As Above, So Below

Is anyone noticing their dreams these days? How what happens in our life above trickles down like water and seeps into the mind below? Last night, my grandson accidently knocked over my guitar and broke four strings (three have already broken in the “real” world) and with my online classes soon to start, I was distraught. The father of an Iranian family comes through the door of the gathering and starts to circle the room shaking hands. Should I do the elbow bump without insulting him? My granddaughter is playing cards with a new friend and I’m worried they’re not six feet apart. 

Nothing new to report here, how the conscious and sub-conscious mind play ping-pong with experiences, thoughts, images, keep a thread raveling and unravelling between the day world above and the night world below. But striking how images of clicking on links suddenly appear in our dreams and for some, fascinating to follow those conversations.

In some traditional cultures, families gather at breakfast to share their dreams and discuss what they might suggest. As so often in Western “civilized” cultures, that practice continues, but is run by a clock and charged by the hour. I never delved deeply into dream analysis, either as an amateur talking with my friends nor the recipient of professional help. But I do notice them and spend a little time occasionally—like now—marveling at their presence.

My funniest dream story comes from a roommate who kept a tape recorder by his bed and dutifully told his dreams to the machine as soon as he awoke so he wouldn’t forget them. One morning at breakfast, he emerged from his room with the machine and said, “You’ve got to listen to this!” We eagerly gathered around and heard his sleepy 3 am voice begin to recount his dream: 

“I’m walking into a deep, dark, cave. There is a small light at……”

30 seconds of silence. And then… snoring. To the end of the tape.