Seasons, Water Reflect Dreamers’ Emotions

Thu., Jan. 29, 1998

Nancy Huseby Bloom

Dear Nancy: I had this dream two years ago, several months after breaking up with my boyfriend, Rob. We lived on a lake in the summer and in the city in the winter. Although we had a good relationship in many ways, I broke up with him because I felt I couldn’t trust him. I have missed him and a small part of me wants him back, although I haven’t told him. - Mary Ann

I’m in the lake house looking out an upstairs window. It’s a cold, wintry day. Rob is below, looking up at me. He takes the canoe out to ice fish on the lake, but it falls through the ice.

Rob returns for the three-wheeler to save the canoe, but it sinks, too. He comes back again, this time for the snowmobile. He takes it onto the broken ice and it begins to sink. I’m frantic and pick up the sled to try to save his life.

I grab him by the hair just before he goes under, and when I pull him out, he has an infant’s body and an adult head. He’s crying and I hold him in my arms, like a baby, and tell him he’s going to be OK.

Dear Mary Ann: The season and climate in dreams often reflects the emotional mood of a situation. In your dream, the setting is a lake cabin, much like your summer residence with Rob. But now it’s a chilly scene and the warmth you shared with him is gone. You have an overview of your relationship from your higher vantage point in the dream.

What were the dynamics of your connection with Rob? Were you always trying to “rescue” him?

In dreams, water is often a symbol of emotions; ice depicts frozen emotions. Were you freezing Rob out emotionally due to your lack of trust?

A canoe is built for two, and because you spent so much time together on the water, it probably represents your sinking relationship. Rob is trying to save the relationship and you are trying to save Rob. In your dream, the attempts to save only create more suffering and loss. Were your emotions overwhelming at the time of the dream? Were you concerned Rob couldn’t make it without you?

When you pull Rob from the water, his body is that of an infant. Perhaps this is a message from your inner-self that he’s not mature enough and your role in the relationship was as caretaker.

I hope I’ve given you some new insights on your dream.

Reader tips: Want to know more about your relationships with other people? Having trouble with a boss, child or spouse? Dreams offer insights and clues into our relationships. Besides unconscious feelings, clues about what other people think and feel often surface in dreams.

Observe the way people treat you in the dream. Are they cold or hostile? Perhaps the person is mad at you and you’re unaware. Are they ardent and loving? Maybe a new romance is on the way.

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.

, DataTimes MEMO: Nancy Huseby Bloom has studied dreams for 18 years. Dreams may be sent to her c/o The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210-1615, or fax, (509) 459-5098. Please send a short summary of the circumstances in your life and include your name, address and phone number. Nancy conducts dream groups on a regular basis. For information, call 455-3450.

Nancy Huseby Bloom has studied dreams for 18 years. Dreams may be sent to her c/o The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane, WA 99210-1615, or fax, (509) 459-5098. Please send a short summary of the circumstances in your life and include your name, address and phone number. Nancy conducts dream groups on a regular basis. For information, call 455-3450.

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