Your dreams interpreted: I nearly ran over an elderly couple

Today’s Dream from Claudia:

I was driving along a road in the Lake District. I had a lapse in concentration. There was a really old couple crossing the road and two other couples and I stopped literally before I knocked the old couple over.

They were shocked. I was standing by them and a very tall guy was angry and said “what were you doing”.

I was a bit defensive at first but then realised that I had nearly killed them and said “ I am so sorry, I don’t know what I was doing/thinking, I’m so sorry”.

The guy was standing by his wife and he was still angry. I kept on apologising and the old guy said “it’s ok we are alright and we are not going to do anything or take it further”.  I walked past them relieved.

I was in the car driving and a couple of girls further along were walking. One of them was angry with me and started telling me she had seen me just nearly run over the old couple.

I was upset and anxious and said I had a lapse in concentration. I was still in shock. She was still angry and said she wanted me to pull over below a bridge to talk about it further.

I had a large black shiny bag on my lap. She pointed to it and said what’s in that”. I said nothing and pushed the bag, which was very light, onto the back seat of the car.

At this point I then realised that it was none of her business and I told her so and drove off leaving her behind.

Dream Interpretation:

This dream has repetitive themes of anger, regret, blame, vulnerability and upset.

These emotions can be identified directly from the dream description. Her vulnerability is represented by the use of a ‘really old couple’.

The repetitive themes of anger and upset symbolise and emphasise these feelings and suggest this conflict is a long-standing one. The dreamer is facing up to something she has been involved in for some time which has had serious consequences. She is feeling significantly challenged and blamed within this set of circumstances and finds herself being defensive.

The old couple assuring her that they are ‘not taking it any further’ and the dreamer’s relief about this, is an attempt to put it behind her and move on.

Symbolically, however she continues to challenge herself to investigate her feelings at a deeper level. This is represented by being asked to ‘pull over below a bridge to talk about it further’, but she refuses to do it.

Although she recognises she must take responsibility for some of her actions she refuses to be wholly accountable.

She started the dream by acknowledging that she is facing up to a difficult situation and has ended by moving on and leaving it ‘behind’. It is unclear whether the problem is resolved or whether she is moving away from it.

If the dreamer would like to provide feedback about the interpretation, please send it to ACDreamcatchers@mail.com.

Interestingly, we have found it is not always possible to interpret your own dream, probably because it often represents the sublimation of feelings or thoughts that we are trying to avoid in our waking lives. However, with a little assistance from the dream interpreter, the symbols and themes can start to make sense and help us to move forward.

If you are interested in having a particular dream analysed, please send us an account of your dream to the following email address: ACDreamcatchers@mail.com We only have space to interpret one dream a week which will be selected from those received. Please refer to the guidance provided to describe your dream as this will enable us to provide a full interpretation.

Guidance for the Dreamer:

• Record your dream in writing as soon as you wake up with as much detail as possible.

• First of all ask yourself who is in the dream.

• Where are you, what is happening to you and what is happening around you?

• Record how you are feeling about what you and/or others are doing.

• Are there particular symbols or objects in the dream that are unusual?

• Are there any sounds and is the dream in colour or black and white?

• Are you watching yourself in the dream or are you experiencing it first-hand ie: through your own eyes.

Alex Hossack and Catherine Aubrey are Public Service professionals with years of experience as practitioners and managers in the Criminal Justice System.