Ok! In this dream I was playing this game with my friends where we had to find specific objects in a certain amount of time. However to get to one of the objects we had to release a huge vicious dog that would chase us for the rest of the game. Because of this stupid dog, we always failed. I knew that if it wasn't there to distract us, I could beat the game easily, so it was really frustrating. After we quit playing the game, I took a shower then went to class, still dripping wet in my robe. At one point my robe fell off and I was standing there entirely naked, but for once I didn't mind at all, I was entirely comfortable, even though the people around me were a bit flustered. The professor was teaching the class about certain hormones that caused people to become violent and irritable at certain times of the year. I asked him about sex pheromones and he said they were true too. After class I went back to my hall and got dressed and was going to hang out with my friends, but somehow me and this other girl both got shot in the head. We knew we were dying. To cheer us up our friends said we were going to paint together, and we painted Disney things, the girl did a collage of characters, I made this beautiful landscape of Cinderella's castle (I am not an artist in real life, I couldn't actually make something that pretty) The longer I painted the more I felt myself fading. I was lightheaded and dizzy, tired. The more disoriented I got the more I messed up my painting until it was entirely ruined but I didn't care anymore. I relaxed I was actually pretty comfortable with death, and was even content to die with so many good friends around me. I saw the other girl had already died and was lying face down on the ground.
I saw a basket of tomatoes and one had a mushroom on top that looked like a chef hat so I decided to draw a face on it but I kept messing up because I was dying. Then I woke up. I have a pretty clear idea of what this dream means, I'm just a bit stuck on a few of the details.

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I believe the game was representative of my life and the goals and dream I have. The dog represents what I feel has been holding me back recently, which is a poor education system and the feeling of being defined by the grade so get even though I don't believe in a grade based system, for many reasons which I won't get into now. The class represented my inner exploration of my emotions and embracing who I am, which I have been doing recently. I am now quite comfortable in my own skin and I afraid of judgement, I just don't try to hide who I am anymore, even if it makes others feel uncomfortable. The things we discussed in class (anger, sexuality) were both natural human aspects that I had been exploring recently.

It's when it gets to the me dying part that I'm a little fuzzy. I know I was shot in the head because in the tv show I watched the night before a character I liked was killed by a shot to the head. However I have no idea what the paintings, or tomatoes or my almost unnerving acceptance of death meant.

Anyhow that's my summary! Thanks as always for reading Jerry :)

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Anna,
I think there is a little more to the dream, especially the last part where you were painting 'Disney' things. But overall you are right about 'feeling good in your own skin' despite the fear of judgement. I believe this is addressing early life issues beyond just the 'traditional' educational system you perceive to be a problem. The friend who did the collage of characters is another part of yourself and the characters likely have associations to you also. In the beginning the landscape was beautiful, Cinderella's castle. This would be your landscape, in the beginning of early life. It could very well be your dream Cinderella is a classic identification with a 'developing' Cinderella complex that has been partially altered by inner development {working with your dreams being one of them}. Here is what The Cinderella complex is about:

This complex is named after the fairy tale character Cinderella. It is based on the idea of femininity portrayed in that story, where a woman is beautiful, graceful, polite, supportive, hardworking, independent, and maligned by the females of her society, but she is not capable of changing her situations with her own actions and must be helped by an outside force, usually a male.

Analyzing the 'painting part' of the dream
The description of Cinderella probably fits very well with you feel you are and who you feel you need to become {in the dream she is a 'woman'}. The females of 'her society' would be the psychological 'society' of the complex, conforming to the Cinderella complex.

Two possibilities I see about the complex. One is 'becoming', something that is a constant throughout life, and the other having 'become', achieving those goals you set out to reach. I believe part of it is you have accomplished certain goals to overcome these inner 'Cinderella' tendencies {have become} and are working on the others {becoming}. That would require 'masculine' qualities, overcoming and accomplishing. Since in the dream the more you 'painted' yourself as this way, the more you have learned/need to learn these tendencies and to overcome them. It has faded because you are growing independent and taking it upon yourself to be the male 'force' {Cinderella has to escape her sisters and mother}. Instead of an outside male force {which you probably engaged in while younger, the sex part in the dream}, the inner masculine has become stronger and replaced/is replacing the outer need to have a male 'save' you {although that is probably a force in your life which is natural since sex and love is a natural force in all humans}. The death part would be putting an end to these tendencies and becoming your 'independent' self {death is symbolic of something coming to an end}. Escaping the family responsibilities you experienced so early in life. You are 'becoming' more comfortable with your independent self. The other girl, the other you {Cinderella you} has come to an end with your independence. The last part about not caring anymore may have to do with the fears of judgement and overcoming those. You have to a point where you either let the fear control you or you don'it let it bother you anymore. If you take the part about 'females of her society' and apply those females as being aspects of yourself then you may find it fits with who you are.

Going back to the first parts of the dream
The game is the game of life and the dog is the human animal nature of your emotional mind {your psychology, rational/irrational}. These emotions {conflicts} chase you throughout your early life. It is the irrational emotions that hod you back {always failed in earlier life and feelings of being less than you are, being judged}. If it weren't for those emotions you would win the game of life easily. You have had to 'cleanse' yourself of these impulses/unconscious tendencies {shower} and expose who you really are {deep inside}, bring that person out. That real you is someone you are comfortable with. The natural 'hormones' will continue to exist {sex and love as a part of life} and can cause 'distortions' to those natural aspects. The need for male companionship at an early age is one thing you have had to 'learn' to overcome. You began to realize you had to change {die}.

A 'complex' dream {Cinderella} that is simple when you understand its application. I don't know the whole story of your recent changes but we have spoken enough that I know a lot about your early life and the wishes you have for the future. I credit your interest in your dreams, they working as a corrective function in your life, as to where you are in the present. If you had not began to self analyze your life and follow your true self you most likely would have developed into a classic 'Cinderella' complex. Because you have reach inward you have been able to head off what would have been and exposed who you really want to be. The prince in Cinderella's life is an inner prince in your life. You are on the right track.

A word about the fairy-tale Cinderella and dreams. It was from mythology that Jung first discovered associations to dream images. Dreams and mythology {fairy-tales are myth} share the same archetypal images. The Cinderella in your dream is an 'archetypal' image, a pattern of behavior. Universally the pattern is played out by individuals and it became a standard motif. So when you see these types images in dreams you can look to mythology to what the mean or associations they represent in the dreamer's life.

Jerry

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