Current Dreams into Reality

Surreal Tidal Wave, courtesy of Creative Commons 

Dreams tell me a lot about how I am feeling currently. One recurring dream of mine has a stronger current than others. That is, I am peacefully enjoying a day at the beach with family members and then all of a sudden huge waves come to the shore voraciously pulling blankets, shoes, books, and any other item their clammy hands can grasp. The dream ends in a feeling of helplessness as we look to gather our things but we can't get off the shore to the parking lot because a large wall appears. We are caught between a wave and a hard place, one might say. A day after Superstorm Sandy hit, I had this dream again, with some variations. Paralleling to my anxious feelings of finding a job, I have learned that water evokes a drowning sensation as I try to stay afloat.

I have been having this water-themed dream since I was a child, but it had never felt so real, well, until it happened. In the Mediterranean sea, of all places. It was a calm day at the beach in Almería, Spain where I was volunteering for the summer in a foster care home. As the kids had started to get cabin fever, a day at the beach with them was a great solution. One moment I am standing in the water waiting for Sandra to pass me the beach ball, the next moment I see her eyes get really big, and a second later I am knocked over by a wave. Pura, the elderly nun with us, collecting sea shells, was knocked over as well. Three subsequent waves followed as we scrambled to gather and move our valuable electronics out of harms way. Then, pacifity once again.

Most people on the shore laughed it off and struggled with a wet book, towel, or phone. But I, I just experienced a dream manifest into reality! As I looked for the right words in Spanish to express this to my company, questions whirled in my head: What does this mean? Should I do something, act on this? Which life am I living and which is a dream? (For a more introspective look, I recommend La Vida es Sueño by Calderón de la Barca)

A recurring dream had just turned into reality, yet this was a time of relative tranquility in my life.
My life at the foster care home involved playing cards with the kids, braiding hair, going to the beach, and doing some household chores. At a time when I had never felt as relaxed and free of mind-clutter, this dream becomes reality. I still don't know what to make of it quite, and I still don't know where those three unexpected waves came from. Though there was a cruise ship in the horizon...I think it was really there.