I had a dream last night.
I regularly have dreams, and tell them in great detail to whoever might be handy. And this morning . . . that’s you! (I hope. Hello? Hello? Are you out there?)
I was walking down a concrete sidewalk of sorts with my husband, and I had baby James in the crook of my arm. The sidewalk was set in a hilly area, and as I looked up at the grassy incline to my left, suddenly I realized there were cows everywhere. “Moo!” they said. My husband started to steer us away from the cows, but I reassured him “They’re not dangerous–don’t worry.”
But as we progressed further into the melee of cows, suddenly I realized there were also lions and tigers in the mix. We hadn’t noticed them at first because they were lying down, stretching and napping and generally chilling, but as we passed by they started yawning and waking up. I counted at least two tigers and one lion . . . plus a white tiger. I wasn’t sure whether to keep walking, go back, or just stand still. Though at the moment the cats were still pretty snoozy, at any moment they could turn into life-threatening fur-bags of muscle and terror.
My husband started running, and I almost shouted “No! That will just attract their attention!” But then I realized that he was doing it on purpose. He was trying to draw the animals away from James and me.
And then, as I watched my husband sprint away and the tigers and lions started running after him, there was a man with a gun. I thought, “I should duck in case he fires off some shots,” but before I could get a grip on the situation, my husband was tackling him.
It was a glorious running tackle, and as he took that guy down, my heart swelled with pride. People started clapping. I beamed. Two cops shows up and pointed their guns at the criminal and I thought, “we’re safe! My baby is a hero!”
BUT THEN. The cops were surrounded–the gunman wasn’t a loner. There was a whole crowd of criminals, and we were all taken prisoners. I was crying, but proud, but crying.
I was sitting in the back of a truck with a bunch of other hostages watching things unfold with the criminals and the cops and my husband. There was a small blond boy sitting next to me who was maybe 4 years old, and his mom was one of the criminals. He poked her in the back and somehow killed her (this part was fuzzy and she conveniently disappeared), and I realized it was now my job to take care of this boy. “Logan is now my son,” I thought. “My responsibility.” Then I realized I didn’t want to name a child ‘Logan’ and wondered if it would be feasible to change his name to something I liked a little better. My heart was full of love for James and Logan.
One of the criminals was telling me about this play that a bunch of kids were putting on, and I realized that Logan was involved and that I’d have to get him there. “Rehearsal starts at one o’ clock,” he told me, “but ends at 13:00.” I figured he meant 15:00 and rehearsal was two hours long, but as I spoke up to clarify with him, it dawned on me that this was his way of telling me that there was no rehearsal, since the start and end time were the same. I wished I’d caught on more quickly.
Then, in a completely unrelated part of the dream, I went to Plato’s Closet only to realize the store was shutting down and all they had in stock were some hideous green evening gowns.
Thank you for listening.
What does it all mean??
View Comments (24)
Jenna - your post caught my eye because i LOVE interpreting dreams! i think it means that you're about to enter or are in the midst of entering a new and somewhat scary phase/venture in your life. but while it's very scary, you seem to feel very protected by your husband. and in turn, you also recognize that you have enough strength to take care of the people who depend on you...maybe even more than enough to go around, so you also feel the need to extend that strength to someone outside of your family. it's a beautiful dream, really. hope that's somewhat helpful for you!
Lucy, I LOVE your interpretation! And I think it may be right on. We're thinking about the whole 'having children' thing . . . so that fits in exactly with what you said!
Jenna - glad i could help! you are going to be a wonderful mom, and you will be amazed at how incredibly strong your body and spirit really are! i've never run a marathon, but i feel like being a mom must be very much like it...becoming a mom has definitely taught me a lot about strength, patience, courage, and most of all endurance!
Thanks for the encouragement Lucy!!
I like Lucy's interpretation. I have very vivid dreams too and often wonder what they mean. I have one book on dreams but, some of the meanings seem a bit off the wall ;)
This is a dream processing whether or not you should have children. Cows (milk) seem benign so having kids should be easy and non-threatening, but as you go on, having children brings dangers--children are not always easy and can tear you to pieces. (lions and tigers). And then you consider the world you would bring children into--one of criminals and dangers--of help, and more danger. And there will always be the inability to control what children do and who they are (Logan) despite your efforts.
Wow! I need to bring my dreams to you to interpret more often. You've made it so clear!
I have no great interpretations, just wanted to say that I love hearing about dreams. They are so strange. Especially things like a kid poking his mom in the back, which kills her, and then her convenient disappearance so that your brain doesn't have to process what happened. Classic.
If you run out of an audience, look me up. I'm always up for hearing about a dream.
I love this post! It literally made me laugh out loud. I'm glad to know that I'm not the only one with weird kind of symbolic but strangely nonsensical dreams out there.
By the way this is my FIRST ever comment post. Found your blog a few months ago and have to say that I absolutely love your recipe for Chicken Tikka Masala. The boyfriend loves it too.
Keep up the good work!
I'm so glad you guys liked the Tikka Masala--and thanks for commenting!! Hope you have a great Friday night, Amy. =)
I can hardly stay on my seat from laughing!!
I believe the true interpretation of the dream is as follows: You live in a tame, tame world (i.e. cows); but you like to have a little excitement in your life (lions and tigers). However, you're a little shy of going overboard with the excitement, as evidenced by the lack of bears. Ergo, you will have a child in your life who is intelligent enough to figure out that time is a human construct. You agree with Anne Shirley that a rose simply can't smell as sweet if it were called a thistle or a skunk cabbage, but you feel bad disagreeing with the world-renown Bard. You know that your husband is exactly as hero-like as a husband ought to be (Yah, Adam!). And you will buy a hideous green dress. And then move to San Francisco. And make me dinner twice a week. Five times a week.
The end.
My favorite sentence is "you will have a child in your life who is intelligent enough to figure out that time is a human construct." Jen, you're awesome. And if you lived closer I'd have to claim you as my BFF and steal you from Erica. Then, I would make you dinner many times per week, deal? =)
Deal!
You crack me up. I love how you went from being a hostage to shopping at Plato's Closet. Maybe Logan was secretly telling you that you could really use a new (well new to you anyway) and totally fab outfit. :)~
Jenna - I love dream analysis. Here goes.... It seems like you came to a huge revelation in this dream. Seems like "wanting motherhood" and "fearing motherhood" are battling and it's scaring you to lose your carefree life. There are shadows which will impede your being the mother you think you should be. These shadow traits don't show up now but would if you were a mom (impatience, anger?) and the fear of them is getting in your way. Yet if you overcome the fear, nothing is stopping you from the decision to become a mom. So you keep the fear to feel safe from the decision. The responsibility, the expectation to do everything perfectly, which you know you won't, is great. The fear of losing your freedom is great. But then again, you've had enough of the high life. After all evening gowns are mostly hideous.
Hahaha!! I love, love, love the conclusion. A lot of evening gowns really are hideous, so why not let go of this "high life"? Thanks for the laugh--and the tremendous insight as well.
Lions and tigers and cows, oh my! :) Don't have a clue what they mean, enjoyed the interpretations above, and hope you have a more restful slumber tonight! Sweet dreams...
Thanks Kim. I dream fairly vividly almost every night, but thankfully it never seems to hamper my rest. I find the prospect of vivid dreams quite exciting when I go to sleep, to be honest.
I love hearing and sharing dreams-this was awesome! :) I never look beyond the entertainment value, but I like the interpretations above.