82) Symbolic Dream of Busy Life?

This is a first for my blog as I feel this experience is not a full OOB experience, however, the intensity and emotional impact it has left me with leaves me little doubt of it's importance. Therefore, I'm sharing it with you even though it appears to have personal symbolic meaning for my life right now.

As I have found, there is little OOB traveling done when there are many 'life issues' that need to be dealt with leaving little time and energy left for other pursuits. The Universe knows when I need time to focus on work, school, and family and this is one of those times. I know when the 'issues' settle, I'll return to my OOB experiences. I do hope, though, that it will be sooner than later!!

This dream was during a 'refresher' nap I had to take mid-day after being called into work at 3am for an emergency. What is interesting is that I felt the same strong transition upon waking as if awakening from an OBE. I am curious to know if anyone else can understand any of the symbology presented in this dream.

I'm calling it a dream because I have no recall of being 'out', yet I was an integral part of this lucid dream, as it unfolded in short little clips of different segments.

The first recollection I had was that I was watching someone skydiving, and suddenly was aware that there was problem with his chute! It had become tangled in what looked like a large tree trunk (with branches! lol) and he started spinning out of control.

Now, what is interesting is that I then felt like I BECAME this individual, as I could 'see' the spinning sensation of sky/earth/sky and knew I had to stop the spin and stablize the horizon to get my bearing as to what is up and down before attempting to release the stuck cords to the 'tree'. I remember 'hearing' this as HIS thoughts, as though I was within him. I even remember thinking to MYself, as I'm hearing his thoughts, "wow, I'm so impressed he can stay this calm with what is going on!"

Next recollection is watching him land safely, taking those few short steps as if the chute had deployed and the landing was uneventful. However, I 'knew' he had landed nowhere near where he had expected to be, and the few individuals who saw him were quite shocked at his sudden appearance! (I felt it was out west, New Mexico? came to mind, and it was quite flat and dry appearing)

Next segment was of people anxiously waiting outside a building for this man's arrival. There were dignitaries there (as noted by the sashes worn across their chests) and I felt the honoree was some sort of 'veteran'. Their emotions were felt to be of great concern, knowing this man had a problem that few could overcome, and they were saddened to think that he may not have made it through his difficulties. A few people started to walk away in tears, assuming he didn't make it.

The next segment was the MOST emotional for me, as I felt so totally absorbed by the event. I watched (and felt) such elation, joy, and pride as this man was making his entrance into a room full of people who were cheering and overjoyed at his arrival. There was music (I can still hear the drumming, patriotic type tune that made you just want to burst with pride!) and adoration that so encompassed the entire event, that I actually felt overwhelmed.

I slowly became aware of the fact it was a 'dream' as I felt that transition to waking consciousness on a very profound level as well, due to the extreme change in emotional response.

COMMENTARY:
I wish to thank Josh for his insight into one possible meaning for this dream and his encouraging words of support:

Wow, well that is quite a dream. I believe any such experience that provides you with the levels of feelings and emotions you have described should never be ignored. Even just the fact that you were wondering if it meant anything means that it did, at least that how it works for me.

If it was just a dream that was supposed to mean something, I believe your subconscious or your mind would have disregarded it as just that and there would have been no question. I think the real question is, what does it mean?

To me, it seems like this dream could mean a lot of different things. Maybe the person with the parachute problem is supposed to represent you . You are "spinning out of control" with how busy you are. Your personal parachute isn't working, but that isn't stopping you.

You just found another way to "land safely" without your original plan, the parachute. But, you are headstrong, self reliant, and confident. So when you were back on solid ground, you walked away from it as if there was no problem, even though you were in a familiar place.

Maybe the people crying, not thinking you made it, giving you up for lost or dead, maybe that represents anyone in your life (I'm assuming most in your life) that has looked at how your life was going and figured you just weren't going to make it. You weren't going to succeed. They gave you up for lost or dead and began mourning your failure before it even happened.

Then something happens, or happened, where you do succeed, and the people that are around you don't doubt you and celebrate your success. They don't care that you succeeded in an unconventional fasion, they are just happy to see you are where you can be happy.

Of course, this is just one possibility. That can really only work if the person in the dream represented you. It could have represented someone else, or even a force in your life. It's difficult to tell. But if I had to guess at it, that would be my take.

So what you have to do is take a step back, look at the dream for what it represents to you, and see if anything matches. If what I said aboslutely does not match with anything you feel it may mean, then you have to go with your gut instinct, because it is your mind that created the dream, after all. But, if anything I said matches with what may be going on, then that is a two to nothing shot for being what it means.

I believe our minds, our subconscious, unconscious, and souls are very cryptic, but by no means uninterpretable. I believe the only reason for all the symbolism is because it is difficult for something as high as our souls to communicate with something as low as our brains, so it does the best it cans to make sense of the information being processed. It isn't the fault of the mind, it is the fault of the brain.
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My 'gut' instinct was telling me it was very symbolic for something relating to my life right now. I feel that despite the apparent 'spinning out of control' I feel right now, that I would once again conquer the difficulties with eventual recognition for my hard work and effort. Josh was able to support many of my own feelings toward this experience, which validates for me the significance of its relationship to my life.

In hindsight, I was even thinking that the 'tree' that my lines were tangled in could have been symbolic of the 'tree of life'!! :) Thanks Josh!
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I wanted to add another commentary from Keith that I received that validates the same symbolism that Josh related to in his commentary. In hindsight now, a few days later, I have come to witness this exact 'spinning out of control' and 'releasing of cords' that the dream signified. Little did I know how 'calm and in control' I could be all due to the fact that I knew the ending WILL be happy, but perhaps just not as I expected!

Keith wrote:
You mentioned that your dream of the skydiving man was a very powerful emotional experience for you and that you welcome any insight from others. Please know that I've never read a "dream interpretation" book, so I'm far from being an expert in this area. However, for what it's worth here are my impressions:

--You were the "observer" of this dream, or drama, as it unfolded. There was a sense of "space" between you and the event. This indicates to me that you were able to maintain some sense of detachment even though this was such a powerful event for you. (Perhaps, your meditation is assisting you in observing things with more detachment.)

--The character in this drama that you identified most closely with was the man in the chute. His chute was entangled in a "tree with branches." I think you were correct in that this "tree" represents both the human family's "tree of life" and "your own family tree." The feelings were: "spinning out-of-control" and "plunging towards the earth." Both very apt imagery of aspects of your life experiences right now.

--You mentioned that he/you had to "stabilize" before he/you could "release" the stuck "cords" from the "tree." Each of these words I have put "quotation marks" around are rich in symbolism. Just sit with each for a moment and it will reveal itself to you.

--You mentioned that as you "observed" this event, you were able to get into "his" mind and experiences his thoughts. A part of you was so impressed at how calm he [might I suggest this is also the inner you] was.

--You mention that he landed safely, but it wasn't where he had "expected." Ah life, it truly is wonderful and amazing when we let go of expectation of how it "should" be and how it is "suppose" to be. I'm sure you can relate to these feelings so well.

--Finally, you mentioned that a group of people--you mention that these were dignitaries as signified by their sashes across their chests--had been waiting for this man's/your arrival. Might I suggest, that these are representative of the "spirit guides" you have been working with. They are beings whose "wisdom, experience, and power" are equal or greater than your own. Some of the people waiting could empathize with the difficulty of the journey you've been on and were concerned that "you/he" may not make it.

--You mention that this "homecoming" was the most emotional part of the dream for you. I find it so appropriate that this person/you seemed to be some kind of veteran. A "veteran" symbolizes one who has been refined through the heat of battle. This is a sending of "assurance" that you will "hear the music" and that you will make it and arrive safely home.

For you in this incidence, the "tune" you chose was a drumming "patriotic-type" tune. How beautiful and appropriate for a "soldier" who has arrived home from battle.

Anyway, these are my thoughts at this moment. Perhaps they will help you find more "space" to see this event with more clarity.