IF WE THINK OF OUR BODIES as the vehicles we employ to get around in this world, it makes sense that our dreams will often use our cars as metaphors for our bodies. What better way to illustrate physical and health issues that need our attention? Today’s dreamer shares an excellent example:

Dear SMYD,

If I’d known how long I was going to live, I would have taken better care of myself! That saying from the ’60’s, I think, kind of sums up the position I’m in now. At 63 years old, I am still relatively young given lifespans these days. But I have lived hard, had a lot of fun, and now I’m paying the price physically. For one thing, I’m too heavy. I’ve had multiple serious surgeries to correct back problems, among others, and I have a regimen of daily medications that would impress just about any team of doctors. To quote another rocker, “What a long strange trip it’s been!”

Over these years of reckless living, I have had various versions of the same dream many different times and I’ve always wondered about it. Last week it went like this: A teenage boy has taken my yellow Jeep without my permission. He’s out for a joy ride again. Even in the dream I know he’s done it before. Every time he takes it, he has a wild time and brings it back with some damage. Usually it’s something small; sometimes it is cosmetic damage; other times it’s a crunched-up fender or something mechanical that needs to be repaired. In this version, the police catch him and bring him and Jeep back to me. When I see them, I scream, “I told him I’ll kill him!” So this version seemed more intense than the others.

What’s your take on a repeating dream like this?

Signed, Love My Yellow Jeep

Dear Jeep Lover,

You say you love your Jeep, but if you accept the likelihood that your dream is using it as a metaphor for your physical body, it becomes evident that you are abusing it!

As you described in the background for your recurring dream, you have done little to care for your body, pushing it to the limit multiple times over the years. Your dream suggests that the teenage part of yourself, young and irresponsible, continues to follow this immature pattern in spite of the numerous warnings of damage in your dream, not to mention the actual damage and patchwork of repairs you have endured as a result of such a careless lifestyle.

In the most recent iteration of the dream, the adult owner of the Jeep, the 63-year-old you — the police officer who “brings in” the kid — screams desperately that you cannot survive such a heedless way of life much longer.

Your devil-may-care persona may be attractive to some, Dear Dreamer, but reality is shouting that you are on the short path to a young, good-looking corpse.

Sweet Dreams to you!

Carolyn Plath, M.Ed., is a Benicia resident and member of the International Association for the Study of Dreams. Reach her at sendmeyourdreams@yahoo.com.

Sharing is caring!