Thursday, August 16, 2012

Dreamers


I got your latest this morning as seen above.  It's truly wonderful.  This whole project has been so fun because we have totally different ways of approaching it.  I love this.


Here it is upside down.  It's just so cute and funny and amazing.

And the back of the envelope:



And here are the insides:



The top inside one looks a little like two hedgehogs having a bit of a row, or snails with fuzzy shells doing the bunny hop.  Or the hokey pokey, I can't decide.  The yellow dotted one looks like a distant cousin of that ant-like alien queen from Lilo and Stitch, but with better hair.  I like your description better than mine: "What is this?  Bat Mask Spirit needs no wings."  Very poetic!

I've never done these ink blot things.  Are they still used professionally?  Is there a standard text somewhere to find out what your interpretations mean?  

These blots remind me of another kind of interpretation: dreams.  A couple of weeks ago for work, I hired a guy from "The Consciousness Institute" to lead a workshop on Dream Interpretation.  I put together a little outline of what I hoped he would cover and then found myself sitting in on the presentation.  He didn't exactly do what I had requested, but the people who showed up seemed interested and he was somewhat engaging in his stumbling but compelling way.  I honestly thought he would bring copies of a list of approved dream symbols that people could take home and put by their bedside in the event they might wake up from a dream and want to do some spontaneous self-interpretation, but I was sadly mistaken.  He basically said that dreams are not about the story but are about parts of you, which seems pretty common sense-y, although I never analyzed my dreams before.  For example, he mentioned that dreaming about driving a car is about your ambition, your drive.  I said I have dreams of driving, but it's always from the back seat, and I can't reach the steering wheel, or the brakes or the gas without having to reach around the driver's seat, which has no one in it.  Everyone laughed, even though I wasn't trying to be funny and when I thought about it later, I must really feel that way.   One of these days I'll just have to either climb over that thing and sit in the front or remove it completely before I get into the car and just operate the vehicle from the back seat and be done with it.

He also talked about this other kind of dream that I have had for many years and it always makes me happy in the dream but when I wake up, I feel like I lost something, or left it behind.  Apparently this type of dream is very common: have you ever dreamed that you are in or live in a small, dark house; then, behind the couch, you discover this door that you hadn't seen before.  You open it and find another apartment with sunlight streaming in through the high windows.  Everything is white or off white and the furniture looks comfortable and inviting.  You feel as if you've found a secret addition to what you'd thought was your small, cramped home.  I love and hate that dream.  When I am in it, it's very exciting but I never get to experience living in that room because I always wake up before I even set foot in it.  It's aggravating.  

OK, it's my turn again...I have some ideas so stay tuned.  I am going to have to recall my days of home ec for this one.

3 comments:

Miss Lisa said...

I have both those dreams. The car one is frustrating and sometimes terrifying, especially if I get tunnel vision during that helpless drive, or I'm careening down a mountain road, or everything outside is too dark to see. I think I have pretty bad career prospects or something. But yes, I'm usually in the back seat or nothing works.

Richard Linklater's dream movie, "Waking Life" has a line about how technology never works in dreams, like phones and such. It's true. They never work in dreams. I wonder why. Can't recommend that film as it is too "dream-like" to be very engrossing. At least for me.

The flat or my Grandmother's house with all the secret extra rooms--I have that one pretty regularly. It's always a flat in SF (hmmm...) or my Grandma's house (only different) with tons of weird old stuff in all the rooms--velvet couches and fabric swatches and on and on. Like she had a warehouse of rooms in her little house by the Cow Palace.

Interesting that both dreams are always in SF. The flat has light, bright rooms with flowered couches and chairs and art and curtains that let the light through. Lots of rooms, and space and yes, it's really nice and then I wake up. Interesting stuff in our brain waves!

I have this book, "Our Dreaming Mind," by Robert L. Van De Castle (great dream name). It's just dry scientific research study summaries about types of dreams, dream situations, groups of dreamers--over 500 pages worth. It sounds like your speaker was coming from this angle--not the dream-dictionary interpretation aspect so much.

This book is great because it's not only informative, but it actually puts me to sleep with its analytical, earnest approach. I only have to read four pages and I'm out. And then I tend to have really vivid dreams! This book is always by my bed but I've never tried reading it in the middle of the night insomnia attacks. Maybe I should.

Speaking of dreams--I got your letter today. OH MY GOODNESS. Like something out of a dream! More on this tomorrow. Dream well.

Dee See said...

I just put both the book and the DVD on hold. I can't wait to get them!

Dee See said...

It's so true about technology in dreams not working. It's like we take these things for granted when we are awake, as if they are part of us, like extra limbs and of course why should they not work just like an arm or a leg or whatever biological resource that is part of our natural make up. But dreams kind of remind you that these manmade things aren't what is "real" so why should they work...but my logic is flawed because dreams themselves aren't "real"...or are they?! (add in Twilight Zone theme song here)

Aside from the driving in the back seat nightmare, I often have dreams where I am desperate to make a phone call but can't dial the number. It's so frustrating and terrifying because my or someone's safety is dependent on it.

Here's another one I have had a lot but not lately...I dream I am running from someone or something. I need to go faster so I begin to run on all four limbs like a dog or a cat or hoofed animal. I can feel my front feet hit the ground and almost pull it back or pull myself forward before my back paws or hooves touch down and they propel the ground back and so on. I can move very quickly in this way. I miss that dream only because in it I feel very self-reliant and I like the feeling of running freely this way. Weird, I know.