Dreams

Kate Hunter Kelley

Last night I dreamed:

o7 I have a new apartment that is quite odd. There are two rooms,

like kitchens, with tiled floors. One of these has a shower heaf7 do7

coming from the ceiling. This is where I will shower, but there is no

tub, enclosure or drain. Right next to this is an armchair marked (with

doilies) as if it is a stove with burners, but it is simply a chair. The

real stove is out in the hallway. I stand here quite confused.

f7

I am continuing to train for the radio in Hollywood. I am learning

various knobs and switches and buttons. A studio director times and

records me. Like Annie Hall, I have always been a bit of a klutz. I bump

into tables, trip over edges of carpet and turn the windshield wipers on

when it isn’t raining. So, to coordinate turning off the microphone with

one hand, while cuing music up with the other, is like having to perform

an intricate ballet. My brain gets scrambled and forgets to send messages

to my hands.

Houses and apartments in dreams are representative of our inner

psychological states. Thus, an apartment with its rooms all mixed up

reflects a psyche that is feeling a bit nutty. In waking life I struggle

to find spatial coordination, in dreams my kitchen stove can’t find its

place.

I chose to pursue radio because of an increasing awareness of my

mortality. I figured, since I am bound to die, I might as well view life

as a playground and throw myself into new experiences. I forgot that

learning initially feels like dying. I hadn’t meant to speed up the

process!

A wise baker who has hair longer than mine and makes habit-forming

pecan croissants (go see Ron at Andree’s Patisserie) reminded me

“learning is half the fun.” I must remember to tell that to the studio

director who has the countenance of Lurch from The Adam’s Family.

Later in my dream:

o7 I go into the main room. I am relieved to see screens on the

windows because my cat, Sammy, stays indoors. Looking out, I see a

cityscape and worry that Sammy will be bored here. I too will miss the

trees and birds we are used to seeing.

f7

My schedule is much crazier now. I don’t have much time for

daydreaming, soaking in nature and hanging around listening to live

music. When I do fit in a walk on the beach, I am preoccupied.

I have been experiencing strange sensations in my body. Sometimes I

feel like I need a good cry, but the tears seem too buried. Other times

it feels like I need to scream (I happily oblige this one). There are

other feelings I find hard to describe -- like a disquieting in my

bones, a stretching of cells or a foreign body moving inside.

All of these sensations are signs of change. Moving into a new way of

being in the world causes disruption. Pets in dreams reflect our internal

needs. My worrying that Sammy will be bored, is a sign that my playful

self is unhappy with the current state of things.

I can’t make more hours in a day, or days in a week. I can, however,

adopt an attitude that relieves my pressured thinking. Humor, it seems,

is the best medicine.

* KATE HUNTER KELLEY, MFT, Dream Artist. Kate is a writer and a

psychotherapist. You can reach her at (949) 472-1427 or

[email protected]