One dream with one element.
Dream1
I was working in a building (an IT shop) that was fairly new. There were parts of the building where equipment hadn't been installed. We were trying something new. We needed to get wiring from one floor to another and I asked if a cable shaft had access from both floors where the wiring was to be run. I was told no and I inquired how they knew this but was never answered. I suggested using the shaft but was told that no one knew if we had permission. We also wanted to use a particular device in a new way but were not sure about the pin arrangement. I was not the lead and was frustrated that the ones leading were bumbling and wouldn't listen. I finally gave up in frustration with the failure to ascertain availability of the shaft for wiring and then the bumbling attempt with the device. I walked off trying to convince myself not to care, because caring only resulted in frustration.
Dream Element1
"Frustration that all my suggestions were ignored."
| Self-enhancement = 3 | Interpersonal = 2 |
| Positive = 0 | Negative = 16 |
correlates with the following Life Issue to a degree of .82
Life Issue1
"Three year project that now seems irrelevant."
| Self-enhancement = 4 | Interpersonal = 6 |
| Positive = 3 | Negative = 22 |
Interpretation:
The overriding theme of this dream is frustration.
There is only one Dream Element and it strongly correlates (.82) to its Life Issue. The single Dream Element emphasizes the frustration theme. Frustration is defined "as a deep chronic sense or state of insecurity and dissatisfaction arising from unresolved problems or unfulfilled needs. The emotion felt when one's expectations are not met." The frustration in your dream indicates you are having difficulty coping with some things in your life.
This dream is predominantly Negative (38) with low scores for self-enhancement (7) and Interpersonal (8). A very low Positive (3) score makes this dream very bleak.
Remarkably, the h Profile reveals a high degree of aggression ("Aggression/Friendliness Percent" +1.39, "A/C Index" +3.91, "Aggression" +1.63) which was addressed by Leonard Berkowitz (University of Wisconsin - Madison), "Frustration - Aggression Hypothesis: Examination and Reformulation", Psychological Bulletin, 1989, Vol. 106, No. 1, 59-73. In the article he states: "Frustrations are aversive events and generate aggressive inclinations only to the extent that they produce negative affect. An unanticipated failure to obtain an attractive goal is more unpleasant than an expected failure, and it is the greater displeasure in the former case that gives rise to the stronger instigation to aggression. Similarly, the thwarted persons' appraisals and attributions presumably determine how bad they feel at not getting what they had wanted so that they are most aggressively inclined when they experience strong negative affect."
But, the myth of Sisyphus as interpreted by Albert Camus gives solace and offers a positive pursuit.
The myth of Sisyphus illustrates the despair of frustration. The gods had condemned Sisyphus to ceaselessly rolling a rock to the top of a mountain, whence the stone would fall back of its own weight. They had thought with some reason that there is no more dreadful punishment than futile and hopeless labor. If one believes Homer, Sisyphus was the wisest and most prudent of mortals. He is accused of a certain levity in regard to the gods. He stole their secrets. You have already grasped that Sisyphus is the absurd hero. He is, as much through his passions as through his torture. His scorn of the gods, his hatred of death, and his passion for life won him that unspeakable penalty in which the whole being is exerted toward accomplishing nothing. This is the price that must be paid for the passions of this earth.
Albert Camus (1913-1960), French philosopher, interpreted the myth of Sisyphus differently than the conventional. You have already grasped that Sisyphus is the absurd hero. He is, as much through his passions as through his torture. His scorn of the gods, his hatred of death, and his passion for life won him that unspeakable penalty in which the whole being is exerted toward accomplishing nothing. If this myth is tragic, that is because its hero is conscious. Where would his torture be, indeed, if at every step the hope of succeeding upheld him? Sisyphus, proletarian of the gods, powerless and rebellious, knows the whole extent of his wretched condition: it is what he thinks of during his descent. The lucidity that was to constitute his torture at the same time crowns his victory. There is no fate that can not be surmounted by scorn. If the descent is thus sometimes performed in sorrow, it can also take place in joy. When the images of earth cling too tightly to memory, when the call of happiness becomes too insistent, it happens that melancholy arises in man's heart: this is the rock's victory, this is the rock itself. Happiness and the absurd are two sons of the same earth. They are inseparable. It would be a mistake to say that happiness necessarily springs from the absurd. It happens as well that the felling of the absurd springs from happiness.
Sisyphus’ life was further defined and clarified by the lack of his concern over anything else. We worry about tomorrow, about our future, about what we will do with our lives. Sisyphus knew the point and meaning of his life. He knew very clearly that there was no getting around his fate, and he accepted it. It is, then, quite possible that we can follow the same pattern. Accept what comes to us and move on. Find a purpose to your life and follow it to its conclusion.
Suggestion for dream rehearsal:You are browsing in a bookstore and discover a kit for sale which includes a harmonica and book explaining how to play the instrument. You purchase the book-kit and take it home. You read the book, experimenting with the techniques described in the book for playing the harmonica. You start with the scales, hearing them as you play. You can feel the instrument in your hands as as you move your lips over the surface. You finally start learning your first tune. A friend in another room, hearing your efforts, shouts, "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star!" You are pleased.
AddendumThere was a man with a tongue of wood
Who essayed to sing,
And in truth it was lamentable
But there was one who heard
The clip-clapper of this tongue of wood
And knew what the man wished to sing,
And with that the singer was content.
- Stephen Crane
| Characters | <- | norm | -> |
|---|---|---|---|
| Male/Female Percent | N/A | ||
| Familiarity Percent | -1.47 | ||
| Friends Percent | -1.19 | ||
| Family Percent | -0.70 | ||
| Dead & Imaginary Percent | -0.12 | ||
| Animal Percent | -0.50 | ||
| Social Interaction Percent | |||
| Aggression/Friendliness Percent | +1.39 | ||
| Befriender Percent | N/A | ||
| Aggressor Percent | +.21 | ||
| Physical Aggression Percent | -1.57 | ||
| Social Interaction Ratios | |||
| A/C Index | +3.91 | ||
| F/C Index | -0.50 | ||
| S/C Index | -0.15 | ||
| Settings | |||
| Indoor Setting Percent | +1.60 | ||
| Familiar Setting Percent | +1.34 | ||
| Self-Concept Percents | |||
| Self-Negativity Percent | +1.27 | ||
| Bodily Misfortunes Percent | -1.14 | ||
| Negative Emotions Percent | +0.91 | ||
| Dreamer-Involved Success Percent | -1.59 | ||
| Torso/Anatomy Percent | N/A | ||
| Dreams with at Least One: | |||
| Aggression | +1.63 | ||
| Friendliness | -1.33 | ||
| Sexuality | -0.70 | ||
| Misfortune | +1.85 | ||
| Good Fortune | -0.49 | ||
| Success | -.80 | ||
| Failure | +2.34 | ||
| Striving | +2.05 |