Sunday, June 10, 2012

HELP WANTED: Dream Interpretation Needed.




Sorry it has been a while since my last blog. In fact my last post was by a guest blogger. But the simple truth was that I had nothing to write about. And I refuse to bore readers with the details of my everyday life (like some bloggers).

But just to update you, I have been writing with a ferocity I have never felt before. I am very excited about this story and that’s why this next novel is moving along. Though still in its rough draft state of infancy, I have a clear vision of where it’s going.

The purpose of this post is to reach out and see if there is anyone out there who can help me. You see, for the past 25 years I have had a recurrent dream. It is a dream with variations on the same theme. As I dream I recognize it as such. Moreover, I believe it is connected with the novel I am currently writing. Perhaps, for 25 years I have been destined to write this story.

So, for those who are not interested in dream interpretations, feel free to stop reading at this point. You won’t hurt my feelings. For those who are interested I would love you to leave a comment here, or email me at: lauren@laurenbgrossman.com.

Each dream involves a large house with many rooms. I am the owner. As I enter each room there is a door which leads to other rooms, which lead to more rooms, etc.
Example of a dream I had maybe 20 years ago, but is still vivid in my mind: I have just bought a house and I enter a room. It has dark paneling and lots of built-ins. The former owners must have left in a hurry because the drawers still are full. At first I am annoyed that I have to clear out their mess, but then I realize that you never know what you might find. One man’s junk is another man’s treasure, right? I leave that room to explore my new house, and I enter a room. It is as large as a warehouse. There are many beds in this room. Metal springs and thin mattresses – the kind you had when you lived in a dorm in college. They are all strewn about the room n disorder. I make my way through the room and pass into another room, which is obviously some sort of trailer. I think to myself, “Oh good, I own a trailer, too.” There are other smaller details, but that is the gist.

Another dream is in an apartment I live in which has doors that lead to many other rooms. Some have stairs to climb to get to the next room.

The one particular dream I had which lends me to believe it is a connection with my novel was this: A white manse which I have gone through, though I never make it through every room for there are too many. I find myself at the bottom of a hill looking up at the manse. It sits on a grassy knoll with an identical manse slightly angled next to it. I am with children at play. A nun comes for us (I am Jewish) and tells us to follow her. I realize this residence is an orphanage and I live there. I can still see it clearly.

As I said, the dreams are the variations on the same theme. But why do I have these recurrent dreams? Not every night, not even every month, but several times in a year, I will awaken and recognize the theme.

Here’s the clincher for those readers who have stayed awake reading with this post: My novel is about a real woman who survived the Holocaust because her parents could not afford to feed her. Like many people had to do, they sent her to an orphanage run by nuns. It is only a small portion of her story, which I have turned into an historical fiction. But I had the revelation while rereading the story that it connects to my dream of when I was an orphan looking up at the white manse on the hill.

Karma? Reincarnation? Coincidence? Too much spicy foods before bedtime?

Seriously, if you have any thoughts I would welcome them. It has baffled me for 25 years. My hope is that if it is a connect to this novel, that the dreams will end when I finally go to publication.

What are your thoughts?

15 comments:

  1. As I approached, reluctantly, retirement, I began dreaming of going into school one morning only to find someone else teaching my class. They send me to the third floor (there is no third floor) and I climb the stairs (there really is no elevator) and find a furniture showroom, and what are they featuring? mattresses. I see my desk and go over to it, pick up the class roster, and begin calling out names. Kids appear as names are read... I won't go on here ~ it just struck me that we shared the sense of being small in oversized rooms with a purpose different than our own goals.

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    1. Yes, Terry, but what does it all mean?????

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    3. (I had to delete to fix a spelling error ... hubris ... )
      I think it suggests that we are approaching something 'big' in our lives, and we feel a bit smaller than we would like to be ... you're writing what sounds like an important book in your career and maybe you are concerned with having enough credibility for being taken seriously ... I was reluctantly abandoning my goal of a full teaching career and feeling quite unprepared for being unneeded at school and the big unscheduled world of retirement.

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  3. Love your story about your dreams. I do hope someone with knowledge about dreams gets back to you. My own interpretation would be that your have much unfinished business in your life and there is still much to be done. ie the many rooms, large and small, each different. The nun (to me) represents your higher power who will be with you by your side as you accomplish each new deed, book, journey ie the different rooms. Sounds very positive and feels peaceful Lauren.

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    1. Faye, you made some good observations, giving me much to ponder. hmmm....
      Thanks for your input.

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  4. Keep writing!! And...since any story relating to the Holocaust is near and dear to my heart, I can't wait to read your book!! And just by the tiny bit you've mentioned, it sounds like it's going to be great!

    I believe your dreams are connected in a BIG way to your story. As a Christian (who is also Jewish by heritage) I don't believe in reincarnation, but I truly believe God does give us glimpses into things through dreams. My wip, (which is ready to query tomorrow!!) came to me through a most vivid dream...it was one of those dreams where you wake in the middle of the night, knowing you must write it down - now.

    I would almost be willing to bet that once you get your story down on paper, the dreams will end.

    It's so dang exciting when you KNOW you HAVE to write something, isn't it?
    Good luck, Lauren! Keep me posted! My email is: sjones191@gmail.com

    If you need a beta reader, I'm your gal!
    Sharon :)

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    1. Sharon,
      Thanks for your thoughts. My first novel came to me as a dream. Complete with a beginning, a middle and an ending. I jumped out of bed and started typing. You are right - it is exciting when that happens. I will keep you posted.

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  5. I have similar dreams where I go from one thing to the next. Sometimes it feels as though I'm in a house and things change.

    I'm no dream interpreter but I suspect that in part your "House" is your brain. The different rooms are different aspects of your creative self. So maybe this story, once finished, will close this room so you can explore another.

    "Bestsellers" on this book and all the others yet to be written.

    Lynn

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    1. Lynn, If it's rooms in my brain, wouldn't it be nice to be able to tap the genius room?
      "Bestsellers" to you, too.

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  6. The mansion dream that you feel is associated with your attempt to write a novel sounds like a metaphor for the total freedom you feel to write your book, while also being overwhelmed with all the different possibilities you have to create the book. There are too many rooms to visit possibly to symbolize you realizing you can't do every single little thing you want with the book because it's too much.

    For an intelligent look at dream symbolism based on research I suggest you look at the website dreambible.com. It might help you gain the insight you desire.

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    1. Chase,
      Interesting association. Thanks I will look into that website. And, thanks for taking the time to respond. I appreciate it.
      -Lauren

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  8. Aloha Lauren, I am the author of Dream Analysis Handbook available on amazon.com. The house is the construct of your mind, your conscious, your mind has many compartments,rooms, some of these rooms were constructed with other peoples thoughts,things, usually this is showing you that you adapted to other people's thinking, you are upset at first at this awareness then you think you might be able to make some of them your own or you might be surprised by what you can use for yourself. The room with beds is you observing that the unconscious mind, is temporary and not very comfortable, i.e. -dorm beds. That you are in a house that you can not ever discover it's completion is the realization that you will not know the "all" of you, that you are always been constructed, constantly changing and adapting and there is no end but there is not stagnation either. It is a journey that may never be "completed" or compartmentalized and known.
    The child is your state of mind that you were in personally which is represented by the age of the child invthe dream, she is on a green open lawn, healing place outside of the mind , looking up to a place she may want to go or arise to, uphill, it is a great white construct, it is purified or cleaned up aspect of social construct, in other words when you were a child you had a elevated opinion of how things should be... in a social sense..and this idea or program is available to those who don't have parental constructs, orphans, to be molded by but are nurtured by an aspect of self that is nurturing, healing and safe, the nuns.
    This last part could also very likely be precognitive or shamanic in nature due to the book that you are composing, so it's message is that this story needs to be told to enlighten others for general good of all.
    This is a very short interpretation as I am just hitting the highlights but if you would like to call me or write me at kealanoel@yahoo.com we can go into it more so we can get a better grasp of them.
    I can also send you a free PDF copy of my book.
    PS if you understand a recurrent dream or interpret it, they usually don't repeat as the brain has accepted that you got it's message. However the
    house with many rooms may very well represent the state or construct of you mind then and now, so it may again use this setting to support it's messages to your awake mind..in your dreams
    Aloha and blessings Keala

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