Dream of Graduating
There are two dominant Dream Motifs that have been following me decades through my life, having once gone through my Schooling and then through something of a Military Career. My Dreams return me, sometimes, to being back in School, mostly at the University level but, often enough, returning me as far back as High School, and then there are Dreams of being returned to Military Command, often in different Services then the one I actually served in. Well, the Military Dreams have been evolving to the point where I’ve been experiencing promotions, sometimes even to the Field Grade Ranks, and often enough I’m not even required to be in uniform (which I suppose means that I am growing less rigid and more flexible in my thinking… less uniform).
But the Dreams of School have hit a new note. The other night I was Graduating from University. Now I have often had dreams in which I was conscious of having multiple higher degrees, and of graduating High School for the 3rd or 4th time, but even then, I was still to be caught up in the System of Higher Education, as though I was never to be released. Enough was never to be enough. Then there were the common Sub-motifs of Scholastic Anxiety – approaching Finals without having attended any of the Lectures or having read any of the Materials, or realizing it is toward the end of the Semester and one has no idea what Classes one was even scheduled for. It would seem that failure was an absolute certainty. But over the years, there were dreams of planning, organization, reading, attending lectures, that is of actually doing the work. Resolving the anxieties.
But in this most recent dream, finally, I was to be fully certified as completely educated and then to be allowed out the door. At last.
And then there was an odd twist. I saw a young woman, but not too young, who was also Graduating, sort of the female equivalent to myself (though I am so much older, though my dreams rarely acknowledge my actual age). We were both donning our ceremonial robes and gowns, and I noticed that she was dressed informally but tastefully beforehand. And even while the dream was occurring I was able to contemplate the thought that her persona and my persona were comparable and similar – a sort of Mirror Image through gender opposites. She appeared to me as though she were confidently and adequately educated, and ready to move onto the actualities of Life and Career. She looked respectable. And in seeing that, it occurred to me that I looked respectable also.
Well, I often tell the victims of Anxiety Dreams that they are in fact lucky, as studies have shown that people with Anxiety Dreams actually have less to feel anxious about then those people who dream anxiety free. It is as though Anxiety Dreams marshal one’s life toward a level of competence that effectively lifts one above ordinary anxious concerns. But what would I say about Dreams of Fulfillment and Completion. Well, I am an Old Man. If my Dreams have pushed me and driven me my entire life toward some level of achievement, then, even if the absolute heights of perfection have not been reached, still, what is to be gained from running some poor persona all the way into the Grave. The Higher Dream Mind must understand the Wisdom of eventually allowing some Peace, some ease, some comfort, some Dreams of Maturity.
