The Old College Dream

I am 66 years old, and last night I experienced yet another of what is termed the "college dream."

In this dream, I have been bragging to everyone that I'm about to graduate from college and that everything is all mapped out for me.  Then I suddenly remember that I've been forgetting to go to class almost all semester.  I don't know what to do.  Should I drop the classes?  What about graduating?  Do I know any of the material?  Can I catch up?  And also, I can't find one of the books.

As the reality of the situation begins to sink in (in the dream), I realize that my hopes of graduation are all but dashed and that I must somehow find a job.  So when I woke up this morning, that's what I was doing.  Trying to figure out how to find a job.

As I shared this frustrating dream with my husband, he said he also remembered a dream.  A strange man came to the house and I talked to him all day.  He was very jealous.  My son came over and said to my husband, "Well, Eric, this time you've really done it."  Don't know what that was supposed to mean. 

So here I am having a dream about career, job, success, and my husband is still worrying about the stuff that you would think as a 68 year old he had moved past.  Wow.  Men and women are really different, aren't they?  That's what my boss always used to say.  We approach virtually everything differently.  The "Men Are From Mars; Women Are From Venus" kind of thing where you read your portion of the book that applies to women and then you read the part that applies to men.  You agree with everything that Dr. Gray said about women, but the men's portion is weird and alien.  It couldn't be right, could it?  Turns out, it is.

Dreams of falling, crashing, and all of that usually go along with some sort of concern or crisis.  Once I dreamed that I and a co-worker flew off the side of a cliff in a van, heading for certain death.  It was quiet and peaceful as the van glided in the air, and I was eerily calm too.  Until I woke up and my heart was pounding outside my chest!!

The "college dream" also usually comes when I'm doing something that takes me outside of my comfort zone.  College is a great time of life, but it is also incredibly stressful.  My 80-year-old sister has experienced the "college dream" many times in her life, and also one other one -- she is teaching first grade and it is now April, and she realizes that none of the kids can read.

We can learn something from our dreams.  They don't have to be blown off as some transient electrical activity in the brain at night.  They are part of God's plan, just like everything else that happens to us.

One native tribe cut off from all civilization has this tradition of gathering for breakfast in the morning.  Then everyone shares their dreams from the night before, and the group speculates on the meaning of each dream.  They have a virtually no mental health problems. 

Dreams can be gifts.  They can promote healing.  They can be messages or warnings (like Joseph's messages in the Bible).

Sleep well, friends.