Greetings my Friend,Life is great and my dreams have not been consistent. Managing to work with them but I wanted your input on the following because I cannot determine the deceased ones being with live family:

Dream of July 25, 2012

I was preparing to run a ten mile race in a series of 5K, 10K and Ten miles. I was lined up near the front wondering if I would be able to sustain. Race preparations were in process and I caught eyes with a friend and we smiled. I walked to the side to hug her and another male friend came around and shook my hand. I had on a backpack and a package in my hands with some unknown photos. We chatted and I realized the races had begun. I scurried to the start and no one seemed to know in which direction the races began. I started in the direction in which I thought it should proceed. I had a fluid pace and suddenly realized I was headed towards some stairs indoors. I ran up the stairs and realized the backpack and package in my heavy needed to be left behind. There was an open locker and I placed them inside and placed a lock on it. I ran further and realized I was in the upstairs of a house and there were people sleeping in bedrooms. I remained quiet and made my way back to the race start area. The 5K people had completed the race and were seated in chairs around the start line. I started in another direction and decided I would not be able to follow the race course because it was not marked. I started running again and there were cheers and then I was back where I left my belongings in the locker. I retrieved them and found my way back to the start area.

Next scene was Sunday morning and I arrived at church and our minister was opening the church doors. He was kneeled down pinning the doors against the wall so they would remain open. I was going to greet him but he was off to prepare for worship. A lady I know came up and gave me a tan leather purse with a shoulder strap and camera to give to out minister. I wrapped the strap around the purse and placed the two items in my right hand. I walked into a large gathering room and was greeted by our next door neighbor lady from my childhood who was smiling broadly with a ‘great to see you demeanor.’ To her right was my deceased uncle with a broad smile and he had a large stomach (was not overweight in my childhood); with him were two of my nephews as young boys (they are adults with families at this time). My uncle asks if he can have the purse and I say no! The older nephew looks at the items in my hand and asked where did I got the expensive designer purse. I shared that I was to give it to our minister. He asked to look at it and shared that it was a very expensive designer bag! I then realized how delighted and happy I was to see my family and neighbor lady. We proceeded into worship and I awakened.

Age & Gender & Location {Required}: 64 WV

Have You Posted Before? Date of Last Post {Use Search and Your Post Name to Help Find Last Post} Male

How Did You Find the Dream Forum? Yes

Lawrence,
Let me begin an inspection of your dream but defer a final interpretation until Sunday. I am going to go with a flow of what I sense in the dream. That may be less than a proper interpretation I would normally give but as the saying goes 'the first impression' is usually right. Let's see if it fits.

There is a competition, in your outer life as well as the inner. Good chance the competition could be one against the other as well. You are in front of things in most instances in your life but sustaining that is a challenge {as is life in general for us all}. You have a good relationship with your feminine side {creative/spiritual as well as emotional}. But there are those times you have to put it aside to engage the masculine {we Jungians tend to live from the feminine, opposite how most do}. This aspect of yourself is where you realize the most baggage in your life {ditto for Jungians}. Social life is 'packaged' in a neat patriarchal style, thus the masculine aspect always trying to exert itself. The package would also be addressing your emotions in general. The unknown photos would be unknown aspects still be to discovered about yourself. The race is on, the social being in its environment vs the inner self within its domain. The outer world lacks direction in the general world yet you have learned in which direction in your life in which to proceed {the inner life}. In this path to wholeness you will always incur obstacles {the first Buddhist saying is 'there is sorrow in life', no matter how good life can be}. Getting beyond the social obligations is often the heavy 'package/load' we carry. It can be a steep hill/stairs to climb. You have to go beyond the social requirements and live life from the inner domain.

I sense this part of the dream is your life in general but also involving particular experiences in your waking life.

Then you go upstairs to the bedroom where people are sleeping in their bedrooms. This is where your true self resides {and is visited in your nightly dreams}. You are very composed, at home in this world, it is your true self. Whereas the world around is starting and ending with emotional races/baggage, you go in a different direction. You don't follow the 'marked' social requirements. This is the hero path {cheers}. You belong to this inner world and when you have to compete in the outer you are ahead of the crowd, in control of your own destiny.

A very positive first part. Indicative of how you live life. You have an understanding and knowledge of both worlds but let the inner domain lead you. That is the hero path, the journey inward, self discovery, new knowledge and a return to the world of social duty to share what you have learned {I refer you to the Monomyth}.

Note: Going on message for a moment I suggest when penning a long statement or response there is a backup copy made to notepad or word pad. I can't remember how many times I have started a response or post only to loose it in some fashion. A backup prevents a lot of frustration.

Next scene.
Again a mixture of the inner and outer. The inner involve your spiritual aspects which also encompass the creative {by being creative we share from the heart/soul, a spiritual endeavor}. The minister is an inner identity of Self {as always there may be outer waking experiences involved that are being addressed}. You have to constantly keep these 'inner' doors open, the outer world of social duty an always present danger. We tend to 'worship' the outer world and neglect the inner. But not those who have discovered the 'inner minister'. We minister to ourselves, from the inner knowledge {hidden knowledge in that it is not known to those who do not travel inward}.

I am going to end here. The rest of the dream needs an interpretation beyond just sensing. The dream is getting into 'family' matters and although those symbols depict your inner world as metaphors they probably are addressing deeper issues to do with relationships.

Childhood is one issue being addressed. I suggest an examination of those years to determine the 'living aspects' of the present from the dead aspects of the past. Those experiences always affect the whole life, the inner self as well as the outer personality. There are probably issues that remain unresolved being addressed. If you have thoughts on that it may be helpful to a final interpretation.

Note: Over the years I have given interpretations to dreams from a distance, knowing little about the dreamer. When I make my move later this year and leave my social obligations behind {in particular my duties and responsibilities with my fence business} I look to provide interpretations to dreams face to face with live people. I will be entering into a new world of dream interpretation. I won't have a couch per say {I am not a psychologist nor will I ever pretend to be} but hopefully by having direct contact with the dreamer I will be able to provide a more definite and accurate interpretation of their dreams.

I'll take more time Sunday to access this dream. Overall I see it as very positive. The last part, if not the whole dream is some manner, seems to be addressing deeper issues. But because that part comes at the end of the dream it suggests to me that whatever the issues involved, you have them under control {most dreams address issues not under control, still in conflict}. That is not surprising though. Those who travel inward and discover the 'secrets' of the 'hidden knowledge' are more capable of controlling those issues that remain in conflict/unresolved. Going 'inward', discovering the power of the feminine, that is the 'Jungian' prescription toward reaching wholeness and becoming Individuated.

Jerry