A Recurring Dream

I would like to recount a dream of mine from last night. This isn't the first time I've had this dream, and each time I experience it I feel profoundly changed, if only for a few minutes or an hour. In many ways it feels as if a gift has been bestowed upon me, but the feelings rarely last and everyday life intrudes upon the dream reality. The dream is as follows:

I encountered a young blind woman, very pretty and friendly. She looked familiar to me, although I did not know where I knew her from. I asked if she needed help, and she admitted she did. She told me her blindness came upon her very suddenly, and she wasn't yet accustomed to her loss. Because of this, people took advantage of her frequently. She wished someone could help her until relatives arrived from out-of-state to care for her. She confided she hoped to remain a student at the University of Kansas, but it seemed unlikely now.

I offered whatever assistance I could give, but admitted to constraints in time and opportunity. She thanked me for any help I might provide, and asked if I could drive her to her next class. On the way she told me her name, and I realized she briefly worked for me, years earlier. She didn't recognize me, of course, because she was blind. Upon remembering her, I resolved to give her all the help I could. I took her home after class and found her friends borrowing or stealing her possessions indiscriminately. My presence curtailed some of this, but not for long. When they saw I didn't actively prevent them from doing what they wished, they returned to their brazen actions.

I noticed a storm approaching in the distance. It blew in very quickly, and was powerful and relentless. I ushered the young blind woman into her house with her "friends". They continued to steal from her, taking food and "borrowing" music she spent a lifetime collecting. Nothing was off-limits to these so-called friends. As the storm worsened, I saw a snake had entered the house, presumably to escape the water. It was a small snake, but I feared snakes greatly and it startled me. I mustered the courage to kill it, but quickly saw another one, larger and harder to kill. Soon there were several snakes in the house, and I tried to get the other people there to help me kill them. I finally went outside into the storm because the snakes were too unsettling for me. I saw many more snakes in the yard, all approaching the house.

I went back inside, and saw the woman's friends preparing to use her car to steal her stereo equipment. At that, I physically stopped them and made them return her possessions. I told the group she was under my protection until her relatives came for her, and she would not be abused. At the moment I said these words, the storm stopped and the snakes crawled away. Her friends left also. I told the blind woman things were okay for the moment, and I would take care of her until her parents arrived.

Suddenly, a young man appeared at the door. He entered the living room, nodded his head in acknowledgement, and congratulated me for my efforts. This man was of medium height, very thin, with long blonde hair and blue eyes. He appeared to be in his early twenties. He wore a black trench coat over a dark turtleneck shirt. He too, was familiar, though I didn't immediately recognize him. He smiled warmly at me, and said I had done well. My true spirit had shown through on this day.

I thanked him, but reminded him this was not reality. I knew I was dreaming. He agreed, but said that he was in fact real, and his role within my dream was to bring truth. It was my job to find the one person in each of my dreams that was real and brought truth, and then to discover the nature of the truth offered. He explained that when he appeared in my dreams, he would always be the one to bring the truth offered to me. If he did not appear, it would be someone else, and I had to discover who it was each time.

I asked him if he was who I thought he was. He smiled again and said yes. I asked if he had other truths to share, and he said he did. He said my life would be in turmoil for a few years, but would then be better. I would finally succeed in business, but its emphasis wouldn't be what I expected. I asked the young man how his life had been since I saw him last, and if he had been happy. He smiled and said there were many truths to tell, but that was one for another time.

He then walked away as the sun broke through what was left of the clouds. A double rainbow could be seen in the sky as he crossed a field behind the house. I looked back toward the door, and the blind woman's parents had arrived. They were happy to see her, and said they would have a party later that I was invited to in thanks for my assistance. I told them I would try to attend. They soon drove away, feeling restrained happiness for the joy they carried in seeing their daughter again, but tempered by compassion for her suffering. I smiled and turned back toward the young man, but he was already gone.

I was alone.

My friends, I have had this dream several times a year for approximately the last five years, including last night. The only detail that ever changes is the age of the young blonde man, from a young boy to an elderly man. Everything else stays the same. I have in fact had other dreams where individuals told me they had truths for me to learn, and no matter how large or small these truths are, they feel like a revelation when I awaken. This dream frightens me and comforts me all at the same time. I've been told the blind woman represented the vulnerable, fragile aspects of my personality; my role in the dream stood for the "male" side attempting to balance out the feminine side; and, the young man represented my ability to make sense of my life. I have no practice at interpreting dreams, but I would invite all comments and opinions that those of you who read this might have.

Sweet dreams.

I continue to have this dream periodically, and I remain fascinated by the idea that my dreams are meant to bring a form of truth to me. Granted, all dreams represent something that is usually grounded in reality (even in a small way), but the idea that I was to seek out characters in my dreams that are holding a truth for me is compelling.

I am no better than I was at doing this--although many people claim the ability to control and influence their dreams, I am not among them. The idea that I can choose to find the person in my dream state that has come to bring me a scrap of knowledge or truth is not one I can act on. I am aware that there are ways to practice this, but mostly my dreams still proceed as if of their own accord. On occasion I am made aware of truths or even revelations while dreaming, but not very often and never of my own volition.

Questions about this scenario remain, as well. Is the truth offered to me by an outside force or entity, or is my subconscious bringing to the surface something I already knew on some level? If these truths are indeed provided by an outside force, is it the same person each time? Who decides when I am ready to learn a new "truth"? Is there a limit to what I am allowed to know? Why was I chosen to learn these things?

With no answers forthcoming, I am forced to conclude that my dream was simply that--a dream. Perhaps there was nothing to it that I could carry with me into other scenarios, either while awake or asleep. Perhaps there was nothing special about this dream and its suggestion that important truths would somehow be revealed to me, if only I could find the one there charged with imparting knowledge. Perhaps it was really, truly--only a dream.

I'm not ready to believe that yet. Why do I still visit this dream periodically? What is its importance to me? Can it be a coincidence that a recurring dream with such promises was no more special than any other? Could it truly be the case that there is no significance whatsoever to this?

Perhaps.... but I'm not ready to believe that. Not just yet.

Happy dreaming, everyone!