Floating Bike
04.11.16
I am with a couple of people traveling. I am walking my current blue DreamYoga.Com bicycle, on top of a long, tall concrete wall that extends out into a wide river. I am at least 30 feet above the water. The woman has forgotten something and has someone bring it, then realizes that she had the right one before and stops and has to exchange back for the one she had originally. When she changes her mind it changes my plans. Perhaps I have to wait to get the object to bring to her. At any rate, I push my bike ahead. Apparently the plan was to jump into the river and float or swim with it downstream to some place on the other side and then get out and ride on. So I watch it sail off the end and fall into the water. I wonder how I will ever retrieve it. I can see it below, under the water and watch as it rises instead of sinking, either carried up by the current or able to float or both. It floats back to almost within arm’s reach, which means that I am now at the level of the water and reaching through a railing to grab my bike which is in some sort of back water, just out of reach. I do grab it and then am in the water with it, with some sort of flimsy wood “raft” – more like pieces of the side of a crate – between me and the bike. I can lie on it and my bike can hold me up as we float in the water. My mood in the dream is happy and confident. I don’t get stressed out at the confusion this woman creates.
My associations to this dream are…
The shock of seeing my bike sail off the end and fall into the water left a strong enough emotional impression on me that I remembered this dream. So that was the que that moved me toward greater awareness, wakefulness and lucidity. If my bike personifies balance, it has amazing, unusual and unexpected capabilities in that regard in that it not only floats but returns to me. If such happened in real life one would say they were “magically gifted” with extraordinary and unusual strength, capability or “luck.” But the deliberate way this bike acted could not be luck. While the floating could be attributed to the bike as a property of it, its return to me could be due to the bike or to the currents or both. But the most parsimonious explanation is that both amazing events are due to the same causal factor.
Was I stupid and reckless to push my bike off the end or did I know what I was doing? When I did it I had no doubt that I would be reunited with my bike; my original plan was to follow it off the end and find it in the water of the river. But then, when I did not jump off I wondered if it would sink and if I had lost it. So I do not know if I was foolish or not. Did I express justified trust and confidence or was it a foolish gamble that luckily paid off? It feels like it was mostly the former but a bit of the latter – a foolish risk.
Three fundamental life issues
• Clarity in consciousness in generally, particularly while meditating
• Building IDL community
• Improving respectful interaction in dreams and recall
Predictions:
Most preferring: River
Most rejecting: Woman (probably least preferring as rejecting characters are unlikely)
Most preferred character: River
Most rejected character: Woman
Most preferred action: floats
Most rejected action: forgets
Most preferred feeling: confident
Most rejected feeling: foolish risk?
Dream Sociomatrix Commentary
“The reason I like, like (a lot, love, dislike, dislike a lot, hate, don’t care about, or am accepting toward) (dream element) is…” “What I liked/disliked most about being in this dream is…”
Dream Self: I like myself a lot. I handle a strange situation well, with confidence. I’m not afraid to jump a long way down into the river. I like my bike a lot. It is my good friend and constant companion. I would never intentionally hurt it, as it looks like I am doing in this dream. I like this wall a lot; it affords a majestic view of this vast river. The river itself is broad, beautiful, peaceful and powerful. Walking out on this wall with my bike feels free and liberating, with a sense of adventure. This woman is confused but I really don’t have any feelings about her one way or another. I don’t recall feeling annoyed at her indecisiveness. My original plan seems to have been to walk to the end and jump either with my bike or just after it into the river below. When the plan changed I was maybe twenty feet from the end. I pushed the bike and it headed straight to the end and off, as if it knew what I wanted it to do. I was relieved to see my bike float and also to grab it. I liked both a lot. Again, it seems in retrospect as if my bike knew what I wanted it to do and was doing it – go straight off the end, float and return to me. So the implication is that my bike was aware and working with me like a companion or companion animal. My shock seemed to function to trigger recall rather than to be a positive or negative emotion. I enjoyed feeling happy a lot, at one with nature and also confident. Was it a foolish risk? I still don’t know, but I enjoyed it a lot. Reminds me a bit of skull practice, of perhaps developing confidence in taking risks that look foolish but aren’t in my dreams. What I like most about being in this dream is just that – confidently taking a risk that looks foolish and that turns out well. It is interesting that it probably wouldn’t look that way to most people, because after all I end up in the water with my bike and a scrap of wood. That hardly looks like a winning combination or a practical solution! Bikes don’t float! No luggage! Dependent on the river! No protection from the elements! None of these practicalities dented my confidence in the slightest. What I dislike most about being in this dream is dealing with the indecisiveness and confusion of this woman.
Bicycle: I like DS, myself, this wall and river a lot! There is a sense of being together with my companion owner and going on an adventure! I don’t care one way or another about this woman and her indecision – it doesn’t affect me one way or the other. Being pushed off the end is exciting! I’m flying! I like a lot that I’m floating and that I return to my owner! I like a lot that he is happy and confident. So am I! Is this a foolish risk? It didn’t feel that way to me. I trust my owner. I know he values and respects me. What I like most about being in this dream is going on an adventure with my owner! What I dislike most about being in this dream is nothing!
Wall: I am a wall. I am impervious, indifferent to all of this. What I like most about being in this dream is that I get to add a lot to the setting and action. What I dislike most about being in this dream is nothing.
River: I am also relatively indifferent to the contents of this dream, but I do use my currents to help support and direct this bike. I do like that DS is in me with his bike. What I like most about being in this dream is being available and being supportive. I am overflowing with abundance, you might say! What I dislike most about being in this dream is nothing.
Woman: Yes, I’m scatterbrained! Sorry! I mean well, I just don’t think straight…What I like most about being in this dream is that it turned out well! What I dislike most about being in this dream is that my forgetfulness and indecisiveness complicated things.
Wood: I like that I provide some support and protection for DS when he lies on his bike in the water. I like his bike too. I like what he has done; we will have fun floating down the river together! What I like most about being in this dream is being supportive and protective. What I dislike most about being in this dream is nothing.
Dream Consciousness: I think I did a pretty good job on this dream! I like it, particularly the majesty and nurturance of the river, the solidity, power of this wall that is almost like a launching pad into the river! I also like this bicycle that has a dog-like devotion to its owner! Ha ha! And I fooled Joseph! He didn’t guess that he would be both the most preferring AND the most preferred group member! However, I am basically pretty indifferent to everything, just enjoying how it all fits together and also pleased with Joseph’s decisions in the dream. What I like most about creating this dream is that Joseph made the best of it! What I dislike most about creating this dream is nothing.
What surprises me about what I’ve heard is…
There is a sense of wisdom about this dream. Everybody except the woman seems to know what is going on or to be in flow!
Dream Commentary
“If I could change this dream in any way, would I change it? If so, how?”
Bicycle: I would have preferred if we could have stuck with the original plan – to go off the end together into the river. There was a distraction, mostly due to interdependence, and you wanting to be helpful, which you were.
Wall: I don’t know how useful I am but I like me and my role in this dream.
River: I also like my role in this dream!
Woman: I wish I wasn’t so scatter-brained! I wish I had clear priorities and did a better job of sticking to them, including staying organized! This limitation not only affects me but others!
Wood: I am nothing special, just a discarded sort of piece of plywood. But I like me and I seem to be useful and needed.
Dream consciousness: I like this dream too. I don’t have any objection to the change…
Dreamage
(A rewrite of the dream based on a consensus of dream group member recommendations. If there is no consensus, there can be no dreamage. A synthesis group dream is usually its own dreamage. Read it over before sleep as an affirmation of a higher pattern of internal integration and healing.)
The dream stays the same except for the woman. She can stay in the dream but does not change the original plan: my bike and I go off the end of the wall together and float downstream…
Dream Summary Commentary
(“What part of this dreamer do you most closely personify?
“My strengths are…
“The reason why I am in this dream is…”
“This dream group came together to…”)
Bicycle: I most closely personify balance, particularly since you were having some hypotension the last couple of days and were noticing it affecting your bike riding. I also come up in your meditation as you work at finding your balance between distractions and clarity. My strengths are my reliability and sturdiness. The reason why I am in this dream is to emphasize, reinforce and validate how your life is coming into greater balance. This dream group came together to support you in the focus you now have in your life.
Wall: I most closely personify an elevated perspective that is broad and solidly supported with great stability. My strengths are my solidity and stability. The reason why I am in this dream is to give you a vast, free, clear and unlimited platform for venturing into an unknown adventure. This dream group came together to support you in doing just that.
River: I most closely personify the vast natural course of your life. You will notice that my flow is mature and slow, but smooth and powerful. My water is extraordinarily clear as you found when you could see your bike twenty or thirty meters deep in me. You might also note that there is a considerable distance to my mouth, where I join the sea. To align your life journey more closely with mine is extremely wise. My strengths are my sureness, confidence, natural wisdom, life-giving abundance and power. The reason why I am in this dream is to not only remind you of these characteristics but amplify them within your consciousness. This dream group came together to support you in the steps you are currently taking in your life.
Woman: I most closely personify your indecisiveness, confusion, not remembering. I also offer an opportunity for you to support those parts of yourself, which you do in this dream. You change your agenda to support me and our common agenda – to travel together with our friend. My strengths are my nurturing, kind and dependable nature. The reason why I am in this dream is to challenge you to be patient with your limitations and to remember that you will be hobbled in your progress if you do not honor them and integrate them. This dream group came together to metaphorically illustrate the path you are on and your way forward.
Wood: I most closely personify support and protection that you have at hand. It is easily overlooked because it does not appear to be much, but you do not need much for what your purpose is. I am sufficient! My strengths are that I am both protective and supportive. The reason why I am in this dream is as above. This dream group came together to amplify in your consciousness the qualities we various elements personify.
Dream consciousness: I most closely personify the big picture, the context in which the dream of your life unfolds. My strengths are my creativity and boundlessness! The reason why I created this dream is to amplify your sense of adventure and mergence with the naturalness of existence.
Waking Commentary
As (this dream group member), if I were living this dreamer’s waking life, how would I live it differently? Would I handle this dreamer’s three life issues differently? If so, how?
• Clarity in consciousness in generally, particularly while meditating
• Building IDL community
- Improving respectful interaction in dreams and recall
Bicycle: Keep amplifying and emphasizing clarity. That works for you.
Wall: Be adventurous and risk!
River: Feel yourself in the flow as you move through your day!
Woman: Don’t let the normal setbacks, confusions and mistakes that come your way every day derail you!
Wood: Do what you need and want to do NOW – don’t wait until you have everything right and organized! You have all you need NOW and if you had more it would only complicate things!
Dream consciousness: Keep reading over your priorities before sleep. Do read over an interview. Continue to focus on clarity in your meditation.
Identification Commentary
If I could designate specific occasions in the dreamer’s waking life when I would recommend that he imagine that he is me, what would those occasions be?
Bicycle: When he feels out of balance – doesn’t know what to say, confused.
Wall: When he needs to feel strong, grounded, purposeful and supported in risk-taking.
River: When he wants to feel in a deep, wide clear natural flow in his life!
Woman: When he wants to feel warm, nurturing and caring – like his mother.
Wood: When he wants to feel protective and supportive.
Dream consciousness: When he wants to identify with the whole picture, with the totality of the situation, in a creative sort of way.
Action Plan
(All of the above recommendations for waking life application are not of equal importance. You have to decide how you wish to prioritize them and what you want to do with them. But take some action! It is a way of demonstrating that you take your inner direction seriously. If you have it wrong, future dream groups will cybernetically correct your course.)
• Read over the interview; work on the various identifications mentioned above.
Keep amplifying and emphasizing clarity.
Be adventurous and risk!
Feel myself in the flow as I move through your day!
Don’t let the normal setbacks, confusions and mistakes that come my way every day derail me!
Do what I need and want to do NOW – don’t wait until I have everything right and organized! Remembe I have all I need NOW and if I had more it would only complicate things!
Keep reading over my priorities before sleep. Do read over an interview. Continue to focus on clarity in my meditation.
Sociogram Commentary
Overall Pattern: Almost a thesis pattern; the only hold out is a rejection of forgetfulness and that is only a dislike by the forgetful perspective itself, indicating that self-persecution is the only delusion that keeps this pattern from moving into synthesis.
Acceptance Axis: All characters are preferring. What is interesting is that the natural characters – River, Wall and Dream Consciousness are least preferring. They are least invested in this pattern! The most invested are DS and Bicycle, who have a symbiotic, interdependent relationship. The other two, Woman and Wood, are almost props in the dream and fall in between, neither liking a great deal nor liking minimally.
Form Axis: That DS is most preferred by this dream group implies that it greatly supports his intentions and efforts in this dream. It also implies that it is looking to DS to “make it happen,” for direction and leadership. The spread between DS and Woman is not unusual or unexpected; these are the oppositional characteristics that require integration. DS is closely aligned in the eyes of the group with River, Wall and Bicycle.
Process Axis: There is not much of a spread in behavior repesented here; all actions are preferred. “Floating in river” is most preferred, perhaps a metaphor for clarity in meditation or staying in the flow of my life as I live it, moment to moment. The least integrated or preferred elements are “push” and “foolish risk?” “Push” repesents acting out of the original intention and separating DS from Bicycle. “Foolish risk” represents self-doubt. The implication is that both of these are to be examined and minimized.
Affect Axis: “Happy” and “confident” are emotions that are supported by this group. “Shock” is viewed with neutrality, implying that the “kick” required for the dreamer to remember the dream is administered functionally, without emotion.
Dream Group Dynamics Commentary
(In which the various dream group members are provided with an opportunity to express their thoughts on their relationships with their fellow dream group members.)
Bicycle: I am honored that I am strongly supported by this group of illustrious members! I am also pleased that I lived up to the expectations of my owner!
Wall: I enjoy my role as solid launching pad for the dreamer!
River: I find it rather amusing to have not only DS but his bicycle floating in me! Ha ha! Perhaps in time he will discover he does not need his bicycle, when he internalizes it and the business of staying balanced is internalized. Then he can float in me all by himself! However, he is then prepared for continuing his adventure outside of me when he floats to wherever he wants to get out!
Woman: I want to be supportive! I think my fear of failure and anxiety create my confusion. I mostly require support and structure from DS.
Wood: I don’t think I am necessary in the long run, just like the bicycle! But I am glad to help!
DS/Joseph: After listening to all this I think this dream was triggered by 1) a new, deeper sense of balance in my life; 2) a decision to take my practice of deep listening to my life compass to the next level by undertaking a second series of Dream Sociomatrices after a thirty year hiatus, and my work with balancing and clarifying my awareness in my meditations. I think this dream is both a reflection on those issues from the perspective of Dream Consciousness and the provision of various sorts of deep support for what I am doing.
Predictions:
Most preferring: DS
Most rejecting: Wall (least preferring)
Most preferred character: DS!
Most rejected character: Woman√
Most preferred action: floats; in river √
Most rejected action: forgets √
Most preferred feeling: confident, happy √
Most rejected feeling: shock √
5 of 8 not bad
“What I am saying to myself is…”
Statements from elaborations are rewritten here as “I” statements.
I trust myself. I know I value and respect myself. What I like most about my life is going on an adventure!
I can stay balanced as I leap into the unknown. (I believe this is reference to new realms of clarity in meditation.)
I need to emphasize, reinforce and validate how my life is coming into greater balance.
I need to recognize that I have a vast, free, clear and unlimited platform for venturing into an unknown adventure.
Aligning my life journey more closely with that of a broad context is extremely wise. My strengths are my sureness, confidence, natural wisdom, life-giving abundance and power.
I am being challenged to be patient with my limitations and to remember that I will be hobbled in my progress if I do not honor them and integrate them.
I do not need much for what my purpose is.
Keep amplifying and emphasizing clarity.
Be adventurous and risk!
Feel myself in the flow as I move through my day!
Don’t let the normal setbacks, confusions and mistakes that come my way every day derail me!
I have all you need NOW and if I had more it would only complicate things!
Some of the basic issues addressed by this dream group are:
Risking, maintaining balance, approaching life as an adventure into my basic context or nature.
Knowing that I have all the support and structure that I need to be successful in doing so.
