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Key points
- Dream analysis can often bring repressed feelings into the open, where the dreamer can address them productively.
- Looking at the people who appear in the dream can often reveal a character trait you may want to access in your current situation.
- If you can't find a place or character in your dream, explore what's missing in your current waking life.
In Charley's nightmare, she lost her service dog at the airport and then ended up at the wrong resort. She came to realize that the dream magnified a sense of anxiety she was avoiding, forcing her to face it openly. Dream analysis can often bring repressed feelings into the open, where the dreamer can address them productively.
The Dream
Charley told me, "This is a recurring dream that has recently reappeared several times.
"I am at the airport with my dog, Lukie, about to miss a flight. I get on the plane and all of a sudden Lukie is gone. I’ve left him at the airport, and he is running around there alone. I feel this huge panic and I’m calling people, begging them to go find Lukie.
"Then I'm running up a hill to the resort. My dad is in front of me or I’m running to him. I get to the resort and it’s a beautiful hotel, but it's the wrong one. I go up this huge staircase as if I am staying there, but I try to hide from people who work there. Then I’m running from resort pool to resort pool, trying not to get in trouble.
"The dream doesn’t sound that horrible, but I am absolutely terrified. I wake up sweating, in the worst mood ever, and completely shaken up."
The Discussion
I began, “The feelings in the first part of the dream seem to intensify because your airport panic escalates through Lukie’s disappearance, leaving you terrified.
"I know Lukie is your service dog, but what else comes to mind about him?”
Charley answered, “I love him so, so much. I hate going places without him. I know this isn’t a good trait, but I kind of get offended when a friend says the dog can’t come to their house. I am also very afraid of him getting off his leash, running away, getting hit by a car, or getting sick. I even think about what I am going to do when he gets old.”
I continued, “As the dream progresses, it keeps escalating. You can’t pinpoint your dad and then you're at the wrong resort. Can you think of any situation in your waking life that has been escalating recently?”
Charley responded, “Maybe this is about my new job. I still work for the same company, but my position has changed. I’m in retail and was moved to be the swimsuit buyer. I absolutely love my new role, but there is a lot I do not know, and I am certainly not an expert in swim yet. I also get a bit nervous about what the new swim team and the vendors will think of Lukie, because he does come to work with me.”
I offered, “Your nervousness over Lukie fits into the dream where you describe, ‘I’m trying to hide from people who work there.’
“Then immediately afterwards you say, ‘I’m running from resort pool to resort pool, trying not to get in trouble.’ This whole theme seems to capture your feeling that you’re ‘not an expert’ in swim yet, compounded with your concern about Lukie being accepted.
“Do you think perhaps you're worried not only about Lukie, but about you, too, being accepted by the new team?”
Charley exclaimed, “I wouldn’t have connected this, but I agree!”
Interested in the role of Charley’s dad, I inquired, “What comes to mind when you think about your dad or your relationship with him?"
Her response came easily. “I would say my dad is really loving and caring. He is great when it comes to financial support, but his anxiety comes out sometimes. He is not very emotionally connected; for example, if I were to fall down the stairs and sprain my ankle, he would yell at me and ask me why I was being careless, rather than comfort me."
Returning to Lukie, I ventured, “Am I safe in saying that your feelings about Lukie, which you admit are not entirely healthy, provide an extreme emotional attachment for you?"
Charley offered, “Yes. Definitely.”
“You are running towards your dad in the dream. You also express that your new job seems to have triggered this nightmare. Is it possible that reaching toward your dad may represent a sense that his personal style could help you? Might your work situation be easier if you were able to ‘disconnect’ like he would?”
Charley refined my suggestion to catch her feelings more precisely. “I am nervous or overwhelmed about people judging or accepting Lukie and myself in the new job; there's no question I’m anxious about it.
"I can see how running up the hill towards my dad could represent a wish to disconnect emotionally. But I wouldn’t want to bury the emotions and hide them like my father might. I want to be aware but not too connected. I think I would manage better in the situation, being less emotional.”
What We Can Learn
The dreamer originally downplayed her feelings at work, describing herself as “a bit nervous,” but this dream grabbed her attention with its extreme anxiety. She herself notes the contrast: “The dream doesn’t sound that horrible, but I am absolutely terrified.”
People commonly repress or minimize negative emotions, but their dreams often bring that interior discussion into waking life. When this dreamer acknowledged the negative emotions highlighted in her nightmare, the dream itself offered her a model for handling her situation in the form of a dream character – her father – who is loving and supportive but less emotionally "connected" than she normally is.
With this dream, the dreamer is able to see a characteristic better suited for the current situation she is facing.
