Prison, Martinis and Fish

The dream this morning is another one of those escape from prison stories. These are definitely one of the reoccurring dream themes I often experience in my sleep. In this dream, I am in a large old prison that looks somewhat like Alcatraz, my self and another young accomplice have somehow stashed some civilian clothes. We walk right out of the facility. Our escape was cleverly planned. It is after many months of getting let out on some sort of work release program for good behaviour that I have steadily built up a sense of trust with my captors. However, it is all a ruse. My ultimate plan is to escape for good forever.

The morning finally comes to bust loose. My young associate and I are dress up in finely tailored suits with fedoras, and we walk down a series of corridors and doors. The guards are either completely fooled, or have been paid off, at any rate they seems disinterested in us.

The next thing I see is we are at a noon day dinner party at a café on a beach somewhere. My friend and I toast the guests there with martinis in hand. We are so proud of having made good on our escape and are saluting our good fortune. I stand there smugly and watch as waves crash against the shore . I am soberly contemplating the enormity of what we have done. I can clearly see long slender fish, they look to be barracudas, thrash in the midst of the waves. The fish are fighting not to be wash up on the shore. This is when I wake up.

I recognize I do feel like a prisoner to the circumstances in my life. There are lots of demands on my time and what little money I have. I often feel like I have no sense of control and I need to adopt a near criminal mind set to stay ahead of everyone that wants a piece of me. I feel like I am mentally, emotionally and fiscally abused at every turn.

The prison and the guards represent the authority that I think oppresses and abuses me. My soul yearns to rebel and be free. The nice suits and martinis symbolize wealth. I want to be wealthy and not feel enslaved, or impoverished.

The fish are an ancient symbol of Christianity. Christ fed the masses with a few fish and some loaves of bread. It is interesting how they are struggling against waves. The fish do not want to become stranded to die on the beach. They want to swim back into their natural environment and not become dinner for a couple of escaped convicts. I can relate to the fish.

Overall, this dream had a lot to say about the internal state of my emotions and unconscious. I need a healthy escape. I should not eat any fish for a while. I am feeling a lot of empathy for them right now. I have not had any alcohol in months. I think I am craving it and I was not even consciously aware of it until just now. Hmmm! Dreams can be amazing teachers. I will be thinking about the implications of these insights for a good long while.