Woke up upset from a dream at 5am. In it, I got a phone call from my son’s friend’s mother. She said my son had been bitten by a dog but would be okay. When I asked questions she said the bite wasn’t as bad as the first one. I asked, “What do you meant the first one?” She ignored my question and told me he would be okay but I insisted she at least give him some pain meds. The connection was broken so I called back and got my son. She had taken him to a Rite Aid where she reassured me she was getting him taken care of. I asked to see the bite and saw it via video. My son’s entire thumb and two middle fingers were fully bandaged and blood was seeping through. This upset me further. The mom told me she gave him Xanax. Concerned because Xanax is not a pain medicine, I insisted she take him to the ER because he probably needed stitches. She kept saying he was okay. I finally threatened to call the cops but she hung up. 

The dream woke me up and I struggled to return to sleep. It bothered me that a mother would give a child Xanax.

Dream: Vision Check

The beginning of the dream is hard to recall. I was inside a suburban neighborhood in a house. It was early morning, so still somewhat dark outside. I noticed someone running through the back yard and across towards the street. He was wearing a dark hoodie and had a backpack. I thought the house must be located somewhere people used as a shortcut. Maybe he was headed to school.

I looked out the window to see where he was going and he went to the street and then down it. I saw a van parked there and yelled at it because I seemed to know who was inside. A head popped out, acknowledging me. So, I went out to the van.

I must have gotten inside the van because then I drove the car slowly up and down the road. As I looked to my left I notice the lines of suburban houses. One was the neighbor’s and looked to have had a new skylight installed. Curious, I stopped and put the van in reverse to get a better look. When I looked, though, all the houses were gone and in their place were red brick, nondescript buildings several stories high that stretched as far as my eyes could see. The windows were plain and spaced evenly like apartments. 

Thinking it odd, I stopped the van to go take another look. So, I backed up to see if the houses reappeared. In fact, I thought, “They will reappear”, recognizing I was creating what I saw. Sure enough, the houses were back just as before. Laughing, I got out of the car to walk the road so I can see my creation but was nearly struck by people walking or running past. They were all are wearing dark hoodies, some in groups, and it felt unsafe, so I jumped in the passenger’s side of the van. My husband was inside and I asked him to look outside and tell me what he saw. I asked him if he saw houses or the red, brick buildings. I don’t remember his response but the van moved forward and I saw the red brick buildings again. I put my head and upper body out the window to look as the van gets closer. The buildings were about five or six stories tall and had no markings to indicate what kind of building they were but seemed to be apartments. Eventually, though, I saw a glowing, white sign on the building. The sign read, “Vision Checks” or something like that. I think it must be a hospital, maybe even an ER, but there are no other markings. Could it be a prison? There were no bars indicating such a structure, though.

I woke up around this time but ended up going in and out of the in-between for a bit. All I really remember is mulling over the red brick buildings. Why did I see them? What does it mean? The answer I received is that the dream is showing me something about myself. 

Perhaps I consider suburbia a prison? That thought has definitely crossed my mind before. However, upon further consideration, I think it is more that all the houses represent “individuals” and the red brick buildings are the reality. We are all the same. Yet, I am aware of a side of myself that is critical of the human desire to be special and unique. Each house is a unique representation of an individual. I reject this and replace the houses with the identical brick buildings.

The “vision checks” sign is likely my subconscious trying to get through to me. I should “check my vision”. 

In the end, my takeaway is that one’s perspective paints their reality. I can choose to be critical of all the people around me desperately trying to distinguish themselves from one another or I can see it as the soul creating something unique via individual experience.