Only In My Dreams

I went to lunch with some friends for a birthday celebration.  The birthday girl chose a local restaurant known for its sushi.  I am not a fan of sushi.  It's not that I am wary of adventure, it's this severe allergy to tilapia I've recently developed.  I have read that salmon and tuna along with tilapia are among a group of fish that adults like me are becoming allergic seemingly out of nowhere. My reaction was severe and probably had  something to do with parasites.  Enough said.

We had a lot of fun at lunch.  They enjoyed their meal and we laughed at my being frightened by the eel on their platter.  I declared my area a serpent-free zone.  Then one of my friends regaled us with a tale of a joke played on her in just such a restaurant when something ordered for her was served with its organs still functioning.  Yep.  That's what she said.  As a life long lover of all creatures, I could hardly stand it.

The morning after our lunch, I woke up with the vivid recollection of a dream of a blanched dolphin, white and still, being carved like a turkey and the pieces of meat being neatly arranged on a plate.  Then the animal blinked his eye.  I still shudder at the thought.

There have been times that after a hard relationship day when I am certain I have been the victor, I have a dream that my husband has met another woman and left me.  So instead of carrying my feeling of superiority into the the next day, I find myself contrite and apologetic.

I have experienced the death of  family members over and over again.  I wake up sobbing and then relieved that it had been just a dream.  There have been car accidents, kidnappings and abandonment themes with which I've had to contend.  It's terribly upsetting, yet I continue to knock them off.

About 20 years ago, I read a book about programming your dreams to help you work out challenges in your life. It was "Living Your Dreams" by Gayle Delaney.  http://www.amazon.com/Living-Your-Dreams-Problems-Enrich  There are easy step by step instructions to follow at bedtime.  It was truly cool and it really worked.  Nothing psychedelic required. Since we are the author of our dreams, casting characters and dialogue, we are the best candidates for deciphering their meaning. Possibly something for me to look into so I can stop tormenting myself as I sleep.

Every once in a while, though, even I can have something kind of nice come out of an otherwise disturbing dream.  Most recently, I was on a fishing boat with my brother and some friends.  Somehow, I kept getting left behind on little islands where we would stop to catch blue claw crabs and things.  I was chasing after the boat with my fishing gear tangled around me.  Suddenly, a very nice looking guy, tanned and shirtless stopped to give me a hand.

The next day for me was spent being a little bit contrite and apologetic.