Driver? Passenger? …Or am I just looking too much in to this one?

I have a re-occurring dream that until now, I thought I somewhat understood the origin.  While trying to close down the 500 tabs opened in my brain last night, I started thinking about this dream.  I gained a new perspective, that kept me up for at least another hour pondering.

I’m in a car and the car is moving.  I am either in the passenger’s seat or the back seat (I’m sure there is something to that as well) and I am alone in the car.  I realize that no one is driving and very soon I’m going to crash.  So I become panicked and try to crawl in to the driver’s seat to take control of the car.  About the time I get to the wheel, I wake up.  I never actually start driving and I never actually crash.

I used to think this was my subconscious telling me to take control in my life.  Maybe I needed to try harder to make something (I’ve never really been sure what) happen.  I am alone in the car to make clear that only I can do this.  The car is out of control because, perhaps, I am not taking control.

Last night it occurred to me that maybe I need to not jump in the driver’s seat and trust that the car  will get where it is going.  And that I will be safe and protected when I get there.  Maybe that is why I never actually take the wheel or crash.

The concept of someone or something, outside of myself, taking the wheel or laying down the road I’m driving on, has always been a hard pill for me to swallow.  That is the very idea I have been playing tug of war with for the past few years.  I pull as hard as I can and then something happens – I wait a few seconds before going on a green and a truck runs the red light, I stop what I am doing to look at wedding cards and find $90 inside one, a song comes on the radio that is way too coincidental, or a friend stops over to give me things she has extra of and doesn’t really need, but I do.

These events or signs always leave me with no choice but to give on the rope a little…but never fully.  It’s not the principles and/or morals of God that I have ever denied or resisted, but more the dissonance or incongruity I feel when trying to put total and undoubting faith in something. It’s in doing that, and not feeling like I am choosing to completely shed personal responsibility.

This dream has become just another one of the signs, that have kept my pondering spirit on over drive lately.

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Whose got the wheel?

This is really about perspective – questioning my own and curiosity about yours.  I have a re-occurring dream that until now, I thought I somewhat understood the origin.  All of a sudden last night, while trying to close down the 500 tabs opened in my brain, I started thinking about this dream.  All of a sudden, I had a new perspective that kept me up for at least another hour pondering.

The dream is the same every time. I’m in a car and the car is moving.  I am either in the passenger’s seat or the back seat (I’m sure there is something to that as well) and I am alone in the car.  I realize that no one is driving and very soon I’m going to crash.  So I become panicked and try to crawl in to the driver’s seat to take control of the car.  About the time I get to the wheel, I wake up.  I never actually start driving and I never actually crash.

I used to think this was my subconscious telling me to take control in my life.  Maybe I needed to try harder to make something (I’ve never really been sure what) happen.  I am alone in the car to make clear that only I can do this.  The car is out of control because, perhaps, I am not taking control.

Last night it occurred to me that maybe I need to not jump in the driver’s seat and trust that the car  will get where it is going.  And that I will be safe and protected when I get there.  Maybe that is why I never actually take the wheel or crash.

The concept of someone or something, outside of myself, taking the wheel or laying down the road I’m driving on, has always been a hard pill for me to swallow.  That is the very idea I have been playing tug of war with for the past few years.  I pull as hard as I can and then something happens – I wait a few seconds before going on a green and a truck runs the red light, I stop what I am doing to look at wedding cards and find $90 inside one, a song comes on the radio that is way too coincidental, or a friend stops over to give me things she has extra of and doesn’t really need, but I do.

These events or signs always leave me with no choice but to give on the rope a little…but never fully.  It’s not the principles and/or morals of God that I have ever denied or resisted, but more the dissonance or incongruity I feel when trying to put total and undoubting faith in something bigger than myself. It’s in doing that, and not feeling like I am choosing to shed personal responsibility.

This dream has become just another one of the signs, that have kept my pondering spirit on over drive lately.

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