Author: bonniemitsch

1. I am in a play. I am the only actor. It is about to start. I am not prepared. I haven’t practiced enough. People come in and sit down. I lift my hands up to quiet them down. When I am just about to start, another 12 or so people come in. It takes a while for them to get in their seats. When they do, I again raise my hands to quiet the crowd.

2. Jan Lorenz is about to leave and go somewhere. She has planted all these colorful flowers outside close to the sidewalk. I tell her they are so beautiful, they almost look artificial.

There is something about opening this small window and putting food into this living room. Three animals live there. Two are the same animal but I can’t remember what kind. The third is a baby elephant. I throw food through the window. The elephant is behind a couch. and cannot see the food. The other two animals can see the food and are more assertive, so they eat it.

I am to swim in this lake. First a very long “string” of small, round, white buoys are tossed out onto the lake. I am to swim with a couple of other people? on the shore side of the buoys. We wait until the string of buoys adjust itself on the lake (this gives us a path to swim in). I see these red posts (four or five) in the lake to the right. I see another section of the lake beyond the red posts. I realize that that part of the lake is off limits for some reason.

I get into the water and swim. The temperature of the water is comfortable. We pass a cabin on a small island in the middle of the lake. There is a father and a girl of about 10 years old on the porch of the cabin. I think she is about to swim.

The group and I return to the shore. I put the buoys away in a pocket of something I carry. Now the buoys are very small. I will have to swim again, but not today.

Feeling: happy

I worked this dream with Susan and Bryn. Here is what I wrote:

If this were my dream, I am at a point in my life , related to my challenge with Kevin, where I am in a liminal space practicing having good boundaries with him as well as others who can invade my boundaries. I have support from others (fellow swimmers). I throw out the white buoys-a new experience, and they spread out easily. Having boundaries is easier than I thought. The red posts to my right symbolize future practice/learning re my boundaries that I am not ready for yet. I swim and and feel very comfortable and at ease. I notice a girl of about 10 years old on the porch with her father. She is about to swim. Maybe, this is where i am at with setting boundaries-similar to a 10 years old. I remember an incident at AAU swimming when I was 10 years old where the daughter of THE swimming family shamed me in front of the group. In the locker room before practice, her friend slipped and hit her head on a bench. I froze and didn’t say anything. When she shamed me I didn’t speak up for myself and the coach or anyone else did not say anything. At the end of the dream I say I will swim again, but not today. I will practice having boundaries and carry them with me in my bag. Eventually, I will be able to swim in the part of the lake that is off limits. I will become more comfortable being assertive.