SOME DREAMERS REPORT MUSIC as a primary component of their dreams. This can be soothing, uplifting, even educational. Today’s dreamer provides a lovely example.

Dear Carolyn,

I work with a several people who are antagonistic toward each other at almost every turn. I abhor their jealousies and pettiness, and to my dismay I sometimes find myself joining in. We do get the work done, but it always feels like a struggle. I couldn’t see all the people in this dream, but I’m pretty sure my colleagues were there with my friends and some family members:

I dreamed we were in a small outdoor area formed by cut rocks. We sat in three sections on stone benches. Overhead were white trellises with hanging green vines.

Someone was trying to organize us and was frustrated. I call out, “What about singing a round? Acoustics in this place would be amazing.”

Then everyone looks to me to organize the group’s singing. I ask if anyone knows “Kumbaya.” The remainder of the dream has me organizing the group into three sections according to the natural divisions in our setting.

Then I teach the song. Verse one — Am I praying Lord? Verse two — Am I singing Lord? Verse three — Am I laughing Lord? In teaching, I sing each verse and the group sings it over and over. The harmony and the resonance are beautiful.

Toward the end I realize the lyrics should not be questions: not “Am I praying Lord,” but “I am praying Lord,” and so on.

Signed, Wishful Dreaming

Dear Wishful,

The setting of your dream depicts the hard and entrenched positions of those you deal with at work and perhaps even among some of your friends and family members. What could be more unmoving than cut rocks and stone benches? The trellises overhead with the vines denoting connectedness allude to the higher mind needed to overcome the engrained attitudes around you.

Your dream places you in the role of peace keeper, or perhaps more accurately, peace maker. When others are frustrated at trying to organize the discordant groups, you know just what to do and how to do it. While some are now cynical about the naively optimistic views of the world evoked by the song, the fact that all three factions in your dream chime in to make harmony in such a beautiful, resonant way speaks to the possibilities for common ground among them.

You say that in spite of yourself, you sometimes give in to the negative spirit surrounding you. This likely comes at times when, like the part of you in the dream that is frustrated, you give up. You can’t beat ’em, so you join ’em.

If things are to improve, you must be a leader in this regard. Take the higher ground, Dear Dreamer. Show how it’s done, through gratitude, laughter and even song. Soon you and those around you will no longer question but affirm their blessings.

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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