Tuesday, February 07, 2006

"We all dream a lot - some are lucky, some are not..."


One of the things I've been listening to as I drive around these days is the Broadway production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, so I have all those songs bopping around in my head. It occurred to me, as I was listening to

"Strange as it seems, there's been a run of crazy dreams. . . "

that I have one, or some, to write about.

I dream vividly, but remember almost nothing of the amazing technicolor madness of my own mind once I am fully awake. However, I've realized this week that I've been having a recurring dream, and variations on same, that leave me exhausted. I know that there are some folks around, Theresa, for instance, who are really into dream imagery and symbolism, and I'd love to hear their take, and anyone else's, on my little mansion series.


In real life, we live in a house that is reasonably but not obscenely large. It's a center-hall brick colonial so it looks a little massive, and there are four rooms on the first and second floors and two on the third (not counting bathrooms). It's pretty typical for our 90-year-old neighborhood, which means the windows are all double-hung, the woodwork is beautiful, and a lot of things don't work. When we moved in we were expecting twins, although we didn't know about the twin part yet, and we've been able to comfortably accomodate three children and a live-in nanny, and to squeeze in 50 people for Christmas dinner (given that they are all willing to sit or stand just about anywhere). The yard is 1917-tiny and the garage was built for a buggy, I guess. A number of the homes around here have carriage houses, but there's no sign that our tiny lot ever accomodated horses. (Supposedly the church lot behind us was originally a racetrack, though!)

Anyway, the dream:

In these dreams, we are moving into a new home. IT's HUGE. There are rooms all over the place. So many rooms that a decorator would have a hard time finding pleasure in her job, and this writer is no decorator. Usually the house is also old, with all kinds of odd nooks ands crannies, but the most recent one looked like it had been built on Long Island Sound in the last 20 years.

Just as we are realizing that we have actually purchased this place and that there's no going back, we open a door and find a whole new suite of three or four rooms. Sometimes they are in the basement and they look like someone tried to make an addition in the form of a bomb shelter. Sometimes they are in the attic, and they look like someone added an entire new floor and wing. I keep trying to find furniture for them, but no one in their right mind would own that much furniture. Then I think about how we could just close the door and pretend for as long as we live there that those rooms don't exist.

So go for it, dear readers.

"Any dream, any dream will do."

17 comments:

Anonymous said...

Maybe the new house dream is symbolic of the coming years and how you'd like to fill them. The future is full of possiblity and opportunityand choices. Your nest is empty and needs refurnishing. You are considering all the possiblities in some abstract way perhaps. In any event, sounds like an interesting dream. I rarely remember mine.

Anonymous said...

i sang in 'joseph' for my hebrew school confirmation. i'm still trying to get one of the songs out of my head. ;) dream on!

bean

Vicky said...

Oh, Robin, what a rich dream! I, too, believe the image of the house is representative of possibilities. You are looking at all you can do with your life, and I strongly urge you not to close off those extra rooms. Maybe they are a little overwhelming right now, but they are there, waiting for when you are ready to expand and explore. The bomb shelter image may suggest some need for protection (from the unknown?) As for finding furniture, does it have to be new? Do you have to have a lot of it? Maybe you can pick up a few things along the way and pop them in there as they come along.

I think there is a little refusal to look at or fear of the future. Maybe you need to just to open your heart and mInd and see what happens. Meanwhile your real house sounds just lovely!

Vicky

Lisa :-] said...

I don't know much about dream interpretation, but this one sounds like a field day for someone who does... Especially the fact that you remember it.

Anonymous said...

cool dream. my dreams are never this intriguing.

Anonymous said...

Does the dream house have as many broken parts as the real one? Interesting.

Anonymous said...

No dream interpretor here but I'd go along with what others have said about the possibility of changes in your life, the opening of doors and new opportunities, and perhaps the feeling of not needing all of the "stuff" that you have now. Your current house sounds absolutely perfect in my book. (Well, maybe not the garage part in your area of the country. How do you deal with snow?)

DesLily said...

hmm, i wish i could interpet dreams..

maybe you are facing some difficult obsticals to overcome??

Theresa Williams said...

Robin, I highly recommend that you read Jung! He had the same kinds of dreams and so have I, dreams of finding beautiful hidden rooms in my own house. These are good dreams because I believe they hint at hidden potential that you know is within yourself. It is all about possibility and about you trying to find your hidden riches. I have read quite a bit of scholarship about women's stories, and one theme that comes up again and again is house = body. I'd take it a step further and say that house = your spiritual life. Your creative life. This dream is a blessing.

Cynthia said...

What a wonderful dream. Most of what I've read about dreams suggests that dreams about one's house are dreams about one's self. Newly discovered rooms could maybe new opportunities in your life. How exciting.

Paul said...

My dreams are very different. I think I'd better keep them to myself.

Anonymous said...

Our brains never shut down, I think that is why you awake exhausted. You have many changes taking place in your home, business environments and the tangents from your children. Try lying quietly and not bouncing out of bed and you may remember more.

Symbolism with houses or buildings in dreams usually depends on conditions of the structures. A dilapidated condition = a failure and new or luxurious = prosperity or even travel.

V said...

I think there`s a creative bursting just waiting inside. Ah, the possibilities!
V

V said...

err, P.S.
I`ve had those dreams most of my life.
V

daringtowrite said...

I'm with Theresa about Jung. I have often had dreams like this of discovering hidden rooms and if this were my dream and I was sometimes trying to find furniture for the rooms and sometimes trying to close the doors, I would interpret this as sometimes feeling ready for finding and moving into previously hidden parts of myself and sometimes feeling overwhelmed with what the new rooms might require of me.

Good luck with your own interpretation of what the dream means to you if you decide to explore this further.

Thanks for sharing your dreams.

emmapeelDallas said...

Alright, at the risk of sounding like a complete crackpot...I've had a very similar recurring dream for years, involving moving into a new house (new for me, not at all new in terms of construction) and getting settled in only to find a bunch of rooms that we didn't know about. I've thought about it a lot, and I think it means that life is filled with opportunities, especially when we don't expect them. That's hardly profound, but it's the best I can come up with.

Judi

Globetrotter said...

Any dream will do!

My son played Pharaoh (the Elvis character) in Joseph and I'll never think of that musical again without laughing my ass off at his depiction of the character.

Note: He brought down the house, and I am not exaggerating!

I could tell you many theories about your dream but I doubt that you'd want to hear them.

In truth I was on the Pacific coast of Mexico (Oaxaca) on New Year's Eve in 2001 when there was an alien visitation. (See I told you didn't want to hear about it!)

Anyhow, I had a dream that night that stayed with me for months about moving into a house with never ending rooms. I woke up and LMAO.

A year later I was living in that house.

I guess it was the aliens that made it work. On the other hand... go visit Cynthia. She's great at analyzing her own dreams and maybe she’ll help you out here as well...