All,

I don't usually recall much of my dreams, probably because I don't make it a point to. Last night though I awoke from a dream that I just felt was too...actually I'm not even sure of the right adjective to give it. Lets just say it irked me.

It seemed to take place in the house where I grew up. My older sister was there and she seemed to be around the age she is now, and there was a young boy who she seemed to be taking care of but it was not one of her sons. I was in the house obviously and there was this bear, that almost seemed to be my sisters pet. At least twice that I can recall I found myself pinned down with the bear on top of me, once I was bent over the kitchen counter with it on my back. The bear didn't hurt me but I felt very scared and threatened. I could feel its weight on top of me and its breath against my neck. And I remember saying saying faintly to my sister could you please get this bear off of me, please get this bear off of me but was afraid to yell or try to break free of it. The last thing I remember was being on the roof, it was night and the little boy was in a diaper, standing there next to the chimney and had what looked to be a cross scratched into his abdomen. It was not bleeding but it was obviously a wound. The last thing I remember before I woke up was screaming for someone to get rid of the f***ing bear.

Anyway, maybe it was just a crazy dream but like I said it got my attention and I've been trying to discern some meaning in it but not getting anywhere.

Any thoughts or suggestions? Besides therapy! :)

Thanks.

Is your sister overbearing??:)

I think other people in our dreams are supposed to represent different parts of ourselves, (so you could ask yourself what this child meant to you in this dream, what feelings you had about him, and that could relate to those parts of yourself, like vunerability etc) and animals are supposed to represent the animalistic parts of ourselves, our animal instincts and so on. Houses are supposed to represent different parts of our body, but i've never understood what that means. Its interesting you ended up on the roof!
I dream of bears chasing me quite often and they're always scary - it think they represent my fears.
You could try writing down what you felt about each aspect/character in your dream - what does that house mean for you? does your sister 'take care' of any aspects of your life? Do you feel she threatens you at all, turns on you, attacks you? Pull up chair, i don't charge, cos i don't know what the hell i'm talking about!!:) But i find dreams fascinating. Definately write it down in a personal journal or something, its always interesting to look back at dreams in hindsight.

Is your sister overbearing??:)

I think other people in our dreams are supposed to represent different parts of ourselves, (so you could ask yourself what this child meant to you in this dream, what feelings you had about him, and that could relate to those parts of yourself, like vunerability etc) and animals are supposed to represent the animalistic parts of ourselves, our animal instincts and so on. Houses are supposed to represent different parts of our body, but i've never understood what that means. Its interesting you ended up on the roof!
I dream of bears chasing me quite often and they're always scary - it think they represent my fears.
You could try writing down what you felt about each aspect/character in your dream - what does that house mean for you? does your sister 'take care' of any aspects of your life? Do you feel she threatens you at all, turns on you, attacks you? Pull up chair, i don't charge, cos i don't know what the hell i'm talking about!!:) But i find dreams fascinating. Definately write it down in a personal journal or something, its always interesting to look back at dreams in hindsight.

Ha, she could be but I haven't lived with her in 15 years so I don't think that was it. In fact I can't figure out why she was there.

One thought that came to mind since I posted this thread was that the dream represented my lifelong struggle with low self-esteem. Low self-esteem being the bear on my back, keeping me down, and afraid to try things.

The little boy was me, or has been me and bears (ha, there it is again) the wounds I've been carrying all my life due to low self-esteem. And its time to get rid of the low-self esteem once and for all, and stop being the wounded little boy.

A possibility, still not sure how my sister fits in. She had/has her own issues with self-esteem and depression.

I don't know, feels like I'm onto something though!

Thanks for not charging, I am on a tight budget. :)

Fascinating. I also had a really strange and very vivid dream last night.

Seems to me that you're screaming at yourself with the "get rid of the f-ing bear" bit. That part made me laugh, even, just because it's sort of a "DUH! Hello?! Would someone PLEASE get rid of this G*ddamned bear????!!!!!!" It's just so obvious. So why doesn't anyone do it?

Fascinating. I also had a really strange and very vivid dream last night.

Seems to me that you're screaming at yourself with the "get rid of the f-ing bear" bit. That part made me laugh, even, just because it's sort of a "DUH! Hello?! Would someone PLEASE get rid of this G*ddamned bear????!!!!!!" It's just so obvious. So why doesn't anyone do it?


I know, it cracks me up when I think about it too.

If my parents had been in the dream it would make a lot more sense. I've spent most of my adult life playing catch up, teaching myself to do things that I never learned as a kid, i.e. how to cope, personal organization, social skills... My parents were very loving but didn't recognize my problems or did but didn't know what to do about them at the time.

Maybe no one answered in the dream because no one answered to my calls for help when I was a kid. They would protect me and take care of things on my behalf but I thats not what I needed or wanted.

Maybe that is why my sister is in the dream, maybe I feel she suffered the same way I did.

I know, it cracks me up when I think about it too.

If my parents had been in the dream it would make a lot more sense. I've spent most of my adult life playing catch up, teaching myself to do things that I never learned as a kid, i.e. how to cope, personal organization, social skills... My parents were very loving but didn't recognize my problems or did but didn't know what to do about them at the time.

Maybe no one answered in the dream because no one answered to my calls for help when I was a kid. They would protect me and take care of things on my behalf but I thats not what I needed or wanted.

Maybe that is why my sister is in the dream, maybe I feel she suffered the same way I did.

Or maybe you feel she didn't suffer the same way you did. If the bear represents childhood problems and it seems to be her pet, then it would stand to reason she has some measure of control over it. That could be why you were asking for her to get it off your back, but not in a forceful way - you suspected she'd be capable but either weren't entirely sure she could or worse, would. It could also be why you appeared allegorically as a child (the wounded little boy) and she at her current age. There seems to definitely be a theme of you struggling with fears and she standing ably but passively by.

Of course, dreams rarely stand to reason and I'm probably way off the mark. Fascinating stuff, though! :)

'Bears' the wounds. That's fantastic! I think that whole paragraph was very revealing.