Dream Decoding: Riding with Dad
It seems like the Dream Decoding entries are becoming quite the column with readers! I seem to get more and more responses and submissions when I talk about dreams. In honor of that, I thought it time to post the latest submission. This is a short dream, and one that gets right to its point. Our dreamer is a young woman.
Dream Title: Riding with Dad
the Dream:
I am in a car with my Dad. He is driving. I am in the passenger seat. He is driving out of control. I want him to pull over and let me drive, but he won’t let me.
My Interpretation Process:
For the interpretation process, I will be taking you step-by-step through my method, as I would the students who take my classes and workshops.
Step One: the Theme
Someone is out of control, and someone else wants to take control, but is being stopped. At this point, the dreamer could be asked where in her life does she experience being controlled, and not being able to stop it. This step alone could help the dreamer identify the area of life the dream wants to address.
Step Two: the Subject Matter
Next, we determine the dream’s subject matter. One way to determine the subject matter of a dream is by its location. In this dream, however, there is no specific location.
The other way is by identifying an outstanding object in the dream. In this particular dream, the main object is the car. A car can represent the means (being a vehicle) through which one moves through life. As the subject matter, it can represent how the dreamer’s life is progressing at the time of the dream.
Step Three: the Identification of Symbols and Their Meanings
The next step is to go through the symbols in the dream. Starting with the dream characters, we have the dreamer and her father. At this point, it is safe to say that the relationship of the dreamer and her father is important in the dream’s interpretation. The only other symbol in the dream is the mention of the passenger seat. This can suggest going along for the ride, and maintaining a passive (derived from the word passenger) position (seat) through life.
Step Four: the Actions and Possible Associations
The first action that’s noted in the dream is driving. Driving can indicate striving toward a goal in life; this is because people are, more often than not, going to some destination. The second action I noted when examining this dream was in the word want. A want is the same thing as saying a desire. So, the dreamer was desiring something to happen in waking life.
Having done all the preliminary interpretation, we can move on to the secondary. Taking the outstanding symbol (the car) as the subject matter, we can say this dream is about the current direction of the dreamer’s life. But, wait…there’s more. The relationship dynamic of the dreamer and her father is just as important. My sense is that the two need to be combined. The subject matter then becomes the dreamer’s relationship with her father, and how it affects her progression in life.
Step Five: the Challenges
Challenges in dreams are phrases that can indicate limitation, restriction, damage, containment, and disrespect. In this dream, the phrase “out of control” would be a challenge. It translates as the dreamer having no control in her life. This is reinforced by the fact that her father is the driver in the dream. It would suggest that in their relationship, he is the one in control (which would make some sense, as he is the parental, or authority, figure). It might also suggest that he is too controlling (In this sense, the dreamer is saying, When it comes to my father, he is out of control.).
The other challenge is in the phrase “he won’t let me.” It translates, to me, of not having permission, of not being allowed to do something. So, the challenges indicate that the dreamer has no control over her life, at least in her relationship with her father. Her “position” on it is that he won’t allow her to take control of her own life.
Step Six: the Solutions
Whereas the challenges are words and phrases that seem negative, solutions are words and phrases that are more positive, and can indicate potential. Challenges and solutions go hand in hand; a dream will not show the dreamer the challenges without offering solutions. In this dream, the phrase “pull over” is the first solution, saying that the dreamer needs to stop this; she needs to get off the path (road) on which she is traveling.
The second is “let me drive.” This phrase is so obvious; it means the dreamer needs to be more in control (in the driver’s seat) of her own life, and its direction. This would mean that a change in positions (a switch in drivers) needs to take place. But there’s still an issue here. Both solution phrases are connected to the word “want.” This means that while the dreamer may want, or desire, more control in her life, she is going to have to take some steps to make that happen. At the time of the dream, she hadn’t done so.
Final Comments
My final comment on this dream is its possible further psychological ramifications. In our relationships with our parents, certain roles are acted out, and these roles carry over into our other relationships, especially with those of the same gender. Since the parent in the dream is male, this might suggest the dreamer may, in future relationships with men, find herself with those that are controlling. She will, more or less, be attracting them to her.
Conversely, she may appear to be controlling herself, more likely in her relationships with other women (how her father treats her, the woman in the dream, is how she is being “taught” to treat women). If she corrects these dynamics in her relationship with her father, she may break these patterns before they develop.
And that is all the steps put into practice. It’s fun for me to go through the process step-by-step, as people can see how I work to come up with the final interpretation. I also hope this introduction to the process encourages you to start looking at your dreams a little deeper.
As always, I’m grateful for the continued interest everyone has given to what I do. I am thankful for all the wonderful responses I receive in person, on Facebook, and through e-mail. Please keep them coming.
On that note, if you have a dream you would like to submit to appear as a future Dream Deoding entry, please e-mail your submission to me at james@jameshimm.com, with Dream Decoding and the title of your dream in the subject line.
Your Dream Decoder,
James
If you are interested in sharing with your dream with me so we can work with it one-on-one, please check out the information on my Dream Decoder Coaching page.