COMING OF A TORNADO

 Annie from Seattle shares with us her recent upsetting dream:

 I am on my cell phone speaking with someone in the driver's seat (alone) and parked on the right side of the road in a neighborhood.  There is a house on the left of me across the street.

 This paragraph sets up the scenario.  Annie is in the driver’s seat parked on the right side of the street.  The RIGHT side of the brain governs the LEFT side of the body, which is the emotional/intuitive mind.  The LEFT side of the brain governs the RIGHT side of the body, which is the rational/scientific mind.  Her being on the phone tells us that Annie is a communicative type of person.

 In this dream scenario, she’s in the driver’s seat so she likes to be in charge of her life, and she’s alone, which suggests that she is guided in her choices in life by no one else.  She makes up her own mind because she understands only she can be responsible for what happens in her life.

 The house on the left side of the street represents someone or some others who provide emotional and spiritual support for her.

 I am in a convertible Volkswagen bug and it begins to get REALLY windy and rain VERY hard to the point that I cannot hear the person on the phone.  So I start to realize that the convertible top is lifting and I go to grab a hold of both sides of the top and pull it down hard so the wind won't rip it off, dropping my phone and then the storm gets even worse.

 Cars represent progressive moment.  The type of car suggests how you progress through life.  A convertible VW bug is practical and functional.  For example, driving a bulletproof limo is about being safe from danger and threats.  So now we know Annie is practical and functional.  Moving wind is air which cools and circulates.  Rain nourishes the soil for growth.  A hard wind and rain are suggestive of challenges ahead.  A tornado is potentially life-challenging.

 Annie is a very organized dreamer.  First comes the setup.  Then comes the storyline.  The storyline in this dream is that Annie is being warned of dangerous times ahead.  The danger involves her mind and spirit (air) as well as her emotions (water).  Since she is confronting this danger in her car, the scenario is about something which she requires to progress in life, i.e, her job or other social situation.  (If, for example, she’s confronting the danger from within her house, the danger would be in her domestic situation.)

 Being parked suggests that Annie is taking a breather from her life-journey to reflect on things.  The danger is that, meanwhile life in general goes on, and the top is about to be blown off.  The purpose of the top of a car is to enclose and protect during a journey.  In this dream, her car is a practical convertible, which means Annie is somewhat flexible about how she does this.  If she wanted to enjoy the fresh air and sunshine, she could roll the top down… be absolutely OPEN and wanting to ENJOY the scenario of her journey.  In other words, enjoy her job.

 A life event happens to threaten her current life’s journey.  It’s possible her job’s in danger.  Or… perhaps her rational mind (parked on right side of the street) is warning her that she has the wrong car… that she needs something sturdier to protect her during her life’s journey.

 I think about running to the house across the street to my left but realize that the winds are way too hard and I am now about ready to be in the midst of a tornado as I look behind and see it is already there.  It was so SCARY and real that it woke me up.  Of course during the storm, it was grey and very dark outside.

 She considers going to an established source of shelter (emotional, mental and physical), which could be family, business associates or friends, but then she realizes it’s too late.  She’s already in the “storm.”

 Annie, I commend you for your very organized psyche which sends you such a clear-cut warning of potential troubles ahead.  Because you are practical and functional, I know you will handle this upcoming challenge with courage, strength and fortitude.

 Thank you for sharing your dream, and wishing you healthy growth after the rains.

ABOUT CARS SWEPT AWAY BY FLOOD

 

Frannie from Wisconsin sent me this dream for interpretation.

 

It was raining and I was at a family gathering.  We had gotten together to meet in some big building somewhere.  My Mini was parallel-parked against a big muddy hillside on the left.  Water was seeping into the car.  I was sopping a little bit up at a time with a paper towel.  I looked to see where it was coming from and saw that there was a lot more water coming.  My sister had been driving it and had parked next to this cliff that had major runoff. 

 

Your car is symbolic of your persona when you have someplace to go (a goal to be achieved) and represents your attitude in the journey.  Your car being a “Mini” suggests that you don’t like to make a big drama of your personal goals (i.e. driving a limo would suggest dramatic and memorable expectations of the results).  Minis are small and functional and emits more of a “let’s-get-the-job-done-and-move-on” kind of outlook.

 

Heavy rain usually suggests an event which generates deep emotional reactions.  If the rain is relatively normal, it could suggest the event is routine and ultimately becomes cleansing in some way for all those present in the dream.  A paper towel would be a cleanup equivalent to some “wiping away” of certain words said which might have caused pain.

 

In this case, where a car is getting flooded with a major runoff, we can assume that the emotional event is inviting major painful responses from the participants.  The fact that it is Frannie’s sister who parks the car near the hillside downpour suggests that it might be this sister who does something or says something which triggers the downpour of emotions.

 

The water was pouring into the car.  I got in to move it and my control started getting away from me.  I couldn’t maneuver the car and soon I was swept into the flowing river with it.  I don’t remember getting out of the car, but the next thing I remember was swimming upstream, pulling the car, thinking, “This is a light car, I can do this.”  But it was an impossible task with the current against me.  Then the car came apart and I was just holding the back panel and the car itself immediately sunk.  I thought- this is ok, I can get my family and neighbors to help me.

 

This is a warning dream from Frannie’s psyche.  It warns that an event will occur which causes dramatic emotional reactions… not from Frannie herself, who believes herself strong enough to deal with things, but from those in her immediate environment.  At first, she believes she can make things right, despite the odds against it.  But things get out of hand and she ends up trying to manipulate events which are way beyond her control.  It is an “impossible task” to manipulate people to feel things against their nature.  But Frannie is a courageous and heroic thinker.  Thinking she can “drag” a car against the normal flow of events with sheer muscle power is like Atlas pushing a boulder up a mountain.  Even though she’s essentially lost her “vehicle” of progress towards her end goal, she thinks she can still make things right with the help of family and neighbors.

 

I went up to the building on the hill and told my family what had happened.  The guys acted like jerks.  They were making light of it and blaming me for not knowing how to drive.  I said, “Fu*k you all!”, and left.  Then I went back to specify that that comment was only for the guys and not my sisters.

 

She’s heroic and quite disarming.  Even in a deep emotional response of anger and hurt, she still has the kindness to clarify to her sisters that her anger wasn’t against them.  What a gal!  Because the men make light of it, I suspect the “event” which causes the whole downpour is something men generally take lightly but women take more to heart.

  

Mom was staying in one of the apartments at the top of the building and was with her friends.  I got to the top of the building and was looking over the rail to see if I could see my car in the river below and I could.  At that point I wondered if water in the cylinders would ever be fixable.

 

Frannie is really admirable.  A sunken destroyed car and she thinks she can still fix it?  Wow!  Her heroism borders on fantasy.  But then, isn’t that what heroism requires?  We all know that Atlas is foolish to think he can keep pushing a boulder uphill when it’ll just roll down again.  And yet he does it.  Forever.  Isn’t that what makes him heroic?  There is a thin line between heroism and foolishness.

 

I went up there to tell Mom what happened and noted that she still had her crab- fish.  It was in a giant planter pit with soil and was a special kind of crab-fish thing that goes through a significant metamorphosis.  I thought it was kind of sad that he had to live his life in that pot, but also thought it was cool that we could see him.

 

Hmmm… a crab-fish living in dirt undergoing “significant” metamorphosis.  A “crabby” person is one who can be harsh in criticizing others and tends to see the negative side of things.  This is how Frannie views her mother… a person who can knock you to the ground (dirt) with her words but whose criticism can influence people through major change.  Fortunately, this “knocking down” is in a private (planter pit) setting which attests to her mother’s sense of decorum.    Mom is also on the top floor, which suggests that Frannie believes her mother is above it all, refusing to get caught in the drama, even while seeing the events from a withdrawn perspective.

 

Finally, while Frannie regrets that her mother’s view isolates her at times, she recognizes her mother’s value and role as one who teaches those around her a point of view which generates personal evolution and growth.

 

This is a powerful dream for our dreamer.  Frannie, I congratulate you on your bravery and courage and wish you well on this particular journey.

ABOUT TUNNELS, CLOUDS AND WATERY WASHES

 

Arlene from Wisconsin sent me these two dreams for interpretation.  The second dream continues from the first so I’m including both.

 DREAM #1:

I was at my mom’s (grandma’s old house) and laying on the floor. Giorgio (my ex) was sitting up and reaching toward me saying he hopes I will be married next year and asked who I thought it might be. I looked at him, took his hand and said you of course silly, it’s always been you. He smiled and everything was good.

Lying on the floor of your mother’s house (which is HER mother’s house) is suggestive of daydreaming.  You often get lost in a daydream of getting back with your ex.  Deep within you, you still expect to end up with him. 

 Then I was walking downtown by my old high school. I started to enter a huge tunnel of the most beautiful flowers and plants. When I came out the other end, it was somewhat dark, like I was now in a building and I saw some steps leading backwards over the top of the tunnel.

 Part of the daydream is about your experiences in high school.  This is the time when you mature from girlhood to womanhood.  Your memories of that time is like an isolated experience of the blossoming of your many dreams… one where many of your potential skills and talents “blossomed” vividly.  When that time of your life was over, there were “dark” moments where your expectations were not met.  The beauty and happiness you expected to continue became different.  Instead of going forward and out of the building (a normal progression of movement), you double back (backwards).  Because experiences of the past can never be re-experienced in exactly the same way, your trip is “over” the tunnel of flowers.  You are trying to recapture the “blossoming” events which propelled you to womanhood.

 I took the steps and was soon walking on a sparkly, glittery cloud. Not a soft one but a man-made structure. When I got to the end of the cloud, I saw an ice rink and food court. I met my mother and grandma (who is passed and whom I’ve also been dreaming a lot of lately) for chicken strips lol.

 The “steps” you’ve taken to try to recapture the blossoming events of your girlhood leads you through another place… not the soft everchanging nature of real clouds,but “man-made”… one you’ve created as your personal fantasy  The fact that your mother and grandmother are there suggests, once again, that you are trying to create a reality for yourself where the people around you love and support you unconditionally.

However rigid clouds which cannot change with the movement of the winds and atmosphere are not “real.”   Your ending up in a skating rink and food court suggests that you want to “skate” through your life easily and smoothly and you want nourishment and support available whenever you want it.

Again, the important thing to remember is that this is a “backwards” progression.  You are no longer an innocent young girl adored, nourished and supported by those who love you.  You are now a woman who must often stumble on hard, solid paths, which skin your knees when you fall.  You cannot control the clouds to be shaped according to your day dreams.  Reality, like the clouds, changes with the winds and environmental influences.  As a woman, your job, (like your mother’s and grandmother’s) is now to ensure that you are doing your best to “weather” the challenges of life and that you are following through on your mature responsibility of being the one to provide guidance, nourishment and support for those around you.  It is time to move forward instead of trying to recapture certain “happy” times in the past.

DREAM #2:

I was driving out towards the lake with my mom and grandma when I noticed a ton of water in the dry wash. The water kept rising but everyone was enjoying it. People were paddling, swimming with floaties, etc. I stopped the car because it was such an odd sight. 

Water in dreams generally represent emotions.  Your mother and grandmother are powerful “companions” in shaping and influencing your emotional evolution throughout your life.  In fact they provided you with experiences which gave you great fun and adventure and, in fact, “padded (floaties) your experiences in such a way to protect you from harm and hurt.

We walked a bit and got to a tunnel when the water began to flood the road.  My mom at this point was trying to get to higher ground and I was trying to take pics. Meanwhile grandma went towards the tunnel (concrete this time) and stayed. I followed mom and we were safe. Then I woke up.

Again, we have the tunnel symbolism, which suggests transition from one place to another… from childhood to adulthood, in this case. 

Taking pictures symbolizes treasuring memories of past experiences.  In her way, your mother has tried to transition you from childhood to adulthood (higher ground).  During that process, you weren’t necessarily aware that she was guiding you towards maturity because your focus was on the memories themselves, rather than the experience and process of “growing up.”  Higher ground is a point of view where you learn to be “above” the water… above the emotional experiences which might have caused you pain or loss of self-esteem (via experiences other than paddling with floaties).  Your grandmother is no longer around, but she might have been a strong influence in leading you through the transition to full adulthood, where you are mature and understand that only you have the true power to create a stable, happy life for yourself.  Since you followed your mom in the dream, your psyche is sending you this dream to assure you that, yes, this mature outlook in life will be your legacy and you will find that safe place for yourself. 

ABOUT CARROTS, CIGARS AND FIRE

Patty sent me this dream for interpretation, and to establish a perspective, I had to ask her if she was married.  She admitted she was.  Her husband has been ill for years, and they have an “open” relationship.  In other words, she can “see” other men as long as she’s discreet.  Here’s her dream.

I dreamt that I was in my garden, checking a carrot to see if it was ready to pull up.  I decided it was, pulled it up, and was delighted to see a carrot.  I did note however, that it had grown backwards.  The end with the carrot top was skinny and the normally pointy end was fat.  Here’s where it went bad.  Somehow I had a cigar and decided to snub it out on the ground.  I put it down to the ground and it immediately caught the dry mulch on fire.

Dream symbols can mean many different things.  For example, a carrot can symbolize food (nourishment).  Eating healthy carrots from a picnic basket suggests enjoying the fruits of life.  Thrown in with a cigar, my immediate impression is that this carrot symbolizes a male organ.  So does the cigar. 

Being in a garden suggests a family home.  Because Patty is checking out a carrot, this tells me that there is someone in her environment with whom she is considering having an affair.  This someone, however, is not “normal.”  The carrot top, which is what surfaces over the ground is generally leafy and the sturdy.  The tip of the carrot is usually much thinner.   Since the carrot in Patty’s dream is the opposite, the situation is reversed.  First of all, the  top “leafy surface” aspect is not normal and healthy.  This suggests that the interaction can’t be openly happy and vital.  The “fat” tip portion suggests that it’s all about pleasure and passion.  The carrot is not healthy because the top portion (mind, heart and spirit) are minimal.  It’s about physical pleasure and not “love.”  It’s “backwards” of what a healthy relationship should be.

Snubbing the cigar on the ground suggests satisfying the fire of the cigar by bringing it “down to earth”… acknowledging the passion.  This dream is telling Patty  that once she does that, the whole garden will catch on fire because of the dry mulch.  Mulch is a symbol of “waste” which is no longer edible or usable.  Mulch is garbage stuff like anger, disappointment, frustration and resentment.   When “thrown away” to encourage new growth, it’s a good thing.  When lit on fire… it’s not so good.  Fire at the tip of the cigar is normal.  Passion during sexual interchange is normal.  But when passion is lit up, enflamed by old angers, disappointments and resentments, it is destructive.

 

I wasn’t too worried as I figured I’d just go grab the hose and put it out.  There was a lot of dry mulch around the plants and it all caught fire.  I decided I better act quickly before it got out of hand.  When I went to get the hose, I realized it had been moved.  The fire was really getting out of control now.  My surroundings now change to my work.  I made a lap around a big block looking for a hose.  I found something I thought would work- it was probably an 8 inch pipe with a valve and a quick connect.  I undid the quick connect before I closed the valve and decided I should put it back because if I disconnected there would be pressure on the line and I’d have to bleed that off before I could use it.

Considering the carrot metaphor, all of this makes sense.  Once the garden begins to be destroyed, Patty wants to prevent total destruction.  At first, it seems simple.  She and her husband have an “understanding,” so she figures all it will take is some emotional soothing (hoses and pipes are tools for water flow, and water symbolizes emotions).  A hose can be aimed at a specific target, but pipes provide water for the entire house.  If she aims her emotional soothing to target a specific person, that option is no longer available.  If she uses the household pipes for a “quick connect,” the pressures that will create isn’t worth the damage that might result.  Her family would “bleed” from her efforts.  Great emotional injury would prevail.  The damage ultimately spreads to her work situation.  We have to also consider the possibility that “hose” and “pipe” are also symbols of the male organ, as well as the verbal allusion to a “quick connect.”

I walked over to the shop area and was looking for someone to direct me to a hose.  I finally asked someone and told her there was a fire.  I asked her to come with me to show me where the hose was.  Oddly, she was a medical person but she was out on the shop floor.  As we got closer to where I had started the fire, I could see firefighters and sirens.  My fire really had gotten out of control. 

Even when Patty turns to professional help for guidance on how to correct damage to her garden, it won’t be enough.  By now, the “fire” is out of control and now too many people know about the fire and the damage is beyond her ability to fix.

I walked past that area and ended up in this nice landscape on some dirt roads.  I called my sister Becky for help.  She answered and started telling me silly things and I cut her off and told her my predicament.  I told her I didn’t know what to say because I don’t even think we were allowed to be smoking in the area that I had the cigar.

At some point, she will get “past” this.  She may even end up in a nice landscape, though it might be rough (dirt road as opposed to concrete).  She might even feel comfortable turning to certain family members for support.  She knows she wasn’t supposed to be indulging in abnormal carrots or smoking cigars.  But, ultimately, family may not entirely know how to deal with conflicting emotions about the situation.

At some point I thought it would be nice if it wasn’t real and I woke up realizing it was a dream.  When I woke up, I was on my back with my arms corkscrewed around me.  It was a restrictive hold- my right arm was across my body gripping my left shoulder.  My left arm was on my right hip.  Anyway, I was glad I didn’t really cause that terrible fire!

Patty, this is a last call to reason.  This last portion of the dream suggests you haven’t done anything yet to endanger your life or family.  You woke up in a protective mode because your psyche is telling you that you will be hurt as much as you hurt your family.  Your self-restrictive hold is your psyche telling you, “GET A GRIP!”  Stop yourself from destroying all that you love.

ABOUT SMOKE AND CLOSED CURTAINS

Angelina from North Carolina asked me to interpret her dream.  As background, she explained that she’s a real-estate agent and has helped her neighbors (Jay and Maggie) buy a new house.  The new house needs a lot of work and the previous owners were smokers.  She’s happy that they’ve found a new house, but sad that they’re no longer her neighbors.

In the dream I could still smell the smoke and I was standing close to a window with closed brown curtains in the family room and the kitchen was very visible.  Looking around, I had the "OH NO" feeling because I was in there without them knowing and freaking out on what they would do if they found me.

In this portion of the dream, a few things stand out to me.  First, she can still “smell the smoke.”  What does smoke do?  If you’ve watched TV cop shows, you’ll know it creates a screen.  Next, our dreamer notes the “closed brown curtains.”  Closed means “inability to access” so Jay and Maggie are very strong about people not knowing details of their private lives.  Brown is a neutral color (not black or white, which are dramatic colors), so what Jay and Maggie want to present to the world is that they’re ordinary people with ordinary lives.  Finally, Angelina is aghast to discover that she is INSIDE the house without Jay and Maggie’s permission.

Since this is Angelina’s dream, it’s from her perspective.  Being neighborly friends with Jay and Maggie, she’s probably privy to many aspects of their private lives.  A NEW house symbolizes a new life environment so probably Jay and Maggie want to change some elements of their lives.  If there have been problems in their marriage, they want to fix those problems.

In reality, our dreamer, Angelina, who has helped Jay and Maggie purchase the new house, knows already the house reeks of smoke and needs a lot of work.  In other words, she already knows the couple’s personal problems and that perhaps the marriage “needs a lot of work.”  Deep down, Angelina feels guilty that (“oh no”) she’s aware of too much private information about the couple’s lives.

Then the dream takes me to the center of the house and I can recall the white carpet it had ALL over and I still have a visual of kitchen, family room on my right, and to my left, I can see the stairway going up, the closed front door and behind me is the hallway to the hall bathroom, office and master bedroom, when out of nowhere Jay shows up.  I’m still mortified that I’m in their house without their knowledge, but Jay isn’t freaked out that he caught me.  He seems cool with it.  However, I think Maggie would be upset and I really don’t want him to tell her.  Dream ends.  I wake-up feeling horrible, because I actually got caught being at my friends’ house without their knowledge.

Again, we note the “white” carpet all over the house.  This suggests that Jay and Maggie want a fresh, new foundation for their life together.  The fact that our dreamer can see the entire layout of the house implies that white carpet and all, Angelina can still see the basic components of it.  In other words, she understands the basic marital layout of Jay’s and Maggie’s life.  She inherently knows their personalities and what elements in their characters generate the problems in their marriage. 

Angelina’s psyche is telling her that Jay is okay with her knowing about the secrets and problems he and his wife are having.  But the fact that Angelina doesn’t want Maggie to know about her presence inside their “house” suggests that she is intuitively picking up that Maggie isn’t too happy that Angelina knows so much.  Perhaps Maggie feels that Angelina is “judging” her in unflattering ways.  People want their friends to see them in a positive (white) light.  They want to be admired, affirmed and considered perfect.

In this situation, Jay apparently doesn’t care what Angelina knows or thinks.  Maggie, however, cares too much and Angelina senses it.

This is a powerful message from the dreamer’s psyche.  Angelina, I give you kudos for having such a strong ethical code (or you wouldn’t be horrified at knowing so many private aspects of people’s lives).  However, it seems to me that this dream is suggesting that you keep some thoughts to yourself.  Don’t remind Maggie that she will be taking her issues with her into the “new” house.  Don’t be the trigger that spotlights her flaws and weaknesses.  Don’t give her unwanted advice which undoubtedly reflects her mistakes.  Just flood her with light and love so that she won’t be afraid to open the curtains in her new house.  Only then can sunlight flood in to show her the joys of life.

ABOUT DNA AND PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS

Norma from Las Vegas sent me what she remembered of a recent dream.

I am at a giant superstore with family and friends.  We all have our own grocery carts and selecting things we each like.  There were a lot of people at the store, and my three sisters are there, as well as some close friends.  Sometimes we run into each other and admire what the other person has.  Still, we’re each allowed only what fits into our individual carts.  Sometimes we lose sight of each other.  I run into one of my sisters and since our carts are filled, we head towards checkout.

This is a very short dream chock full of nuances and metaphors.

The store itself represents the infinite storehouse of our DNA, filled with millions (maybe gazillions?) of possible supplies which we each need in the adventure we call life.  I’m no DNA expert, but I expect the supplies are endless.  There’s a DNA structure which allows one to dance on their toes (ballet dancers) or to run really fast (Olympic medal champions) or to simulate reality (actors who win Oscars).

As you can imagine, we can each only do a certain limited amount of things in life, and thus the supplies we choose can only fit in a symbolic grocery cart.

The supplies in the superstore include how we look, what talents we have, what character elements we each possess.  In Norma’s case, perhaps her sister is tall and athletic, while she herself is short and chubby.  Since the short sister chose to be brilliant at debate, she had to choose the store supplies which make that possible, which meant she had to bypass the supplies which guaranteed being tall and athletic.

Maybe they both chose the supplies which generates a “sweet tooth,” so they BOTH chose a store provision which makes them binge out on chocolate ice cream.  But there will be other differences, like maybe one sister is blunt and cynical while the other is optimistic and diplomatic.

There are extremes, of course.  Consider an old movie, “RAINMAN,” starring Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman.  They were brothers and you’d think since they shared the same DNA, they’d be pretty much alike.  Not so.  Cruise’s character is heavy on good looks, charm and easy social communication.  Dustin’s character has no clue about any of that, but he was a mathematical whiz… a supergenius when it came to numbers.

Makes sense so far, right? 

Let’s consider another example.  There’s currently a TV series entitled, “THE GOOD DOCTOR” where the title character is an Autistic Savant.  His mind is like a computer when it comes to medical knowledge, but when it comes to the many nuances of social success (empathy, emotional flexibility, intuitive discernment, the immeasurable human ability to “love,” etc.) he neglected to include these store provisions into his DNA cart. 

Norma, your dream is a powerful one.  It EXPLAINS so much about the human condition.  The message is clear:  We are all ALIKE in that we each can express only a limited number of DNA aspects.  Yet, at the same time, we are each uniquely individual in that each of our carts are never EXACTLY the same.

I personally think that’s a wonderful thing.  The challenge for each of us is to understand this reality and while accepting the different supplies people select for their grocery carts (without judgment),  we also embrace that we all shop at the same superstore!

Here's an idea!  What if non-terrestrial beings out there in the infinite cosmos are also shopping at the same superstore!  What a blast, huh?

SORE UPPER LIPS

Maureen from Hawaii shared her dream with me:

I’m on a trip in New Orleans.  I’ve never been there so I was a little bit out of my element.  There were meetings I had to attend there with my co-workers so we considered it a fun time away from home.  I wake up the first morning and I notice that my upper lip had a sore.  It wasn’t a cold sore, really, but more like a tiny pimple.  I decide not to worry about it because I’m ready to have fun.  Then the next morning when I wake up, it’s all across my entire upper lip.  I touch it with a finger and it bleeds a little.  In fact, some thick pus started coming out.  It was disgusting.  I use towels to dry the area up and I wonder if I should go to urgent care or a doctor.  After I pat my lip down, it looks a little better, and there’s only a little white head remaining.  Then I wake up.

New Orleans is famous for its melting pot of French, African and American cultures.  It is well known for its round-the-clock night life, music and festive spirit.  A trip to New Orleans is a trip where you get in touch with an open-minded attitude about differing belief systems and attitudes.

Now, let’s consider some sayings:  “Stiff upper lip” means keeping your mouth closed and not complaining or whining.  “Zip your lip” means keeping a secret.  “Loose lips” means saying too much to too many people.  I’m thinking “sore lips” might mean being a sore loser… a person who has said something or wants to say something which would express anger or frustration to someone.

I emailed some questions to Maureen to dig deeper into the situation.  It turns out she reports to a manager whose style of managing tends to piss her off.  She thinks his reasoning is flawed and unfair.  She’s been wanting to communicate her feelings to him, but she’s worried about his reaction.

Well, Maureen, that is exactly what this little dream is about.  You’re forcing your lips to stay closed and the pressure (emotional, as well as physical) is so strong that your lips are getting sore.  After a while, the continued repression will build up until pus (ugly words) and blood (emotional words) come out.
   
In Maureen’s dream, this supervisor is also in New Orleans.  I’m thinking that this dream is telling Maureen to loosen up.  Relax her attitudes about right, wrong and bad managerial style.

When someone pats you, it’s usually to comfort you.  Pat yourself, Maureen, and comfort yourself that in this day and age, the whole world is a melting pot, and cultural habits and beliefs are not right or wrong… just DIFFERENT.  There’s also a  suggestion of cleansing in this dream when Maureen uses a towel to clean out her upper lip.
 
In any event, it would be a healthy exercise for Maureen to communicate her thoughts and feelings to her manager.  Instead of being angry and frustrated, however, she should apply the “New Orleans” attitude that he’s just different from her.  Her dream is telling her that if her manager's style and beliefs are different from what she likes, it doesn’t mean he’s a bad guy.  In fact, she should just try to have fun and celebrate the differences instead of getting angry about things.