I had a dream last night, and like most dreams, it is dissipating like warm breath on a cold day. But this was a disturbing dream, and small parts of it remain tethered to my conscience. I was with a friend, and we were being driven around through a wooded area by a person unknown, and his son...also unknown. The son left the car at some point, and the man drove us around through the woods until we came to an old building that stored wood. In the building people were sitting around old furniture, each with an assigned task, and they were talking about their assignments. My friend and I wandered through the building looking for some direction. We knew we were to put together a plan for the future but were given no directions as to what that plan was or where to start or what to do with it. I found a large three ring binder filled with papers about nutrition, and when the driver of the car approached us, I said we want to plan for nutrition for the future. I knew I was to plan for the health of the nation. Don't ask me how I knew, or why I thought I was qualified to do it, I just did. In short, my dream was about America's future.
Such is the way with dreams.
Then I woke up and thought about the dream. I find this dream to be frightening. It reminds me of the Arab Spring of maybe a decade ago, when countries in the Middle East began to fall apart through violence with no direction for their future. And I realized that my dream conveyed my worst fears about what is happening in America. THE AMERICAN SPRING.
I keep hearing that America is "An Experiment" and has been for its over-200 years of existence, and I'm proud of that. I truly do love this country, in spite of its warts. As a woman who grew up in America, I have experienced what America has to offer. I remember when, as a teenager, I told my parents I wanted to get my drivers license; my mother made it clear that I did not need that now...I could be taught to drive like she was...by my husband. Had I not pushed the issue, I would still be riding a bike. I remember applying for a credit card with a small boutique, and wondering if I would get it. I remember applying for a mortgage for my first home and wondering if, as a single woman, I would achieve that goal. And I know that many women, more powerful, more determined, went before me and worked hard to help me achieve those goals.
Now, as an older woman, dependent upon Social Security and Medicare, I read reports where those vastly important things that I rely upon just for survival, may be on the chopping block. I see America on the cusp of change, and not change for the good. But I fear that with no change to our current direction, the "Experiment" will fail.
And so the dream about nutrition may have some subtle undertones that have yet to rise to the surface, and I'm still not sure what my role is, or will be. But it begs the question, "Is there a reality in dreams?"
I hope I have not bored you, but had to say it!
- Judy