Dreams

As in the case of a prism – and many complex topics – the topic of dreams has many sides.  I will write a fair amount about dreams in my blog because I have been enchanted by the connection between what is real and what is an illusion or a dream.  This is something I started thinking about when I was five or six years old and I had to figure out what it meant to be in school without my parents being there and had to reconcile myself with their absence.  I am also intrigued by the connection of having a dream, going after the dream and achieving it as well as many other aspects related to dreams that will be expanded upon in future posts.

This is one of the many things Carl Jung said about dreams: 

“Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart.  Who looks outside, dreams.  Who looks inside, awakens.”

This quote is brilliant because it is the extreme opposite of what most people would think Jung could have said about dreams.  One would think that he would say that one "who looks inside, dreams"...particularly since dreaming has also theoretically been thought as opening the door to the unconscious. 

I’m not going to delve into the nuances of Jung’s spiritual approach to dreams against Freud’s sexual beliefs on the interpretation of dreams -- or against any other school of thought.   To do that well I would have to conduct a few days of research to remember all that I have read in the past about these subjects.  While I would be getting an extreme amount of pleasure rereading these books, I am looking for a job right now so my postings have to limit themselves to my day-to-day experiences and, in this case, my dreams. 

I have a very important interview tomorrow.  I am very excited about it.  Job would be in one of the companies I admire the most in the world.  If I’m supposed to get hired, I will be.  I certainly have all the skills for most great jobs there. 

I had two different dreams in the past two days about this interview.  On Saturday I was pondering what to wear for it.  I thought maybe a suit would be appropriate as I am focused on an executive-level position there.  Most companies nowadays have a casual dress policy and it’s important to be in tune with that.  On the other hand, one should also reflect the importance of the occasion (the interview) and the type of job one is pursuing. The thought lingered in the back of my mind although I knew I would come up with the right decision. 

That night I dreamt that I was in the office. I was sitting next to a former boss who was always dressed very elegantly.  At that time, he wore different hand-made suits and shirts, always had every hair in place, silk tie knotted perfectly, etc.  In the dream, he was wearing this bright orange sweater, a cream colored open shirt and very light green pants.  A cornucopia of colors!  Nearby there was a long and wide corridor filled with people dancing to hip hop music as there was an aerobic class taking place.  In my dream, I couldn’t get over the fact that all this activity was going on right in the middle of the workplace.  I remember looking at my former boss with fondness, not caring at all whether what he was wearing fit or not in this office setting.   He was still the nice and very smart man he always was.   

Last night I had another dream.  I dreamt that I had to go through a lot of papers to synthesize information and the work was very tedious and overwhelming.   Nevertheless it needed to get done and I did it well.  The next scene was of me lying with my face to the floor, a lot of blood around me as I had been shot in the back of my left leg.  Whether it was during the dream or just as I was waking up I thought this dream was about the last place I worked at where I was “shot in the back” or backstabbed.   I woke up feeling very happy that I was no longer in that nightmarish place!

For me, the interpretation for both dreams is clear.  Irrespective of that, I am wearing a suit and I will go to my interview fully confident, anticipating one of the very best meetings I have ever had.  It helps that the senior executive I am meeting with is someone I met recently on the phone and he is extremely charming and nice.  What I like the most about him was that he is a great storyteller; he had me living his experiences in a foreign country as if I was there with him!

We'll see what I dream about tonight!