Friday, January 8, 2010

Road Work Ahead


A recurring theme in my dreams, over many years, is that my road is blocked by construction work. In one of these dreams, I found a road completely impassable with great hills of rubble and huge bulldozers ahead of me. I woke frustrated, and decided to try to get back inside the dream and find a way forward. When I reentered the dream, I discovered I had a companion I hadn't noticed before. He looked like an impossibly beautiful, radiant double of myself. He wasn't blocked by the construction, He shot up something like a storm drain, flying Superman-style. Then it hit me - I'm dreaming and I can fly. I flew up the tunnel after him, and entered one of the most powerful life-changing experiences of my life.

Since then, I still find my road blocked at times, in my dreams, and often don't remember that I can fly. Sometimes I have to turn back, or wait my time (as we have to do on a highway when there is literal construction and flagmen determining when we can stop or go). Sometimes my dream self does something as cool as flying, like picking up my vehicle and carrying it over the obstacles.

A variant is coming to a point where the road is unfinished, or the bridge just stops halfway across a body of water or an overpass. Those dreams make me want to look very carefully at what direction I'm following in my work and my life and check whether that's really the way I want to go. If it is, then I'll consider what roadwork I need to do in order to go forward.

3 comments:

  1. Dear Robert,
    I would think these signs would depend on the individual. To me, they are a further incentive to forge ahead. Sure, if caution is indicated slow down...but, nothing usually happens overnight...there is usually roadwork ahead in most instances.
    Margie

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  2. That's a great insight, Margie, relevant to many of my "road work" dreams and those of many others. To get to where we want to go, work is sometimes required. It's alos good to remember we can fly - which, under ordinary circumstances, may mean taking a moment to try to look at things from a higher level and scope out the possible roads into the future.

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  3. Robert,
    I have this kind of dream often. I often get out of my car when it seems like a hindrance to proceeding, to climb over road obstacles or crawl through culverts, or yes, carry my car. What I usually get out of these dreams is 1) do I want to continue on my current path? (is this just a minor detour, or a big brick wall?), and 2) can I forge ahead in another way, like on foot (sole/soul!) instead of driving (striving and rushing)?

    I like the idea of getting the big picture from flying over the route, and intend to do this more often now. Thank you once again, Wise Teacher.
    Nancy

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