Discussion post I submitted for my Atlantic University TP6000 Course – January 15, 2020.
The dream I’m covering this week occurred last night, and is as follows:
I was driving around small New Hampshire towns with a couple of other people who I was close but didn’t actually see who they were. We were trying to find our way into this small town that I remember going to as a kid for camp. All the roads were blocked off so we tried this little traveled one. I came down a big hill and saw that there was a campground across a small lake. I remembered being here when I was young and I knew there was a bridge that crossed the lake to the other side.
We reached the bottom of the hill, started over the bridge, and about halfway across, the bridge disappeared. Suddenly, we were bobbing up and down in the water and the car morphed into a boat so it didn’t sink. We held onto the car/boat and paddle to shore. There were a few waves lapping up against the beach as we got out. It didn’t take us very long to get to the other side.
As we came onto the land, we saw people camping. Most were in campers, and some had the sides lifted up so you could see inside. A few had there laundry hanging up. We asked one guy what happened to the bridge, and he said it’s not there anymore. We walked toward the back of the campsite and there was a younger couple seated in lawn chairs as their kids ran around.
As I reported last week, I’m in the midst of several life transitions. Packing up my parent’s home has still left residuals it appears. I did go to camp in New Hampshire as a child, and one interpretation is that I’m attempting to go back to my childhood but I found that the roads are blocked. Even the bridge I recall suddenly disappears as we attempt the crossing. It’s like the old saying, you can’t go home again.
Even though the campsite looked as if it was how I remembered it as a kid, once I got to the other side, it looked nothing like a child’s camp. It was an adult camping ground, so it’s as if I left my childhood behind on the other shore. The bridge represents my life to a recent familiar point, and then all of a sudden, I’m literally in unchartered waters. When I reach the other shore, the site is full of adults, namely couples and one with children. Even when I saw them playing, I remember thinking that not only do the children appear young but so do their parents.
I also found it interesting that while I was with people that I knew in the car, they were nameless and faceless. It’s symbolic of our journey in that while we do have family and friends along the way, in the end, each of us is on our own. Even shared experiences such as a summer camp impact each person differently.
Another symbol is that of the car, the boat, and the difficulty in getting to the other side. It’s representative of a transition from childhood to adulthood. Water is also symbolic of emotions, which are clearly present in my subconscious as I attempt to process where I’ve been and more poignantly, where I’m heading. The blocked roads, as well as the bridge that disappears, are symbolic of being unsure of exactly where I’m headed as well as the notion that I’m not able to return to that time in my life.