“Wasn’t looking for any special assistance
not going to any great extremes
I’d already gone the distance
just thinking of a series of dreams.”
-Bob Dylan, Series of Dreams
It seems that my dreams have a certain pattern and evolution to them. There are familiar characters that populate them, primarily past professional associates, as scenes unfold. My part to play is the observer: either I’m passing through or witnessing an interaction. I’m fairly dispassionate, there is no heavy point to it all. When I awake I don’t feel distressed or any emotion as it’s remembrance fades away.
Over the last number of months I’ve been meeting with several long term associates who have recently retired from their successful careers. During one of our get togethers, the topic of dreams arose when one queried if any of us are having them about work. They all seem to be having similar dreams! We surmised that over time they would diminish as part of separating from our past roles.
Recently my dreams have gotten somewhat weirder. Whereas the people previously were and are now known to me, these latest ones have me walking through hallways, as perhaps at a conference, seeing people passing by…… all of whom I don’t know. I’m strolling along where everyone is a stranger. Once again I’m dispassionate, however, a creeping feeling of hollowness arises. The last one I had I awoke and then fell back into it, walking through a sea of the unknown, evoking neither fear nor sense of purpose.
Perhaps this is an expression of the letting go process: what I once knew before is now unfamiliar. Or maybe a sense of irrelevance, or a sense of subconscious closure. After all it’s been almost eight years since I sold my business. Consciously, I let go and moved on a long time ago…. or so I thought.
Over the last number of months I’ve been meeting with several long term associates who have recently retired from their successful careers. During one of our get togethers, the topic of dreams arose when one queried if any of us are having them about work. They all seem to be having similar dreams! We surmised that over time they would diminish as part of separating from our past roles.
Recently my dreams have gotten somewhat weirder. Whereas the people previously were and are now known to me, these latest ones have me walking through hallways, as perhaps at a conference, seeing people passing by…… all of whom I don’t know. I’m strolling along where everyone is a stranger. Once again I’m dispassionate, however, a creeping feeling of hollowness arises. The last one I had I awoke and then fell back into it, walking through a sea of the unknown, evoking neither fear nor sense of purpose.
Perhaps this is an expression of the letting go process: what I once knew before is now unfamiliar. Or maybe a sense of irrelevance, or a sense of subconscious closure. After all it’s been almost eight years since I sold my business. Consciously, I let go and moved on a long time ago…. or so I thought.
Wow Jeff! What a timely entry. Also just recently I’ve had a couple of dreams with the same theme.
Letting go of a familiar professional identity symbolized by my backpack that contained my work. Try as I did to maintain connected to it, I literally lost contact and went into a panic. What’s to become of me now?! Somehow, after processing the two dreams (the first one was loose, the 2nd one drove the message home. Time for a change. But wait…..must it be so? Nevertheless, I’ve subsequently been sleeping like a well nursed baby.