Pointing Out and Working with the Obvious

Sometimes, dreams point out what we perceive as totally obvious. We wake up and say, “Oh yeah? Well, I already know that!” Leaving us feeling frustrated and like that dream meant nothing. Yet, if we were to ignore those dreams, we  would be missing some vital information! There’s a secret to these type of “obvious” dreams, and I’m about to tell you what it is.

But first…let me share my dream I had recently that helped me have these realizations! It was a bit longer, so I’ll try to summarize without excluding important details.

I’m at my parent’s house waiting for the school bus. I’m the age I am now, but it’s like I’m back in high school. Before I got outside, I struggled finding something to wear. There wasn’t much to choose from, and I had to do my best to mix and match. This took a while. Afterward, I gathered up my things, a couple bags, laptop, and water bottle, and went out. Not long after being out, a small group of pre-teen boys show up. They’re talking and joking around with each other. I find them immature and annoying. I was waiting a while, and the bus didn’t come. I saw other people waiting further down the street, so I know I didn’t miss it. I decided to go see what my fiancé, Dave, is up to.

He’s over on the next street digging a hole in an archaeological fashion. (A square hole, going down little by little). I ask him how it’s going, and he mentions potentially finding bones. I look in the hole and see what appears to be bones. We wonder if they’re human. I reach in and pull out a skull that’s short and sort of oblong. (Picture a winter hat/beanie laying flat). On the back, there’s a bulbous, squishy part that I assume is brains. I’m now holding and feeling the squishy part and I’m freaked out and fascinated. The bones have been buried for a long time, so any biological matter would have been long decomposed. (In the dream, I knew what type of animal it was from. When I woke up, I couldn’t remember). I realize I could be missing the bus, so I tell Dave I have to go, and head back over to the spot by the mailbox where the boys are. 

There are fireworks suddenly going off over the lake (the lake where I grew up. In waking life, you can see it from the street) as I realize it’s almost 8am, and the bus should be coming at any moment. It’s a massive 4th-of-July-style firework display that doesn’t last long. When they’re done, I look down and notice I’m wearing sweatpants. They’re black, and I’m wearing a red flannel, so I’m not too concerned. Yet, I’m getting bored and figure I have time to go change. I do, I try on a few pairs of jeans- none of which are great- yet choose one then head back out. Now, it’s 8:30 and I realize that classes start at 9 or 9:30. I’m paranoid I’m not going to make it, so I go ask Dave to give me a ride to school.

Then I’m in a parking lot of a mini mart. I go in and see coffee and cookies. The cookies look good, but there’s only one left. I want coffee, yet feel I won’t have enough time to get it. The girl at the checkout counter encourages me to get the cookie, so I do. I head out and start back across the parking lot, then realize I forgot my phone! As I turn around, I see a bus pull in…not a school bus, but a general passenger bus. I want to get back in before the busload of people fill up the little store. When I get back in, I ask the same girl about my phone, she tells me she hasn’t seen it and that she didn’t see me with it when I came in.

Now I’m flustered. I end up going back to parent’s house, back to where I was waiting, and now the boys are gone, (I assume the bus came) and my stuff’s been moved. I pick it up, relieved the boys didn’t steal anything.

 I wake  up.

So, that’s a lot to follow! Let’s start with what I felt was “obvious” in the dream.

What stood out to me right away, was the amount of times I walked away from the bus stop. I couldn’t keep still and just wait. I just had to be doing something else, something that mostly pertained to my appearance. I also didn’t trust that I was going to make it back in time. And then I didn’t trust that the bus was going to come at all! In waking life, I’m quite the impatient person, and often want to see results from my efforts quickly. I’m often not trusting in the process!

Once I noticed that, the meaning plowed into me.

I felt that the message was that I need to trust. I need to have patience. Not try to control every situation I’m in as that will only cause more issues/distractions. It’s okay to wait. What’s coming will come, and everything will work out. (The bus). In waking life there are many times I lose patience, and feel I have to do something. Lately, I have been feeling like I’m in a funk about different realms of my life, and feeling like I can’t just relax…I feel like I HAVE to do SOMETHING.

So, while this dream pointed out the obvious that I’m impatient, what it revealed more was what I’m NOT doing - trusting. I read a great article in the “DreamTime” magazine, which is a publication from the International Association for the Study of Dreams (IASD). The author, Katherine Bell, pointed out how dreams aren’t necessarily “scolding you” to do something.

The most important thing she mentioned was to recognize the feelings behind what it’s like to be doing what you’re doing in the dream. So for mine, I’m impatient and trying to control situations; I’m not trusting. I’m frustrated. She suggests looking to see what the impact of that is on waking life.

If I answered that right now, I would say, ooh yeah, being that way causes stress and anxiety. If I already am having anxiety over a situation, why create more?? If I’m gentle with myself and allow patience and trust to come into play naturally, I’ll start to feel those emotions in everyday situations, and they’ll become natural. They will gradually override my desire to hurry up and do something, which is what’s currently holding me back.

There’s the secret! In an obvious dream, read between the lines and recognize and really feel the impact of what’s going on. Then, ask yourself what it would be like if those feelings/impacts were different. Ask what you’re NOT doing. And, if you were to do the thing you’re not doing… Would you be happier? More excited? Inspired? What would happen?

The possibilities are endless.