Dream: I’m with a boy (we are teenagers) and we are all dressed up to go to some fancy event. We are looking so cute together that I want a picture of us. I go to give my camera to someone to take our picture and before I can hand it to her the camera drops hard on the floor. It was almost as if the camera flew out of my hand on its own. It hit the ground so hard that it cracked in a few places. Oh no! This is bad. I pick up the camera. There’s a label on it that says, do not take any more pictures or all the pictures you have taken will be destroyed.
Here I have a chance to relate to the teenage boy. Relating to him means I reconnect to my energy, enthusiasm, excitement for life. But instead of connecting I pull myself away. Concerned with my appearance, I want to document how cute we are with a photograph. Rodger says that the camera is a mental process. It’s me standing outside of the experience, pulling outside of myself, observing. In my rush to pull away, I drop the camera. And I immediately put the blame outside myself…. “as if the camera flew out of my hand on its own.” Similarly, in the Creek Girl dream I want to rush away from the scene and get my camera. It’s not surprising that cameras show up a lot in my dreams. Photography has been a love of mine since I received my first SLR camera on my 21st birthday. But I wonder now how often I’ve used the camera to pull myself away. Instead of engaging, connecting or even just feeling the awe of a beautiful scene, I quickly grab my camera. In dreamwork, this is called “jumping away.” It almost seems that this dream is literally begging me to stop taking pictures. The label on the camera warns – do not take any more pictures or all the pictures you have taken will be destroyed. That is pretty strong, clear dream language.
I don’t think that the dream is suggesting that I actually stop taking photographs in my waking life. It may be suggesting though, that I not be so quick to pull away from potential feeling moments. The dream uses the camera as an example of the way I do this. Grabbing the camera keeps me from feeling, from really being fully in the moment. And it is showing me that given a chance to connect with the archetypal boy – a part of my soul self – instead I find ways to stay disconnected. Dreams are clever in that they are so specific to each individual. The use of the camera is a perfect way to show how quickly I jump away.
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