Jackie,
First let me say how much I appreciate your response. It clarifies a lot of what I sensed from your dream and fits well with the interpretation. Few believe that dreams can be properly and competently interpreted but from my experience working with other people's dreams here at the Dream Forum I have no doubt this is true {nearly 5,000 posted dreams as reference}. Your dream like other dreams is depicting your true emotions and it is not always {if seldom} what the conscious mind realizes and/or completely understands. You do seem to have a grip on your feelings which is an important step in realizing what is out of balance in your life. Getting to where you want to be is the next step and that involves abiding by your through self and following through with what you really desire in life, your 'bliss', especially the creative self.

From the Power of Myth

BILL MOYERS: Do you ever have the sense of… being helped by hidden hands?

JOSEPH CAMPBELL: All the time. It is miraculous. I even have a superstition that has grown on me as a result of invisible hands coming all the time – namely, that if you do follow your bliss you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living. When you can see that, you begin to meet people who are in your field of bliss, and they open doors to you. I say, follow your bliss and don’t be afraid, and doors will open where you didn’t know they were going to be.

That being said it is important to decide and know what is your bliss. And follow that path. It may involve risk taking and usually does. If you are not comfortable in where you are living and not finding the opportunities in that place perhaps it does require relocating. Being stuck requires new and innovating thinking. It sounds as if you are stuck which hampers your ability to progress and grow. Your lack of self confidence is partly due to the stagnation you are experiencing and until you find a way to get past that barrier {in dreams such barriers are often depicted by having to get over a high mountain}. Give thought to the possibilities in making changes in your life that will allow you to converse the mountains in your life. Just by thinking about these things will put you back on your path. It is not just a co-incidence good things happen in life. It is a part of the natural progression of the soul and when you follow your bliss you are following your soul. That alone entices the 'helping hands' to lead you out of the darkness. I say this having experienced these 'metaphysical' concepts and at every turn in my life the helping hands are there to guide and protect. It worked for Campbell and has worked for me {as it has for others who have followed Campbell's dictate {among them George Lucas, Jerry Garcia, Jackie Kennedy Onassis and Linda Ronstadt to name a few}.

As to my statement, "I can't provide a definite answer to what that is but the dream seems to be saying you have lost some of those positive qualities over time and need to look to your greater assets." Having limited knowledge about you and your life limits my ability to provide definite experiences that possess emotional energies. I can provide an outline of these energies but not until I know about your personal life is it possible to tie it all together {in personal experiences}. What you have provided in your responses mostly confirms my outline of your dream {this is not a 'look at me, how great bI am'. It is a statement of fact that using Jungian concepts a trained dream analyst can properly analyze and interpret and dream}. Going back to school and getting a degree in Interior Design sounds like an endeavor of following your bliss. Do you still possess the desire to follow through with this? Is it possible that journey to learn could fit with your other desires of painting and creating art. Perhaps a different aspect in Interior Design related to those endeavors could be the answer. Part of the natural aspect that puts you on your path to bliss is the creative aspect. Mine is dreams and designing websites {I am self taught in both}. Explore those possibilities and see where it leads.

You stated, " I am not living where I would like to be living. I do believe that I have had a focus on returning to NC for a long time." If this is what you believe in your heart is what you really want then follow through. It may not be easy and may require time to get things in order but until you take the journey you will never know. No one wants to hire you so you have to find other avenues. Perhaps your freelancing is a right choice, you may need to refine how you are going about it. You probably will need to stay in the position you are in for a time but if you are working outside those requirements you should be able to find answers to your questions {social duty is the first barrier to overcome in the hero's journey}. You will be surprised at how fate/helping hands comes to your rescue merely because you are working toward your bliss. The 'bliss' thing is a part of the natural order and this is why it works. Living life by following what others want is not your bliss, it is the social dragon pulling you down.

Comments on your dream images and your response to my analysis
--80s-age 8, Dot's current age? – probably somewhere around there, now.

The 80s number represents something in your life, numbers always have meaning/applications to your life experiences. It is only a matter of investigation {a Sherlock Holmes} of your whole life and the actual numbers to discover their place.

--she {Dot} is lead person in all of magnolia states-related experiences {Dot} central to better quality of life – my question is, do you think it is dot or my association with dot living in Charlotte? Am I way off base? She is living in a place I would like to live, but seem to have issues getting there.

There are associations with Dot that have an important role in your life. In some ways she is you/you are her and that is why she is in your dream. Deeper exploration of those associations will likely bring about why this is. One could be she is living in a place you like to live being one aspect. But perhaps more important she is a part of your past, when you were living in that place you wish to be in again. Your dream starts off with the statement, "I was in Charlotte" could point to actually being in Charlotte as being in your true place. There are past experiences to do with Dot and living in Charlotte that are important. One may be having lost focus on the creative aspects by leaving the city you grew up in.

--while walking in museum/seems small/quite large-positive inner aspects more abundant than realized – I have moments when I really do recognize this.

I believe this is the dream's intent on getting you to focus on the positive qualities. Although most dreams are negative in their presentation {they are trying to help you resolve emotional conflicts} they also will point to positives as well. Finding your true self, your true self and your path to bliss could open up the positives and let them expand. The dream title 'Museum' translates into 'the history of your emotional life'. The true self wishes to find ways to be creative and when you find those creative aspects you become a flower that blossoms.

--look at key dot gave me/keychain/large black circle/rectangular white area/numbers 724-key to wholeness is innovation/being creative - interesting!

This number is interesting because it has both the numbers 9 and 6. 7+2=9 and 2+4=6. In my studies of Jungian psyche and Campbell mythology I have come ti the conclusion these numbers are instrumental in all of nature, especially the number 9. They are opposites in form, 6 and 9. But when inverted they become their opposite and in dreams and life represent the opposites in nature and the natural order. 9 is the number of the universe, the feminine power {which is greater than the masculine}, the creative, spiritual aspects. 9 represents the metaphysical properties {creativity and spirituality} where as 6 represents the physical aspects, the desires of the body. In most people's lives it is the desires of the body that rule when it should be the metaphysical. Following your bliss is a metaphysical endeavor. To get there requires a death to the ego body and its desires and a resurrection/new birth to the metaphysical {this is represented by Jesus on the cross, his resurrection to a higher level/heaven}. Mythology {all religions are myths/exaggerated truths} is the universal whereas dreams are the personal aspects. Myths and dreams share the same images.

--did not want to leave Charlotte/reassess everything at end of week-staying with what you know/reassessing weaknesses – hmmm…should I be reassessing these low feelings that I have regarding my skills?

This does seem to be a primary focus in the dream. Where or not returning to Charlotte is the answer needs to be finalized. It could be it is not or the time is not right. I moved to Florida when I retired in 2012 fulfilling my dream of living in the sunshine state {not just because of the warm climate but the general positive attitude that goes with it}. But in 1994 after I first discovered my path to bliss I moved to Florida and stayed 5 months before returning home when My first grandchild was born {I was 44 at the time}. My move was in the right direction but the timing was not right. I was still in my infancy in learning my true bliss but the journey in 1994 showed me there were helping hands at every turn {I found a good place to live, a good job and a spiritual place all within a week of my arrival}.
Moving back to Charlotte may be your calling. A first step in testing the 'bliss' factor.

As to the questions???. That also seems to be a central theme of the dream. You may be at a point of major decisions in your life. I was 42 when I discovered my true calling. You are 40. It is not coincidental these things happen at this age. The stages of life are real and entering into the midlife stage is a major event, including and especially psychologically. It is a time when we begin to look back and reflect instead of looking forward as in early adulthood. The goal is to ';think' about such things and my goal in analyzing dreams is to get the dreamer to 'give thought'to the inner processes so you will get to know who you really are and what you really want from life. Finding meaning in life is what drives us when it comes to finding balance and happiness. If the focus is totally outward {as is with most people} the the true self will never reveal itself. Some people are naturally inclined toward the creative aspects but that does not mean true happiness {look at all the celebrities with great creative skills who have killed themself}. Reconciling the whole life is necessary and although your dream is addressing your desire in the moment it is also addressing the underlying foundations to who you are and why you are that person, your personality and personal attitudes. That goes back to your childhood and the experiences with Dot and your mother and the experiences that laid the foundations for your personal traits and attitudes. We have not address those to a great extent but they are there.Those aspects must be reconciled if there is to be true balance and harmony in life.

Jerry

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 67

Repost of earlier dream

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 68 Cocoa, Fl