QUESTIONS & ANSWERS:
Dreams Department

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Question

I very seldom have dream recall. My brother has been in a non responsive coma since July 2nd. I have had no dreams that I recall until 2 weeks before Xmas. Now I've had three that I recall. All having to do with him walking normally, or singing -- got any ideas about why I should suddenly be recalling these now?

Answer

It is very difficult to feel helpless, and even more frightening and frustrating when those we love have problems beyond our control. Though I wish that dreams could tell us about future outcomes in these matters, this path is very tricky and elusive. While only the dreamer can be the final authority on the meaning of his or her dream, we can talk about meanings in general.

If this were my dream.... In my dream there are themes of hope and recovery. It's not clear to me if this is something attached to future reality or giving me hope in the present, but it calls me to focus on the relationship I had with my brother, the everyday aspects of walking and singing, of generally being together. I might even look up friends of my brother, extending the metaphor of finding ways of being with him.

2/19/98

Richard Wilkerson is general editor for The Internet Dream E-zine, Electric Dreams, and director of DreamGate, the Internet Communications and Dream Education Center. He writes the Cyberphile column for the Association for the Study of Dreams Newsletter.