Welcome to Dream Interpretation for Dummies, where Dear Abby meets Native Americana. Come to the campfire, peer into the yawning grave, and take a dive into the collective subconscious… or maybe just explore some weird clown imagery. We’ll wait for you here.
Howdy Note: This dream has been very lightly edited. Everything you are about to read has already happened, is happening, will happen…
Another Howdy Note: ANOTHER SPECIAL GUEST DREAM! See Kristen’s (any pronouns) latest book here.
Dear Howdy,
Thanks for being so patient with me - I've gone ahead and written up what I can remember about my most recent vivid dream.
In the dream, I'm in a house that's my own, but it's not really - it's an approximation of what my old house looked like, but kind of stretched out in strange ways? Like long cluttered halls and twisted rooms that lead into each other in a way that feels a little maze-like. I've got a lot of animals with me, several dogs and different cats and hamsters and birds, animals that aren't really mine in waking life, but feel like my own in the dream. There is a large fenced yard outside with a clotheslines strung across the width of it and I am watching the animals play and wrestle and run around. I am in charge of them, so I am keeping an eye out, making sure none of them get lost or hurt.
The second part of the dream is the part that feels wilder. One part is that there is a dog that has had babies, and they are all over the place - but they are all very, very small? Like they are the size of tiny puffballs and there are dozens and dozens of them. I am working to corral them and keep them in one place, but I worry that they will get lost or stepped on or hurt, and also I am a little disgusted by them because it feels almost like an infestation? But I hate that I feel grossed out, so I keep telling myself that I am not. Then there is also a very large male lion that I am caring for. It's in another room, but it gets let out and it is running around with all the other animals in the yard. In my dream, I know the lion is tame, so I am trying to keep myself calm and not stress out because I think the lion will be able to feed off my anxiety, but another part of my brain worries that the lion will ultimately decide to turn around and bite or maul me, or hurt one of the other animals. So I spend the rest of the dream trying to carefully corral it back in the closed, locked room. The lion never hurts me or any of the other animals, but I always feel the threat of it hovering there before I wake up.
<3,
Kristen Arnett
Dear Kristen,
Thank you for the gift of your dream. It feels funny, in that cosmic humor sort of way, that I am presented with an almost menagerie, as I just returned from dogsitting for my sister. This dog, Koda, was super well-behaved and friendly, but I am anxious about most things, so I was convinced something might happen to her during the night and I would subsequently lose all credibility. It didn’t, but I am NOW convinced that when people aren’t looking she brings out her corded telephone, cigarettes, and daytime television reruns and has a glass of box wine to decompress. It’s as if she knows something we will never be privy to.
That said, let’s get into it (your dream): First, all houses are haunted, in some way or another. It’s like Tolstoy said about happy and unhappy families — Every haunted house is haunted in its own way. (Sorry, Leo.) Your Dreamland house, the one that is an approximation, a twisted and turned memory, signifies the deepness of your unease about being there. Is it about the past? The things experienced within? I think only you can tell.
The animals, at first glance, are your responsibility. You have them all — canidae, felidae, cricetidae, BIRDS. You think you’re in charge, that the burden is your own to carry. This, however, couldn’t be further from the truth. As things progress, you realize how little control you actually have over the situation. The puppy puffballs populate, progressively. They swarm your vision and become just another thing for you to keep tabs on. You tell yourself there is nothing to worry about, that you can handle it, that there is no help to be had.
These puffballs are simply everyday worries, manifested. You didn’t know how many you had (or maybe you did) until they were right in front of you. These animal friends, sans puppies, are actually the vast support network that surrounds you. This dream is a signal to reach out, to let your community hold you. I can tell that this is a challenge for you, that you are used to being the one leaned upon, but I think it is a challenge worth taking up.
The large male lion, most simply put, is your anxiety — the anxiety about this world, and the real world (outside of Dreamland), around you. He is imposing and frightening. He knows his power, he knows how to keep you subdued, so he doesn’t actually have to hurt you. The threat is enough. This is yet another sign to lay down the burdens you have so long carried. I am not telling you to not be afraid, I wouldn’t trust anyone who tells you this, but I am telling you not to be afraid of the people who love you, who are offering you care. The past had a great many hurts, but they are already so far away from who and what you are now, floating down the rivers of time. They can’t reach you again, not in any way that would produce more claw marks, not even if they really tried. Remember that.
I hope this helped. I hope you are feeling safe, as safe as you can. I’m sending you a dream of a different house, painted pink. It is everything you ever wanted, warm and cozy. Let me know if you get it.
See you on the other side,
Sad Boy Howdy
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