Slip slidin’ away

9am:  I am stirred into consciousness by the sound of my dog tapping his paws and performing the ‘Curly Shuffle’ around the bed.  Poor little peach has to potty and Mama has overslept for the first time in weeks, perhaps months.  I drag one foot from the bed unto the floor, and then the other, rub my tired eyes, and make my way downstairs.  I can hear the husband’s congested snore emanating from the guest bedroom, as I imagine he’s dreaming about either the approaching of Armageddon or Woody Woodpecker.  Chances are, probably both. 

9:30am:  I sit down at my laptop, still painfully groggy, and begin to recall last night’s dream.  As you are well aware by now, dreaming is an activity I unknowingly participate in nightly, despite the fact that I’m rarely able to make any sense of it.  So, I frequently turn to the ‘experts’ for their professional guidance and opinion.  Last night’s dream was a doozie and I am still reeling in confusion.  I dreamt that I was a child again, in a large water park, surrounded by children with whom I spent my elementary school days.  Mind you, these are friends and faces that I have not seen or thought of in twenty-five years.  How they emerged in my dream, so vividly captured and recalled, beats the heck out of me.  The mind is an amazing sponge, indeed, and the irony of its power lies in its ability to ‘squeeze out’ memories from so long ago.

In my dream, I was an adult, as I am now.  My friends, however, were still children, perfectly captured in my mind’s eye as I still recall them.  We were slipping and sliding down a large waterslide, laughing and giggling throughout every twist and turn.  Given that I am far from a psychiatrist or therapist, I decide to consult the Dream Dictionary Doctors at www.dreammoods.com to hopefully gain some insight.

“Waterslide”

To dream that you are on or see a waterslide, suggests that you are being swept away by your emotions. You are slowly exploring the realm of your unconscious. Alternatively, the dream suggests that you are going with the flow of things without any objections or resistance.

“Children”

To see children in your dream, signifies your own childlike qualities or a retreat back to a childlike state. It is an extension of your inner child during a time of innocence, purity, simplicity, and a carefree attitude. You may be longing for the past and the chance to satisfy repressed desires and unfulfilled hopes. Take some time off and cater to the inner child within. Perhaps there is something that you need to see grow and nurtured. 

Wowzers.  Do these folks work for Dionne Warwick and her Psychic Friends Network or is it just me?  Despite these explanations hitting the proverbial nail on the head, I still ponder what my personalized response would be from The Dream Dictionary Doctors…

“Dear Mozzie, thank you once AGAIN for consulting The Dream Dictionary to identify the meaning of your childish, waterslide adventure.  Upon further analysis, it is our professional opinion that you are hopelessly trapped in 1983.  We recommend that you enter your nearest bathroom, take a look in the mirror, and reach the realization that you are thirty five years-old and are too big to go watersliding.  Youth may be wasted on the young, but you waste our time when the answers you seek are clearly in front of you.  Dry off, bid your childhood friends farewell, and take a step forward for a change.  If this effort fails, we have an immediate refferral on file on your behalf to the nearest mental health facility.  Just sayin’.  Best wishes for your eventual recovery, The Dream Dictionary Doctors.”

So, given this subliminal advice, I choose to step forward rather than backward and begin a new journey.  I may trip and stumble, and frequently lose my way, but the key is in staying the course.  What’s at the end of my journey?  Only time will tell.  Hopefully, acceptance, and most importantly, discovery.

“The past is not dead. In fact, it’s not even past.”

 

– William Faulkner, US novelist (1897-1962)

 

“If any one faculty of our nature may be called more wonderful than the rest, I do think it is memory. There seems something more speakingly incomprehensible in the powers, the failures, the inequalities of memory, than in any other of our intelligences. The memory is sometimes so retentive, so serviceable, so obedient; at others, so bewildered and so weak; and at others again, so tyrannic, so beyond control! We are, to be sure, a miracle every way; but our powers of recollecting and of forgetting do seem peculiarly past finding out.”

 

– Jane Austen, English novelist (1775 – 1817)

 

And today, only one song will do.  Enjoy…