Work Stress May Be Coming Out

Thu., Feb. 15, 1996

Nancy Bloom The Spokesman-Revie

Dear Nancy: I have three children and a very stressful job. I have so much to do I hardly ever find the time to relax. I’ve had variations of this dream many times and it always disturbs me. Could you help me understand it? - Marsha

I am looking up at the sky and see cars, trucks and even a train. They are very colorful and seem to be going about their business. Then a huge truck starts falling down toward me and I see it is on fire. My heart is pounding. I am relieved when it misses me and lands in the street.

Dear Marsha: Vehicles usually symbolize how we carry ourselves in our daily life. Since your daily life includes a very stressful job and the vehicle that falls is a truck (which is a work vehicle), this dream may be about your job.

Do you feel like you are flying around and can’t stop long enough to get your feet on the ground?

Too much pressure and tension can cause you to crash and your dream may be showing you your fear of this. Maybe it is time for some relaxation and quiet pursuits, Marsha.

Tips for readers: Injury, sickness and death in dreams are all common images that tend to show up when our inner selves are appealing to us for recognition and healing. To recognize that we are the injured animal or person in the dream, the one who needs help, is the first part of the journey toward wholeness. These themes of injury or death may repeat over and over again until we recognize ourselves in them.

When we can accept our own woundedness, we can generate our own healing. This acceptance lifts the veil of illusion and we can see the extent of our pain no longer masked by our closely guarded beliefs about ourselves and our lives.

These dreams are painful and distressing, and yet, they are incredibly valuable in giving us a view of ourselves. Asking yourself appropriate questions concerning your dream symbols can help you unlock their message to you. For example, you might ask yourself:

After dreaming of a starving animal, “What is it I’m starving for? How can I get the nurturing I need?”

After dreaming of a man with amputated arms, “How do I cripple myself?”

After experiencing death in a dream, “What is dying in me? What needs to be reborn?”

After dreaming of a caged and dying bird, “How do I feel trapped? What in me is dying because of this feeling? How can I free up my spirit and my life?”

These types of dreams come during the first part of the journey toward healing. They are difficult but serve us as benefactors and guides. Be thankful for and attentive to them. This is some of the deepest and most profound dream work you will ever do.

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.

xxxx

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