Dear Dr. Tonay,

I had a dream the other night about somehow getting into water. I can’t remember where I was prior to that or the area I was in. Once I’m in the water I see a tidal wave from afar and I come into contact with an Asian woman and her young daughter. They were in a tiny boat and I was just swimming in the water.

The prior post, Water Dreams, describes what these dreams are typically about:  unconscious emotions, or feelings we aren’t paying attention to. Here, this female dreamer is “in the water” (immersed in feelings) and about to becoming overwhelmed (tidal wave).

All of a sudden the tidal wave was very close so I felt that I need to help the mother and daughter as well as save myself. I told the mother that we need to swim under this, and she seemed very scared. I turned to the little girl and told her she needed to hold her breath for a little bit.

This scenario is unlikely to happen in everyday life. Dreams like that often hold particular, important meaning, and can have a mythical quality–like a fairytale. The dreamer is alone, she sees others in the same predicament, there’s an impending danger, and then, she copes by instructing the others on what they need to do.

The obstacle is natural (ocean); my research found that natural obstacles are the most common obstacle in creative people’s dreams (they also have more dreams about water than do others). What the dreamer does to cope in the dream often mimics what s/he does in waking life when encountering an obstacle. In this case, she takes charge and focuses on helping others, something feminine people (male and female) tend to do first.

At a deeper level, the dream may also be representing the dreamer’s relationship with aspects of her self–a ‘foreign’ (unknown) woman and a little girl part of her own psyche, floating on the surface of feeling and afraid–possibly herself as a child, or a new, emerging, creative aspect the dreamer has been nurturing for about as long as the age of the dream child.

The moment we came back up to the surface I felt so relieved! All 3 of us swam in, to a dock where there were other people who had survived as well.  I saw everyone with a loved one and being so happy to find each other.

And it works! Nurturing others, and directing them about how to cope with their feelings (hold your breath, dive in and through!) enables the three to reach safety and solid ground.

I remember walking through a warehouse type of place searching for someone as if I had lost someone and I was seeing if they had survived. I felt very alone at that point and all of a sudden I woke up.

And now, the mystery… for whom is she searching; without whom does she feel alone? From the outward perspective, this could be a real person. It’s more likely, though, that the searched-for other is another, deeper aspect of herself she just began to explore when she dove under the wave.  Warehouses are where things are stored; sometimes, they represent memories and experiences from our past, waiting to be rediscovered or worked through.  This dreamer might want to imagine herself back in the warehouse as vividly as possible, and draw the space, or write a story about entering it.  Often, the unconscious will reveal itself when we use our dream images creatively. The more we know of ourselves, the clearer our creative spring will flow.

Well, the garden is blooming, a charm of goldfinches arrived last week, and a pair of nesting chickadees from spring returned to chirp and splash.  Have a cup of tea, and enjoy your summer dreams…

In my private practice, teaching, and with friends with whom I share dreams, I find that when we write down our dreams over time, they begin to create a larger story.  It’s as if each dream is a chapter, anticipating the next turn of plot, with prior dreams being the backstory.

For example, a man I know recently dreamed he was walking along a wooded path, nothing frightening or threatening or really very remarkable at all.  He looked to the left, and there was a smaller path, like something made by a small animal, winding through the undergrowth beneath the trees.  He awoke.

A week or so later, he dreamed he was in the woods, only now he was on his hands and knees, crawling through the brush, seeking something terribly important.  When he awoke, he couldn’t remember what it was, but was left with the feeling… Something…

He had several more dreams, all set in the woods, in which he was always alone, and on a journey toward something important, with an increasing sense of urgency. In the latest dream, a small but quick fox appeared ahead of him, which he began to follow.   It led him to the edge of a cliff before he woke up.

Consider your own dreams over a few weeks.  Look for similarities in setting, characters, and your own focus as the dreamer within the dream.  Is there a plot unfolding? Where are you going? How will you get there? What will you do next?

Your unconscious, the author, is writing your story every night, with no conscious effort from you at all.  Was that you, thinking you’re not creative? Have no more ideas? Are stuck? Take a look at where you are, where you’ve been, and what’s in front of you right now:

You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.
-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I’m off to give a dream workshop at Rancho La Puerta in Tecate, Mexico.  Until next time, feel free to explore the links to the right and to scroll down for prior posts… Sweet dreams!