Dream
Dear Mr Wallace,
I have a recurring dream and would appreciate if you could help to shed some light on it.
In my dream I am walking around a city (it’s nowhere I recognised) and and after a while decide to look down at my feet.  I notice that I am not wearing any shoes only socks and i realise I’ve lost my shoes.  Upon seeing that I’ve been walking about a big city in my socks I get very embarrassed.
The last time I dreamt this though it was slightly different in that upon seeing I’d lost my shoes I re-traced my steps and found them.
I would be very grateful if you could explain this dream and what it could mean.
Many thanks

Meaning
When we dream about a city, we are thinking about all the aspects of our social and working environment. Not recognising the city suggests that your experience and talents are not being fully recognised by others. This is reflected by the fact that you are not wearing any shoes in your dream. Shoes often represent your individuality and so losing your shoes indicates that you feel you are losing your identity in some way.

Looking down at your feet suggests that you are recovering your footing after experiencing some form of change in your waking life. This was probably a change in your role or perceived status in your work situation. Walking through the city in your socks shows that are more than capable of doing what is expected of you in your new role but that you are concerned about your lack of formal recognition from those around you.

This makes you feel embarrassed as you sometimes think that you are not as well prepared as you would like to be when you are dealing with other people. However, retracing your steps and finding your shoes shows that you are settling into your new position while making sure your feet stay firmly on the ground.

Dream
Dear Ian,
I had a dream the other night that haunts me. I was in a busy crowded street when a dog singled me out and bit my arm, and wouldn’t let go. It followed me holding on to my arm, i was in pain and everyone around me thought it was funny.
Can you help me understand this dream?

Meaning
When we dream about a street, we are often thinking about how we navigate through a particular part of our life. The busy crowds suggest that you have a lot of other people making demands on your time and space. The dog symbolises someone who came into your life and somehow latched on to you. Although you are doing your best to help them, they seem ungrateful to you.

Your arm represents your freedom of action and your ability to reach out to others. However, this person who is dogging your every movement is preventing you from doing what you really want to do. This restriction of your freedom is proving to be a bit of a pain for you and is making you question your loyalty to this person. The people who are laughing in your dream indicate that you think that this is a ridiculous situation to be in.

Although you are a very loyal and caring person, it seems that this person does not appreciate your loyalty and help and is just taking you for granted. Rather than have them hanging around you all the time, you need to start keeping them at arms length by giving priority to your own needs.

Dream
HELLO,
KEEP HAVE A DREAM THAT ALWAYS WITH MY YOUNGEST DAUGHTER WHEN SHE WAS ABOUT 7 AND WE GET LOST OR CANNOT FIND WHERE I PARKED THE CAR , IT IS NOY ALWAYS THE SAME PLACE. PLEASE EXPLAIN .

Meaning
When we dream about a child, we are usually thinking about some situation or project that is close to our hearts in waking life. Your daughter’s age in the dream suggests that this situation has been going on for about seven years and it is something that you identify very closely with. You feel that you have to nurture and encourage this project to ensure a successful outcome.

Dreaming of getting lost indicates that you feel that you are forgetting your fundamental reasons for beginning this project in the first place. A car often represents drive and ambition and a vehicle for success. This indicates that something in your waking life has caused you to park your original ambitions and that you are unsure how to start them moving in the right direction again.

The different locations in the dream suggest that you are involved a number of different work activities but none of these are particularly fulfilling for you. They may be seen as valuable work by others but they are not taking you to where you really want to be in your life. To move on from this dream, try thinking about your initial reasons for starting this project and ways of remaining true and committed to them.

Dream
I keep having a dream that I’m running late for work. I keep getting my directions confused in the dream and seem to get further away from work than closer and then I get lost and struggle to work out how to get there. I never seem to get there and get more and more frustrated and worried. I don’t have any issues re time keeping at work and never sleep in etc.

Meaning
When we dream of running, we are often thinking about how we can best use our individual talents to make progress in our lives. Your dream suggests that your current job is not allowing you the opportunity to make the most of your unique talents. This feels very frustrating and so you are constantly looking for ways to find your true vocation in life.

However, you are confused about what your ideal job really is and so you are unsure what direction to take in your career. Sometimes you think that you have taken wrong turnings in your professional life and that you are getting further and further away from your dream job. No matter how hard you work and how many sacrifices you make for your career, you always end up feeling unfulfilled and undervalued.

Running is an energetic and demanding activity and this is reflected in your working style. You think that keeping busy and taking on every task that comes your way will somehow find you the job that you really want. Instead of running yourself into the ground, try standing back and deciding what job would be most meaningful for you in your life. Once your decision is made, your direction will be clear.

Dream
Dear Ian,
Can you help me with a dream my 70year old mum has been having a few times over the last week.    She was widowed 4 years ago after being married for 52 years.  At first, it took her a long time to accept that my dad was gone and as time has gone on she as gradually got over this. While visiting her last week, she told me that she has a recurring dream that while she is back at her childhood home,  as an adult, she is cleaning the house with her late mother, who passed over 30 years ago and my late auntie of 20 years,  she can see my dad coming to pick her up as a young man in his army uniform while carrying a red rose.   My dad has not been in the army for over 35 years.   Please can you help as my mum thinks this is some sort of sign that she is on her way to meet her maker!!

Meaning
When we dream of a house, we are usually reflecting on our own sense of identity and who we really are. Cleaning her childhood home as an adult indicates that your mother is looking back over her life and maturely letting go of old worries and fears. Your grandmother and your auntie symbolise wisdom and grace, so your mother is realising how wise and gracious she has become in waking life.

Your uniformed father represents courage and independence and this shows that your mother has been learning how to become more independent after your father’s passing. The red rose he is carrying symbolises their deep and mutual love for each other. The rose is also a symbol of vitality and hope and shows that your mother’s self awareness continues to blossom..

Our dreams form a vital function in storing our memories and establishing our sense of self identity. They help us to draw on our entire life experience to meet what ever challenges we might encounter in our lives.  So rather than this dream being a sign that your mother is on her way to meet her maker, it is a healthy affirmation of her vitality and an ongoing celebration of her long and loving life.

Dream
Hi Ian
I keep having a recurring dream where I am in an aeroplane which stops and vertically crashes into the sea. There is an air bubble at the back of the plane and this is were I am the only person who has my head in it and isn’t drowning.

Meaning
When we dream about an aeroplane we are often thinking about a particular situation in our working life. Aeroplane flights usually symbolise projects that are being run to a timetable or specific issues that have to be resolved by an agreed deadline. Your dream suggests that you are working on a project that has encountered some difficulties and is in danger of falling short of its objectives.

Dreaming of the sea reflects the feelings of everyone involved in the project and the situation is becoming very emotional as the project appears to be swamped by problems. Apart from you, everyone else is immersed in their emotions and you are the only one who is managing to stay calm. Rather than wallowing around in self pity, you are trying to think clearly and see how you can survive this difficult situation.

However, remaining in your bubble of air at the back of the aeroplane suggests that you are consciously distancing yourself from the people who you are working with. This may help you survive the situation individually but may not be very helpful for the others in your team. Try sharing your ideas with your colleagues so they can start to get their heads above water too.

Dream
I’ve been self employed for 8 years, but constantly dream of my old work.  I worked there for 10 years but in my dream,  each dream I seem to be feeling I’m going to get sacked, am constantly emptying my desk, which is never ending of my personal things! feel isolated by the workers there, that I shouldn’t be there and am not getting paid for the work I’ve done!  feel I’m just wasting my time being there and that I know I’ve my own company but felt happy in this old work! I left this job after taking my redundancy, but was happy there so unsure why I’m constantly dreaming about this work. I hope you can help with this.

Meaning
When we dream about our work, we are often considering our feelings of self worth and how much we actually value ourselves. Your feeling of being sacked suggests that you are not valuing yourself enough in waking life and that you are judging the performance of your own business far too harshly. Emptying your desk indicates that you are perhaps letting your work life intrude into your personal life and that you are not paying enough attention to your own individual needs.

Dreaming that you are not being paid enough shows that you do not value your own skills and talents enough. Working for yourself can make you feel isolated and you may feel that the work you are doing is not really worthwhile because you do not have a group of fellow workers to give you feedback and support your efforts.

To move on from this dream, you need to place more value on your own skills and talents. The best way to do this is to practically value yourself more by increasing your prices. You should also ensure that you are making time for your own individual needs so that the demands of your work do not intrude so frequently into your personal life.

Dream
Hi Ian,
On two occasions I have dreamt that on looking upwards to the sky there have been two full moons side by side. In the first dream it was night and the sky was inky black. In the second dream it was morning and the sky was light blue. In both dreams I was aware that what I was looking at was awesome and tried to get other people to see this phenomenon too but no one was interested. What do these dreams mean?
Thanks Pat.

Meaning
When we dream about the moon we are often reflecting on some significant event that has taken place in our waking lives. The moon is symbolising your unconscious awareness and drawing your attention to the fact that you often know far more than you consciously think you do. The full moon indicates a feeling of completion or fulfillment and you want to share this feeling with others because it seems so powerful to you.

Your first dream suggests that you unexpectedly experienced this feeling of fulfillment and felt that it was perhaps just a chance event. However, your second dream indicates that you have a much clearer understanding of how to actively fulfill your hopes and dreams, rather than just waiting for them  to happen to you. This is a powerful insight and you are keen to share it with others who may seem less fulfilled than you.

Although this insight is very meaningful for you, it may have less meaning for other people as it does not fully reflect their own individual experiences. Rather than trying to make other people understand what you have experienced, try using your empathy and insight to help them become more aware of what they find most meaningful in their own lives.

Dream
Dear Mr Dream Man,
In an occurring dream I often dream that I am flying about in the house that I was born in and remained in till I was 31. I fly from room to room but I don’t fly like a bird does it as if I am like a visiting spirit and no one can see me.

Meaning
When we dream about a house we are usually dreaming about our own identity and individual characteristics. The different rooms in your old house represent different aspects of your character. For example, the kitchen symbolises your ability to nurture yourself and others, the bedroom represents your privacy and self awareness, and the living room shows where you are most comfortable and at home with others.

The neurological process of dreaming plays an important part in consolidating our memories and constructing our identities. This is a vital process in creating an individual sense of self and a coherent identity. By flying from room to room, you are revisiting fundamental parts of your character and considering how they have helped you evolve and mature into the person that you are now.

Although you are revisiting these parts of your character, it seems as if you are invisible and this suggests that you feel that you are losing touch with your younger identity in some way. This can often happen in situations where it seems that you are not being recognised as a unique individual by other people. This dream is reminding you not to forget who you once were and to be proud of your individuality and your personal achievements.

Dream
The second dream I often have is that I am talking and can feel something flapping around in the back of my throat, when I put my fingers in my mouth I feel a hair and then wrap the hair round my finger and pull very hard to get the hair out, the hair comes up from my stomach and is always very long and takes ages to come out, eventually springing free with heavy glut on it! Your opinion would be appreciated and can hopefully put my mind at rest as to what the dreams mean. (Surely the two dreams are not connected in any way?)

Meaning
When we dream about our throat we are often reflecting on how we communicate our feelings in waking life. The throat forms the connection between your mind and your body and is where you begin to form words before you actually say them. The thing that is flapping around is something that you feel you need to say but might cause a bit of a flap if you actually do say it.

Our fingers represent our ability to grasp control and direct our actions and you take action by locating the hair and starting to pull on it. A hair often indicates an idea or the thread of a story so you are putting a great deal of effort into working this out. The idea originates from a gut feeling and it can sometimes be a long drawn out process to bring your plans into reality.

When your idea does eventually spring out, putting it into practice can seem quite messy and you would like this to happen a lot more cleanly. You often feel that others are being too cautious and analytical and preventing your project from getting off the ground. However, if you can trust your gut instincts and communicate the true value of your idea, then your plans will really start to take off.