I am a dreamer - literally. Every night I dream, always in full color with stunning amounts of detail. This has been the case since I was a child. Most nights, I have several dreams and I do not buy for a minute that dreams are only 30-60 seconds each. Who came up with that anyway? Talk to my husband, who learned a long time ago to ask for the “readers digest" version of my dreams, and he will assure you that there is no way all that transpires in one of my dreams takes place in a minute. Some of my dreams are simply random, with various people from past and present and even faces I have never seen before. Sometime people change into other people as the dreams progress. I have died in my dreams and yes, I remain alive. I have had a gazillion dreams where I am in danger and call 911 only to have the phone not work, receive a busy signal, or be rendered unable to speak when the operator answers. I have had repeat dreams and often wake up from a dream, only to go right back into it when I fall back asleep. I have even gone back into a dream, starting over at the beginning, and changed the outcome.
I have had my share of nightmares, but some of the most powerful dreams I have had, have been those who reveal something to me about myself or those around me. I do a lot of processing in my sleep. I come up with my best solutions to problems and plan entire lessons for my class while sleeping. I have written full poems in my dreams. I have often said I think God uses my dreams to speak to me because it is the only time I am “still” enough to pay attention.
I am used to having an active dream life, but every once in a while, I have a dream that stays with me. I had such a dream last week that is still resonating in my mind. This dream was like a series of vignettes, each seemingly independent from another, that took place over a series of many years. In the first, I met a Russian boy who was new to my high school and was looking to make new friends. In another, I met up with a woman who needed some assistance with her daughter that had Down’s syndrome. A third scenario had me visiting someone in the hospital and coming across an African American nurse named Karniela(?) who was having an very hard time emotionally and needed some encouragement. There were about 3 more such scenarios, all with different people in different situations requiring either assistance or kindness.
In the final vignette of this dream, I was traveling overseas for some reason with a friend, and was in what appeared to be a Middle Eastern country. We were walking on a neighborhood street and, out of nowhere, soldiers or officers of some type appeared and arrested us. The street was full of people. As I was getting put into a vehicle to be taken into custody, I met eyes with a woman who appeared to recognize me. I could not see the rest of her as she was wearing a burka. My friend and I were taken to some kind of holding cell. I was sure that we were not ever going to be released and was bracing myself for what was going to happen to us. A while later, a man showed up and talked to the guards. We were immediately released into his custody. I was very confused. It was at this point that he began to tell me that it was his wife with whom I had locked eyes with and that she knew of me from a picture on a family member’s mantle. She had not only seen the picture but been told of a story of how I had impacted this family with a simple interaction years ago - it was a family from one of the early vignettes in the dream. And then, slowly it was revealed how all of the previous vignettes had led up to this moment. All of the people in the dream were connected in various ways. The nurse I met in the hospital had been a nurse who provided care for the child with Down’s syndrome. It went on and on. It was like this big reveal in flashback - like in Crash or the Sixth Sense.
When I woke up, I was a little overwhelmed. It was a huge dream and I was trying to take it all in. I really wanted to write it all down, but it was SO much (which is why the above is very much a “readers digest” version.) I have been kicking it around in my mind for about a week, trying to figure out what it all meant. It obviously wasn’t your standard dream; I am supposed to glean something from it. I do not think that the point was being nice to people because you may need to be bailed out some day. I think it was much deeper than that.
In each scenario, I was presented with a situation and had a choice in how to respond. I could show kindness and/or provide assistance or simply ignore the need. Now obviously, given that the dream spanned many years and I aged as it went, these weren’t the only interactions I would have had with people throughout that time span. These were, however, the ones that led up to my release.
What I have taken from this dream so far is that every interaction is an opportunity. With everyone I met, I have a choice to be self-centered and guarded or reach out. In life, we face situations like this every day. Do we offer a kind word if we notice a store cashier is sad? Do we even notice? Do we reach out to someone at the doctor’s office waiting room who appears upset or focus solely on our own ailments? Do we get outside of ourselves enough to take as many opportunities as possible to positively affect others’ lives?
In this dream,each scenario presented me with a choice. It is funny and ironic to me that in the last scenario, it was someone else who had to choose whether or not to show kindness and assistance to me. I was at the mercy of others. This woman could have easily chosen to turn away and pretend like she didn’t know me. She could have done nothing. Instead, she probably took great risks given her culture and chose to help me. Her seizing an opportunity blessed me. The dream easily could have ended with me being set free, Instead, it closed with this reveal of sorts that showed how everything was all tied together in this amazing sequence of interactions. I still grapple with this question...If I made the choice to "look the other way" in one of the earlier scenarios, would I have been released in the end? Perhaps there will be a sequel!
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