when he became ill, he was unable to speak to me on the telephone. He passed away in 1990. - Elana
I’m on the beach that my father and I used to fish from. I see him ahead of me and I run to catch up with him, but I can’t. He turns and keeps shouting, “Go back.” I wake up confused and frightened.
Dear Elana: Some dreams come to show us our unfinished business. These dreams often include the people we have separated from without having the time to speak our truths and show our appreciation. In our phone conversation, you shared that some of the pain you’ve felt since your father’s death has to do with the lack of communication you had with him concerning specific family issues.
The dream feels real in that you are trying to catch up with your father. You can’t and he shouts, “Go back.” This scene makes me wonder if there is an actual spiritual contact here.
Perhaps it is time to write your father a letter, Elana, expressing all of the thoughts and feelings that were left unsaid between you. You might even want to address the current situations in your life that you would want to share with him.
Some dreams call for interpretation and scrutiny, others do not. This one simply asks you to attend to your pain and loss and is part of your healing process.
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.
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