Can You Accept Fully This Situation?
Dear Nancy: I have been praying hard for God to change me. I have been very angry and depressed because my brother-in-law is dying of cancer. I’ve become opinionated and lash out at people, and then feel terrible about it. Throughout my life I have had dreams of giant waves breaking, although I am usually not in danger. This is my most recent one. Julie
I’m in a house that sits on a cliff high above the ocean, with a highway below. I’m in my beautiful bedroom, with white walls and hunter green trim. I feel pleased about the color green. I step outside on a patio and see a huge wave coming and breaking across the highway. A big semi-truck goes by, but isn’t stopped or hurt by the wave.
Dear Julie: Let’s look at this dream as if all the parts are yourself: The house is clean and beautiful, sitting high above the ocean. This suggests you are given an overview, able to see things in your life from a higher perspective. It also hints you may tend to be an “observer” of your life rather than fully participating in it. Water is an archetypal symbol for the dreamer’s emotional life. An approaching tidal wave can therefore represent a huge emotional disturbance or upset.
Jeremy Taylor states to dream of an approaching tidal wave usually indicates the dreamer is apprehensive. If the dreamer allows the full impact of emotions welling up to be felt and acknowledged consciously, he or she will be overwhelmed and will drown in the feelings, unable to think or act responsibly and rationally.
One of life’s greatest challenges is to recognize and honor all aspects of ourselves, including the sometimes uncomfortable and difficult parts of our personalities and souls. Perhaps your challenge is to realize you can experience all of your emotional life without it destroying you.
True change comes from facing our fears and allowing the expression of our authentic selves to emerge rather than holding back, feeling guilty and wrong. This doesn’t mean allowing yourself to inappropriately attack or hurt others. Perhaps if you permit yourself to feel the full extent of your grief, you will find you are less angry and volatile.
The color green and the positive feelings you have regarding this color suggests this healing may have already begun.
Tips for readers: Drawing ideas and inspiration from our dreams can be one of the most exciting and rewarding aspects of dreamwork. You needn’t be an artist to take advantage of the creativity that’s offered in your dreams. Our dreams often offer creative solutions for problems regarding parenting, work issues, relationships and finances and business.
Many times, dreams offer suggestions to solve dilemmas, and, with practice, you can learn to recognize them.
You may find yourself reacting to a familiar circumstance in a dream in a totally new way. Instead of avoiding conflict, you might confront it. Instead of yelling at your child, you might listen.
Insights into the feelings and actions of others may allow you to see problems from a larger perspective, opening the way for more creative solutions.
We are all creative people. In the dreamworld, much is offered in the way of ideas for artwork, new inventions, inspiration for a new career, books and stories, and life changes. When we consciously work with our dreams, we find a boundless supply of insight and inspiration.
xxxx