After reading Cynthia's 47th Birthday entry, "Baring It All" I had a dream about Dr. Seuss. Cynthia's blog entry is such a powerful affirmation of selfhood and optimism, and I guess her words must have embedded themselves in my unconscious. Cynthia spoke of reading one of her favorite books, Oh the Places You'll Go by Seuss. After reading her entry, I looked at that Seuss book again and enjoyed it immensely.
In the dream, Allen and I were in our 30's: you know, that time in life when the kids are little and you have dreams for them, and you've got dreams for yourself, and you're working and working and working and wondering if you're really building a career or staying in one place.
The hallmark of the dream is that Allen bought a used car which he called a "Dr. Seuss car." It was enormous enough that it had a bookshelf (here I must smile, since my life is books) in the back seat. The car looked like a big, traveling cake, all festooned with icing and lace (and exactly like an illustration in a Seuss book), but the motor was bad and sometimes wouldn't start.
The car, it seems to me, is a visual manifestation of the abstract idea of "going somewhere" and yet, because the car has a "bad motor," having a hard time "getting anywhere."
In the dream I was thinking a lot about where I wanted to "go" with my writing, so I was thinking about MFA programs I wanted to be a part of. This is obviously where I am right now--not thinking about MFA programs, obviously (except that I did recently e-mail Cynthia about MFA programs), but thinking about where I'm "going" as a writer.
I've been feeling lately like I have such a long way to go in order to be the writer I want to be.
Alison Luterman, the poet I roomed with when I taught workshops at Esalen, recently sent out an e-mail about a book she wants to do on midlife dreams. I think Alison's book idea inspired my dream also.
I just love my dream life. I've been thinking about that dream all day.
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1 comment:
File this dream away- it's so visual- perhaps for a film or video- Even works if you consider car as Freudian symbol of masculinity- Or power?
Dreams can inform conscious life- Wonder where it will take you-
Gretchen
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