Topsy Turvy
Dreams are such a strange, wonderful and terrifying part of the human experience. Some of them require quite a bit of deciphering to figure out, others, not as much. Sometimes I have strange dreams that I try to rationalized or interpret, and other times they are so weird and confusing I just give up trying to understand them. This recent one though, this dream wasn’t even subtle in what it was trying to convey.
The dream took place as I would travel between what appeared to be subway stations, but of my life. Let me explain – each station was comprised of various elements of a part of my life, and for some strange, unfathomable reason, each station had an intricate walkway on both the ground on the roof. Almost as if each walkway was going in one direction, and to go in reverse you would have to somehow find a way to walk on the roof. Or maybe I was walking on the roof and the other side was the ground? I couldn’t be sure.
Most of the dream involved me chasing after one person or another, jumping over obstacles and vaulting over hurdles to try and catch up. But no matter how hard I tried I never could seem to catch up to them regardless how hard I gave chase.
The dream began with a party in someone’s backyard at night, with fancy white banners and lights strewn about. The weirdest thing about it was that everyone was their current age, but the people were friends I remember from high school, so it was like seeing adult level maturity in teenagers who don’t yet have real responsibilities like kids or mortgages. I remember feeling a deep sense of peace and content, which is kind of strange given that I never think about these people, at least on a conscience level. We spend some time bonding and hanging out until one of us realizes it’s getting late. We all begin to get up and leave, walking towards the nearest subway station which looks to be the size of some mixed use high rise. When we walk in, it’s when I begin to notice that some of my friends are moving much faster than I am, and I’m trying to keep up, practically running down the station at one point. It’s where I begin to notice that the station is some strange amalgamation of a transit station I spent a lot of time at as a kid, as well as elements from my school days, with giant, sprawling libraries and study spaces on the bottom floor.
After going up a few escalators, I realize that I’m completely lost but this doesn’t bother me as I take in the sights and the breathtaking majesty that is this weird campus that looks too magical to be real (which it is).
After making my way out of the huge campus and the libraries, I’m at a section that reminds me of the massive malls I would walk around alone for hours as a kid. As I move from the exit into another area, I’m brought to what looks like a very sterile office building of drab grey and black. As I look for an exit, I spot a close friend. I call out to her but she doesn’t seem to notice to so I begin to run after her while calling her name. It seemed like the faster I ran, the faster she was moving away from me. It’s almost like I was destined to not be able to catch up to her or be noticed. All the while, I seem to be dodging and parkouring my way out of running into other people from my past, which only serves to slow me down.