Saturday, October 31, 2009

Endless Anxiety

*Just a reminder that if you want to read my thoughts and associations, I write them in the comments section as the first comment.

Last night I had an extremely anxious dream.  It felt very real and just loaded with anxiety.  I dreamed that I went with friends to my dad's apartment, which really feels more in style like his girlfriend, Karyn's, apartment because he moved in with her (in real life).  The apartment was even more ostentatious in the dream than it is in real life.  It had multiple levels and was vast like a house.  I had to leave because I had to go to work with my friends who were also my colleagues (ones I felt comfortable with).  Yet somehow I had lost my coat and my shoes and my clothes.  I grabbed clothing items found in a basement to cover myself with but I really wanted to find my stuff.  It was so shocking and frustrating that I didn't recall losing each item and yet it was all gone.  Karyn was preparing for a huge catered party at the apartment, so it became even more difficult to look around for my stuff.  It was cold and raining outside, and I had to leave.  I took my wallet and my phone and went with my friends to the subway. However, inside the subway I was waiting for the Number 6 train, and it wasn't coming.  I became incredibly nervous about getting to work on time.  Then I realized that I no longer had my wallet and my phone.  This completely alarmed me, and I realized that I had to back track and look for them.  I told my friends to go on to work without me, and I exited the subway and walked back towards Karyn's home.  When I got to Karyn's home (also my dad's), I told her the situation and she was like she always is in real life: pleasantly nice, though in a superficial way, yet also cold and distracted. High society folks were sitting at the tables having their catered meal for her event, and she tried a bit to help me but to no avail.  I begged my dad to help me but he declined, so I went out again and tried to find everything.  When I couldn't, I went back to the party.  By this point, my dad was tired of me showing up, so this time when I begged him to help me, he went outside with me.  We retraced my steps to the subway.  It was through a dangerous, poor neighborhood, and he shook his head and told me that he was certain that I would never get my wallet back.  I begged him to give me a little money for the day, and he did, and then we took a cab towards my office, so that I could finally get to work.  Then I looked down at my body, and I was completely naked and a hairless little girl.  I was covered in a rash made up of tiny bright green spots (almost like pretty flecks of paint), spaced out evenly on my light colored smooth skin like polka dots.  Noticing this I felt void of all emotion, a blank feeling.  Then I saw that my father was looking down at my vagina, and I felt a little bit embarrassed but mainly empty.  I asked him if this green rash was caused by stress and he told me that it was normal, and that yes it was.  Perhaps this image of us in the car together with him looking down at me was the most vivid and real in the dream.  I didn't feel nervous about the bizarre, very prominent green rash all over me, and I believed my dad that it was normal.  However, I knew that because it was a medical reaction that now I could go to the doctor and get a note and have a great reason for being late to work that made more sense.  Yet my doctor (in real life) gets angry if I drop in.  I have to call from home and hope he can fit me in that day.  So again I worried that things would not work out.  I felt overwhelmed with anxiety and then I woke up.

6 Comments:

At 8:41 AM, October 31, 2009, Blogger Jayla said...

There's a lot of anxiety going on for me in real life. I recently had a "friend" write me a long, nasty email writing me off. That brought up lots of feelings of abandonment and a sense of not knowing who really cared about me in my life. I've also had anxiety related to issues going on with administration's (not my direct supervisor) disregard for social workers and possibly wanting to downsize the department. In terms of the green rash, I'm not sure. I get eczema (a skin rash) on my right hand when I am anxious. This happened at work on Friday, and I was slicing an avocado to put in a salad I'd made for lunch. The green of the avocado created spots on my right hand because the skin was dry from the eczema reaction. I also had a white jacket when I was in junior high that I liked a lot that was white with green polka dots. I wore it during the time that I was with my first girlfriend, Carolyn, before her parents split us apart , an experience that generated overwhelming anxiety and pain for me. These are all my thoughts and associations. I had another dream earlier in the week in which I was barefoot and it was dark and raining and I didn't know how or when I'd lost my shoes. In that dream I was lost in Brooklyn, only I felt more confident, like if I just walked on, everything might be okay.

 
At 9:06 AM, October 31, 2009, Blogger Jayla said...

Oh, another thing is that I've been sick all week with a cold, and I felt nervous staying home sick from work (which I did one day and went to the doctor), because of all that is going on at work lately with the administration. And being sick, even with just a cold, always makes me a little sad. I don't get to have the endorphin rush that I get by going to the gym.

 
At 11:51 AM, October 31, 2009, Blogger Cathy K. said...

{{{{{{{{{{Jenny}}}}}}}}}}
You have a lot of anxiety-provoking things going on right now, definitely! I admire how much of your dream you remember and your way of analyzing it. I don't have much to add except that it seems you are closely in touch with how things in your life have made/are making you feel, and that is such a gift, as is the clarity of your dreaming. Well, you KNOW I believe what a gift I find you in my life. Sit quietly and know that you have people who care very, very much about you. I am one of them! I love you much.

 
At 1:52 PM, October 31, 2009, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Esp. the job feelings of insecurity are making you nervous. I think the Dad part is your phantasy that he might be cold and unhelpful, or , if you beg him to be involved, he might be overly involved and also try to convince you that what is not normal is normal (very confusing). I echo the sentiments of Kathy K. and I ((((((((u)))))))) all the time, and I know that all will be well. B

 
At 6:59 PM, October 31, 2009, Anonymous Anonymous said...

(((((((((((Jennifer)))))))))))) thinking about you with so much love and hoping your anxiety lessens and lessens soon.
love always,
Jenny K.

 
At 1:58 PM, November 01, 2009, Blogger RMF said...

Questions:what are the affective currents running through your interaction(s) with your dad - in the dream. Like, are you angry at him (or yourself) for the humiliating/debasing things going on: begging, loss of control, loss of attention, his looking at you in a cold/clinical and/or a yucky sexually-inappropriate way, etc.

Feel better!!!
- Always, RMF

 

Post a Comment

<< Home