Dream o' dream

After watching 'Inception', I was reminded of my little experiment with dream. The Psych department in my building had a research study done on dreams, for which they asked volunteers to contribute an interpretation of their dream. For fun, I wrote the following. Does anything sound familiar to you? ;)

Dreams are believed to have encoded messages. One’s desire, past experience or future event encompasses some of the coded message.

I recorded my dream at 2.30 am. In my dream I am in a strange village in the morning. I take a boat to a nearby place and reach there by sunset. I see a family dancing near the village lake. The lake has some happy dolphins, which jump and play merrily. I am very confused, I do not know why I am there. As time passes, the family goes its own way. I am all alone in the village. I try shouting for help, but my voice is not coming out.

I used phenomenological method to interpret the dream; I wrote all the feelings, thoughts and associations about the content of the dream as the dream was being recounted. The dream made me confused, scared, and anxious. The dream reminded me of my current situation. I am undecided of my future after the expiry of my work permit at end of this year. The new village is probably symbolized by the future pathway, with the villagers resembling some unknown people whom I am yet to meet in the future. They are settled in their life, therefore their dancing and singing symbolizes that they are happy. Towards the end of my dream, I was all alone, which shows that I’m helpless and didn’t seek out for help from the villagers when they we there. This is a direct analogy with my current situation that I have not sought out for suggestions from my friends on future career prospects.

I can relate to the feelings of being confused, scared and anxious in my present situation; confused of what I should do, scared of not getting what I wanted, and anxious to ask for help. The fear, anxious, and confusion component in my dream remind me of my emotions and feelings from my waking life.