Ok, I usually dream in images, and don't have a lot of long conversations, but last night was different for me.  I go downstairs late at night to let the dog out.  We have a stubborn mutt and he pees on the floor when he wants to.  Anyway, around 3 am, I went downstairs let him out, went back to bed.

My dream picked up from there.  I went down again, let him out.  Then, back in bed, I heard a loud noise, outside the front door.  I thought my stepson had invited friends over or something, and opened the front door.  To my surprise, the neighborhood was all there, and it was early morning.   Hmmmmmmm.....what's going on?  I was told that they were building a new road to the lake about a quarter mile away, and they gathered to watch it.  Wasn't it great?  It seemed nice.  I looked across the street.  Saw two houses, that were having work done, but in retrospect looked nothing like the two houses normally there.   

Then, the neighbors came in and began to socialize.  I knew them, in the dream, but not in reality.  We talked, and sat in the dining room.  I kept asking why it was angled with a slope, what had happened.  Someone who I took to be in real estate explained to me that the house must have "settled," but it will be ok. 

I guess for me I'm looking to figure out the meanings behind this lucid dream.  I was talking in a regular voice, trying to make sense of things, listening to the news about the new road they were building, talking about the house settling.  It was a very busy dream, and I moved back and forth with ease, and calm.  I was not particularly scared or startled.

I suppose I posted this because the lucidity of the dream caught me.  The participation of dream neighbors and conversations in some detail - I don't usually remember that. 

Anyone with any ideas, or know why some dreams are like this, while others are symbolic and seemingly nonsensical?

Matthew

Alysia,

Happy Holidays!  Thanks for the help with it.  I'm not used to interpreting dreams.  But to see a new road may certainly be a new expansion of consicousness, or possibly another new change in one's life.  I briefly wondered whether the neighbors weren't members of this board, but none announced themselves.  However, it was assumed that we knew each other. 

I think houses have a strong representationfor us as people.  still trying to figure out the slanted dining room floor idea.  It seemed to bother me more than others. 

Best to you,

Matthew

Matthew,

I decided to interpret your dream myself before reading Alysia's interpretation.   So I was annoyed that she anticipated much of what  I was going to say.     Anyway, some of my points are unique.  So here goes.

The neighbors who gather uninvited in your house represent the members of this site.   This identification seems implicit in your comment: "I knew them in the dream, but not in reality."  There is something rather dreamy about regular communication with online people you've never met.   It was really a shock to me when I met Roger B. in person last summer.  We had been communicating on this site for a few years.  It was as if I never expected a flesh and blood human being to be behind all his thoughtful posts and P.Ms. 

In Jungian dream interpretation, the house is a standard symbol of self.  But when "the downstairs" or the basement is the focus, the unconscious is being depicted.   What is your fear about your unconscious?   Your dream was sparked by the image of letting out your dog to pee.   Your dog sometimes ignores your effort to train him to pee outside instead of inside.  This symbolizes your perceived lack of self-discipline in fulfilling your spiritual goals.

The new road symbolizes the new spiritual path that is slowly taking shape for you.  Now notice how odd it is for neighbors to stand around late at night and study a new unfinished road, while all the road workers have presumably gone home for the day.  You want to share their excitement at the progress that they seem  to see, but you often feel that such progress is illusory wishful thinking or at least no more exciting than watching the grass grow.    

The two houses in repair across the street symbolize the gradual transformation of other posters.   Part of the problem is that other site members differ significantly from you in their concept of spiritual progress.   You are concerned about the "angle" of the "slope" of one of these houses.    Some of the posters who may have influenced you look at spiritual experiences from a very different "angle" than you do.   You worry that, for the noblest of motives,  they may be leading you astray.   You are told by an authority figure (the real estate agent) that the house "must have settled, but it will be OK."   A settled house represents posters' outlooks in which they seem stuck or settled to you.   Their acquiescence doesn't seem OK to you; so you wonder about the reassurance of the authority figure.   Large bodies of water (e.g. the lake) are a standard psychoanalytical symbol for consciousness.   You hope that this developing path will lead to a new and more advanced self-awareness.   But sometimes you feel that your time could be more productively spent by spending less time on this site and more time doing other things like meditating or reading.   The dream is a call to a clarification of your priorities and a decision as to whether your regular perusal of this site is more of an asset or a liability in helping you transform your intent into sustained effective action. 

Don

Hi Matthew,

If this were my dream, I'd probably consider that the slanting floor could represent the old slipping away to make room for the new.

Love, Kathy

goodness Don, I didn't know you could do dream interpretation! but you do have some background in Jung and a degree so I should have known you could do well there. I don't have any college degrees..just like to study my own dreams and find those connections with other's dreams as in intuitive function and a wish to express that I enjoy all of you, your company, even though perhaps I should be sitting in meditation! nah...it's too much fun yakking here and discovering all those hidden talents of each person that I had formed a judgment against.
for one thing, there are no physical people in my town quite like you all here!
this place IS a town to me, we have it all. my goodness..we certainly do!
if you Doc are starting another thread on your dream, I'm there! I'll look for it.

and Doc, I've dreamed of boards..I'm on two of them, I dream of them to be shopping centers, and sometimes they are under construction as well. was confused at first; why shopping centers? malls? I think it was because my subconscious interprets that people are "selling" their wares here, and I could go into any store I wanted. arent we all selling something? highly unspiritual thought I, but ha ha! oh well...business can be spiritual, can it not?
so..hmmm. what else would I interpret a forum as? certainly not sitting on a cloud where all was making harmony, although that would be cool! for about 10 minutes maybe. ok, maybe 2 hours.
just love dream symbols whenever I can make a connection to them.
I realize I could sit here all day yakking about it so I'd better shut up for awhile.

but just one more tiny observation to add to the dream...the neighbors are not bothered with the slanting floor, but you are. u would like to keep things level and balanced here. for one thing if something is not level, we are dealing with gravity to increase that energy of the slanting motion over time. like a crash could come. nobody notices this but you and it nags u. well, it nags me a bit too, that a crash could come. not too long ago it did..the board crashed for several days...made me aware of my forumitis here. I found unattachment to expressing here was an acceptable deal...I survived it! ha ha!

when u came here I noticed your leavening ability on the threads...so u put your energy here to do that..and I for one do appreciate it!

I have this philosophy about the board health and well being..as an entity. we are all roommates in a house. if somebody notices the garbage needs taking out an argument can ensue whos turn it is to do that. instead of arguing and wasting time about who's in charge of garbage detail, my theory is the first person who notices a bad smell just goes ahead and takes the garbage out without looking around for someone else to do it. this way it just gets done and might even be catching! I don't mean housecleaning to throw people out..I just mean trash can collect awfully fast if everyone lives together. sort of recycling the trash, not throwing it out either. since we don't have appointed moderators, I see people coming in and naturally doing what they see to make it a good place to express ourselves within friendliness rather than coersion of principle and with the idea of contributing something, not just feasting at the table and yammering about personal self interest.
It's a very constructive town with changes being constant. I have a tiny piece of the action here. I like watching and I've grown here a lot from reading people, between the lines. I see people expressing love or I look for that on purpose and reinforce it if I can. so I don't have a lot of intellect to express, but some here do.
just wanted to say I'm glad you have been here and you're one of the reasons I come back! love, alysia