IN THE 1985 FILM “BACK TO THE FUTURE,” Michael J. Fox plays a character who has the delightful and eye-opening opportunity to see the “past lives” of his parents and how they affected their current circumstances. In the 2014 film “Interstellar,” Matthew McConaughey’s character finds himself in a cosmic storehouse that seems to have past and present events occurring simultaneously. If these seem like “only science fiction” to you, consider the experience of today’s dreamer.

Dear SMYD,

Work is killing me! My workload is way too heavy and requires so much overtime. Even when I don’t want to stay, my boss knows just which buttons to push to keep me there after hours. Truth is, I feel guilty when I think of changing jobs and leaving him alone. Also, there’s a lot more I can accomplish there if I stay.

Now, I’m even dreaming about work! But this dream is different from the “average” dream!

I’m in a forced labor factory back in the times of Charles Dickens. Everything is dark and dank and full of drudgery. Somehow I’m myself, but I am different, too — the father of a young boy who also is working in these unsavory conditions.

I know I can get out and start a new life, but as I slip away, the boy looks at me and I am riddled with guilt. I try to get him to go with me, but he refuses. Now he’s loyal to the slave-driver who runs the place and “cares for” him. He has turned my boy against me.

I wake up frustrated and beaten down with guilt.

Signed, Damned If I Do, Damned If I Don’t

Dear Damned,

Your dream has all the markings of what some call reincarnational dreams. The setting is of a time gone by and a place far distant from your current locale. You experience the dream from the viewpoint and even the body of someone else, someone who is not necessarily the same age, sex or race as you are in waking life.

But, if those ideas are too far-fetched for you, consider renowned psychologist Carl Jung’s description of the collective unconscious — a vast storehouse of information from the past, present and future.

Both schools of thought tell us that the wealth of knowledge gained from the experiences of those who lived before us is available to us in the present.

In either case, or if we look at this as a more routine dream with odd-seeming people and places, the message is the same: Misplaced loyalty dooms the young boy — you — to trudge along in unsavory circumstances.

The person who pushes your buttons and claims to care for you holds you in deadlock in your dream and in your waking circumstances. He uses an exploitive promise of security and well-being to draw you back into the trap; he pulls at your heartstrings rather than by improving the circumstances to benefit you both.

Take care of yourself Dear Dreamer. Fagin is not on your side.

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.

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