Friday, February 1, 2013

A Dream and A Puzzle

stock vector : Stone bridge over river sketch


I've written here more than once about acting on something that comes to you in a dream. Either write it down on a notepad when you wake up with the vivid image still with you, or write about it the next morning if it is still in your mind. 

Last night, I had a strange dream that felt like a message of some sort, but I'm totally puzzled as to what it is. In the dream, Ken and I were seated at a very long banquet table with many people. Two women to our right were of the Muslim faith. Neither of us had ever met them before. We were having a nice conversation and enjoying dinner when one of the women asked me how long we'd been married. I told her it would be 49 years this coming June. Her face lit up with a big smile. She removed a bracelet from her wrist and handed it to me. "I'd like you to have this," she said.

The bracelet was solid silver. It had a tiny crown or tiara standing up in the center of the clamp-on bracelet. An inch or so down from that crown there was a heart with tiny floral etchings in it and the word Bridges. I accepted the gift and immediately put it on. For the remainder of the dream, I was admiring the bracelet but the one thing that kept catching my eye was that word Bridges

When I woke up, the first image that came to me was the bracelet and the word. To say I am puzzled is putting it mildly. What kind of message am I to get from this dream? I do believe that dreams have messages for us. Of course, many times, what is in the dream is a symbol of something else. 

Is it about a story I am to write? Or a trip I am to take? Or telling me that I can get from one side of the river to another easily? At this point, I have no idea whatsoever. But I'll keep the image in my mind and see what develops.

Not all dreams are clearcut, nor do they all give us a base for a new story or poem. Still, they are worth remembering and assessing. Maybe something will occur in my life tomorrow or next week or next month that will be related. When a dream is as vivid and memorable as this one was, I think it must have some meaning. 

So, what about you? Have you ever had a dream that you've never forgotten? Have you ever written a story after an especially vivid dream? Tell us about it.

3 comments:

  1. Nancy, my dreams are clear as bells. The main one is my college dream where I'm on my way to a final, but can't remember where it is, or even what the textbook was about. I'm done for! Symbol: my desperate need for accomplishment (or fear of failure).

    Earlier in our marriage, my wife would tell me her dream, and then I'd ask her questions about it. Strangely, the dream would expand and become more complicated. It became too much for her; we had to quit.

    It would be like: "Can you describe anyone else at the banquet table?"

    ReplyDelete
  2. When I was very young, probably 4th or 5th grade, I had a recurring dream of me sitting in the driver's seat of a car looking in the rear view mirror. A German soldier was walking toward my car. If my husband were to put on a uniform, he would be that soldier, and he is 100% German. I've had other recurring dreams which lead to reality. Guess I should write the stories. ;)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Funny how some people seldom remember their dreams while others, like those who commented and me, have vivid memories. I think the study of dreams is fascinating.

    ReplyDelete

No Fee, No Pay! Hmmm!

  H U H? I was skimming through a lengthy list of journals whose closing dates were looming. Many were published at universities, some were ...