Jung Girl, Get Out of My Mind

Writing this blog has vastly increased my interest in the meaning of dreams. In one of my earlier posts I mentioned that at some point I would share my theory on dreams, and I think now is a good time to do that; I've begun reading Carl Jung's Dreams, so I will share my simple, unprofessional thoughts on the subject now before I learn how complex it really is.

While many dreams seem chaotic and random, I absolutely think they are significant. I can see in some, though not all of my own dreams the underlying threads of truth... the deeper thoughts and fears that are represented. I think the "players"-- the people and objects that are present in the dream-- are often things we have seen, heard, or thought of during the preceding day or two, even if only momentarily. The players then act out a scene (the dream) that bears a much deeper theme.

For example...
Last night I dreamed that I was sitting in my mom's room with Kelsey and Hannah, two of the 9th grade girls from church. They told me that one of their friends had kissed a boy on a mission trip. Scandalous. In the dream I reacted with great shock... then asked them if I could write about it in my blog (this blog.) They hesitated, then I said, "Oh... I guess I shouldn't. She is probably going to be in a lot of trouble anyway."

This is the analysis, based on Catherine Tudor's dream theory:

The players... Yesterday I ate dinner at my mom's house, which gave me the setting of the dream. On Sunday I saw Hannah and Kelsey at church and thought about how much I love talking with them, so they became the characters. Also on Sunday, someone brought up in conversation a girl who was in the youth group when I was in high school who did get in trouble on a mission trip... not for kissing a boy, but for falling asleep on his shoulder in the hallway.

The themes... Yesterday morning I could not remember a single dream, and I actually began to worry. What if I never dream again? What if I can never write in my blog again? I have no material... That worry manifested itself in my request to write about a non-dream item in my dream. Another, more profound underlying fear represented is the anxiety that comes with the responsibility of leading a mission trip. There has been a lot of discussion lately about the trips for next summer, and while I have not consciously thought about the stress of it all, I know there is a strong association in my mind between mission trips and: Are all the youth here? Did I forget the permission slips? What if there is a crazy driver on the road? What if a youth gets hurt on the work site? What if a youth sneaks out at night and kisses a boy? You get the idea.

The first 16 pages of Jung's book have taught me two things: 1. No dream is insignificant, and thus 2. I am out of my mind to be writing this blog!