It has been a long time since I’ve had a dream where I relived part of my high school “traumatic” experiences but last night I did.

Dream: Betrayed 

This dream began a bit hazily and then became more lucid as it progressed. In it I was in a school environment. My best friend from high school was the main focus. She had been avoiding me, hanging out with other people, and just dissing me in general.

There was a discussion going on throughout the dream but it was mostly in the background and I don’t recall specifics about it other than the dream itself. I believe I was participating in a life review of this specific event in my life. During life reviews we often return to the scene to re-experience it so that we are fully able to contact our thoughts and emotions. In turn we can view and analyze our lessons, look for life patterns, examine our growth and set goals for future life applications.

Through this life review I returned to my senior year in high school. I had been best friends with a girl for the entirety of high school. She was a Leo like me and we got along splendidly. We did everything together and she helped me to step outside my comfort zone. But during our last year in high school her parents got divorced and this upset her entire world. She began to seek out new friends, friends who experimented with drugs and alcohol. While at school she started to avoid hanging out with me and treated me very differently. She was stand-offish, quiet, and mostly practiced passive avoidance.

In the dream I was re-experiencing the time when I went to the cafeteria and she sat with a completely different group of people. She didn’t meet me at the normal time and I found her with a younger girl hanging out and laughing, etc. When I tried to converse with her she ignored me. It was obvious she wanted nothing to do with me so I sat at our usual table all alone wondering what was going on. I didn’t feel embarrassed just confused. I was completely happy to sit and eat alone.

In the dream I was in a cafeteria (issue eating me up inside)  watching a similar scene play out. I noticed how differently she treated me compared to others. She was very out-going and pleasant with everyone but when it came to me her energy was closed off and a bit haughty. As I observed this play out in the dream much emotion was present. I believe I was crying through most of the dream. Yet the reality of my behavior from that time was quiet, composed and, though confused, not emotionally upset. I loved my friend to the point that I forgave her assuming there was a logical explanation for her behavior.

In the dream I remember crawling into bed (private self, security) in the middle of the cafeteria. There was a portion where a band was playing music and the oboe (deep emotion) section was focused upon. It was like I was seeing my life as a symphony and focusing in on one instrument (feeling “played”).

I saw my friend sleep-walking (unaware) through the cafeteria but she was only that way toward me. With others she seemed to be playing a part – friendly, accommodating, everyone’s friend and confidant.

Then she was lying in bed next to me. I shoved three (three areas/people) cigarettes (dependency) into her mouth and lit them one by one. Then I decided to removed two (handled two issues) of them, fearing a fire (intense emotional upheaval, transformation) would start. I snuffed them out on a window (insight) sill where much trash (negative issues) had accumulated. I remember seeing the trash slowly burning (purification). There were no flames just red-orange edges to the crumpled paper.

My friend was awake, putting out the lit cigarettes. She said, “I don’t know how that got there.” A party with a big, white cake (accomplishments, need to allow others in) was being held for her. There were many people surrounding her. I got back into bed next to her and said something casual and she responded with disdain. I told her I wouldn’t bother her anymore and rolled over, my back to her. I burst into tears to the point that I could not breathe. I woke up crying.

Insight

Prior to bed I had asked for help in making a decision. Recently I was offered a job at my husband’s work. Their one payroll person is going to be out sick long-term, maybe even permanently. I have no experience in payroll but since they all know me at his work the boss was agreeable to my taking over. My husband has the ability to set my pay at whatever I want within means. So pay will be acceptable – likely $15-$18/hr. I agreed because it did not feel wrong to accept but I wanted clarity on my decision.

My goal is to get out of education. I am burned out and would like work that involves interaction with as few people as possible. Pretense exhausts me. Since my husband has a vast social network I figured he could help me get into a different type of work. Turns out the timing was perfect.

My dream might seem to be about a time in my life when I was betrayed by my best friend – and it was – but the underlying issues are what remained with me when I woke. I recognized that I created the problem by alienating people in high school via my blunt, often rude, speak-my-mind communication. I was selfish and cold, pushing people away and not caring about their feelings. I convinced myself that I didn’t need people, that I was happy enough alone – better off alone. All in all I still have that consideration. If given the choice of going to a party or staying home and watching a movie, I would choose the movie 8 out of 10 times. There are times I prefer groups, but not often. The older I get, the more I prefer to be with myself over other people.

I also recognized that I loved my friend. I loved her so much I was blind to her treatment of me. I made excuses for her, unwilling to see that she didn’t want me as her friend anymore. She had told me that she just wanted to expand her friend network, to explore different types of friendships and stop limiting herself to just me as her sole friend. I accepted this and understood but refused to read between the lines. Ultimately, I followed my friend to college where it became painfully obvious that she wanted nothing to do with me.

In analyzing my decisions at that time in my life I realized that I latched onto our friendship because I had no idea what I wanted in life and had no idea who I was. My friend did and so I followed her lead in everything. I figured if I didn’t know what to do with my life I could just take on someone’s else’s life goals and find happiness that way. When my friend alienated me I latched onto my ex-husband and followed him around. Four years after I left my ex I latched onto my current husband.

When I looked deeper I realized that I am still that girl. I have no idea who I am or what I want for the most part. I may have a better idea than I did in high school but I still prefer to take on another’s goals and purposes because it is “safe” and preferable to the unknown (me, my life, my desires and aspirations).

At a deep, soul level – if I look into my “core” – I sense a dependence upon others written into my “code” (for lack of a better word). It is like I have been programmed to need/rely on others/another as part of my purpose here. Objectively this does not feel “bad” or “good” to me. It just IS.

I am reminded of the number 20 which I touched upon in my last post. In numerology, “the essence of 20 is so much a part of the team it rarely considers the idea of operating by itself. In fact, it shies away from situations that would result in it being alone for an extended period of time, even if it would benefit itself.”

It turns out that if I use my Spirit name of Dayna Stone, my heart’s desire number is 2 which is essentially the same as 20.

Interestingly, my Human Design chart indicates I am a Projector which supports the number 2 in numerology and the general insights I gathered above.

Decision

Based upon my dream and the insights it provided it seems that my initial feelings toward this job are solid. There was no feeling of dis-ease related to the job. There was also no feeling of excitement. Instead it was a neutral sense of possibility. I thought, “I can do that job” and “This might work”.

Further discussions with my husband indicate that after an initial training period it would be conceivable to do my job from home. HUGE plus on my part. Even if I can do it partially from home it is better than other options where I have to commute to  an office environment every day.

Other pros:

• Potential to earn overtime.
• Potential for quick advancement into a “finance officer” position.
• I can commute to work with my husband.
• The office is only 6 miles from our home so I could potentially run or bike to work (unlikely but then who knows?).
• The job does not require very much social interaction (big plus!).
• The job is numbers-oriented (numbers are my friend) and requires a problem solver in regards to finance/numbers/bills (another thing I excel at).
• My husband determines my pay (meaning I can get more than the average person).
• My husband is my boss (could also be a con).
• Potential to strengthen my relationship with my husband (or the opposite).
• Gives me experience in a new field so that I can break away from the education field.