Dream Interpretation

[Jeff Wrangler]

It seriously is never too late to change your attitude or your life.

But don't you agree that first you have to believe that's possible?

I recently heard a song with lyrics about how fragile we are that "we live our lives with death over our shoulders." We do! But that doesn't mean we have to plan our activities as if death is going to come down at any moment.

"In the midst of life we are in death."

[serious crayons]

But don't you agree that first you have to believe that's possible?

"In the midst of life we are in death."

Yes, you do have to believe it's possible. But there are some things you can talk or will or reason yourself into believing if you're motivated to do so.

In J-school I took a magazine class in which we decided the topic of our class' magazine would be DEATH. It was interesting to consider just how much death influences our quality of life. If death didn't exist, would we get really bored and unmotivated to do anything?

Of course, unless you've had a loved one die (which I hadn't at the time), the entire subject is pretty hypothetical when you're 20.

[Front-Ranger]

It was interesting to consider just how much death influences our quality of life. If death didn't exist, would we get really bored and unmotivated to do anything?

There's an old movie about this called Zardoz. Starring Sean Connery. Anyone remember it? It was pretty hokey but had some interesting concepts. A barbarian comes to a utopian place where there is no death. The people are all wishing they could die, but they can not. But the barbarian brings death, chaos, and other messy stuff back into their lives.

[southendmd]

[Front-Ranger]

I must avert my eyes!! haha, yes that's the barbarian, all right!

[CellarDweller]

Last night I dreamed of death--at least, I'm pretty sure that's what it was about--and I'm rattled that it might be a portent of my own death, and I had this dream because it might be coming soon.

I was with a group of people--I don't know how many--and we were all being blindfolded in a way that you might call mummy-fashion, with strips of cloth being wound around our heads (I don't know who was doing the winding). Mine was loose enough that I could peek between the strips of cloth. I could see someone who had his back toward me, but even though I couldn't see his face, I knew it was my boyfriend, who died 20 years ago this last September.

Mummies certainly have to do with death.

I ain't jokin'.

What if the dream was about death, but not a literal one, and instead a metaphorical one.

You talked about wasting your life in your blog.  What if the mummy wasn't you, but rather your 'wasted life', being put away, and what you 'knew' to be your boyfriend, was instead your subconscious telling you to put away your wasted life, and move forward with the new one that you can bring about?

[Jeff Wrangler]

He must have really needed the money. ...

[serious crayons]

To help erase that Sean Connery photo from our heads, here's a more pleasant image from a show involving immortality -- The Highlander TV series starring Adrian Paul. It's interesting that most onscreen immortals seem to stop aging at the moment in their lives when they're at their hottest.

[serious crayons]

What if the dream was about death, but not a literal one, and instead a metaphorical one.

You talked about wasting your life in your blog.  What if the mummy wasn't you, but rather your 'wasted life', being put away, and what you 'knew' to be your boyfriend, was instead your subconscious telling you to put away your wasted life, and move forward with the new one that you can bring about?

Brilliant, Chuck! It's up to Jeff to see if it feels like a good fit, of course, but this sounds really plausible to me.

As Chuck noted, Jeff has talked about dwelling a lot on his wasted life and proximity to death. And in the dream, Jeff isn't quite dead, because he can see through the strips of cloth/death as if viewing what remains of his life. His boyfriend's death is connected to Jeff's worries about his wasted life. He would have been an opportunity for a different kind of life, but he's no longer an option, which is why his back is turned.

Being not quite as much of a natural optimist as Chuck, I don't necessarily view it as Jeff's subconscious telling him to put his wasted life behind and move forward. I do see it as a reflection of how Jeff feels, though. He can see through the bandages because he can still glimpse the remainder of his life. And maybe the reason he can't see who's winding the cloth because the person winding the cloth is Jeff himself, cutting himself off from possibilities of a different life.

I don't know who the other people in the group would be, though. Are they just random strangers who also happen to be "dying"? Or are they connected to Jeff and the other elements in some way?

Sorry to dwell on death and be depressing, Jeff. But I do think Chuck's metaphor analysis seems to fit. If the dream were Brokeback Mountain and Jeff was Ennis and the boyfriend was Jack, we'd certainly be discussing that possibility.

[Jeff Wrangler]

Brilliant, Chuck! It's up to Jeff to see if it feels like a good fit, of course, but this sounds really plausible to me.

As Chuck noted, Jeff has talked about dwelling a lot on his wasted life and proximity to death. And in the dream, Jeff isn't quite dead, because he can see through the strips of cloth/death as if viewing what remains of his life. His boyfriend's death is connected to Jeff's worries about his wasted life. He would have been an opportunity for a different kind of life, but he's no longer an option, which is why his back is turned.

Being not quite as much of a natural optimist as Chuck, I don't necessarily view it as Jeff's subconscious telling him to put his wasted life behind and move forward. I do see it as a reflection of how Jeff feels, though. He can see through the bandages because he can still glimpse the remainder of his life. And maybe the reason he can't see who's winding the cloth because the person winding the cloth is Jeff himself, cutting himself off from possibilities of a different life.

I don't know who the other people in the group would be, though. Are they just random strangers who also happen to be "dying"? Or are they connected to Jeff and the other elements in some way?

Sorry to dwell on death and be depressing, Jeff. But I do think Chuck's metaphor analysis seems to fit. If the dream were Brokeback Mountain and Jeff was Ennis and the boyfriend was Jack, we'd certainly be discussing that possibility.

Nah, you might be depressing others, but not me.

Chuck's is a very interesting interpretation, but I feel it doesn't fit the reality of my life; therefore, it's not a good fit.