Rats, Ruts, and Remedies

Today we focus on the ways dreams teach us to navigate complex systems.  It’s easy to get lost in the ‘rat-race’ at times, thinking we are just one of thousands on that treadmill going nowhere, but our dreams surface during times of stress, like the current downswing in our economic structure, to help us navigate through such intense turmoil in our lives.  

For two nights now, I have been dreaming of rats, so I knew this morning following a dream involving former colleagues, some intense energy would be coming my way.  

DREAM: WATER-MAP PROJECT

I am a leader, running a project that is focused on the ‘water map’, a topographical study of the tributaries and streams that feed into this long aqueduct, or canal I am surfing in my business clothes.   Actually, riding right in the middle of this water trough, without a wave, a ripple, any noticeable characteristic except how clean the water is, how clear and fast it is moving.   I am not doing anything to engage it.  Just riding it, as a surfer does, both arms outstretched for balance.   I don’t see the surfboard, but know this is how I am navigating the flow. 

This is the primary action of the dream, but on the side, when I engage with my ex colleagues, the focus becomes me in relation to what they  are asking of me.   Three teams exist, we each have one.   Mine is in the conference room with the wine cellar on the left wall, much as a bookcase would look, except wine is on display there, not books.   My ex-boss has the team on the left,  another colleague the team in the center, I have the team on the right.   I am standing in the doorway, talking about the water system topographical map.   

I am asked to be quiet, go back to what I was doing. 

INTERPRETATION

Every dream has one central question that resonates with the dreamer, so the question for me is this:  what is going on in my life at the time (current) that feels like this old, very ancient, ‘cat & mouse’ kind of conflict?   A very interesting question that began to yield surprising results, once I followed the true “thread” … because it was not the result I was expecting. 

Right off the bat, I thought the dream was about old ‘betrayals’, and dealing with this issue again in some realistic setting.   So, what were these old characters doing in my dream now?  I know to look for representative characteristics in myself or surroundings, something in current time that realistically reveals similar characteristics.  

Since my ex-boss is one of the most rodent-like individuals I have ever known, this was quite a distressing piece of dream wisdom to take on board.  Nonetheless, I held that ‘am-I-behaving-like-a-rat’ question out there, while I pondered the opposite reality, dreaming of a woman who I deeply admire, and have the utmost respect for, despite her tendency to ‘toy’ with people, never knowing for sure whether it is by calculated design or simple outcome, although I always sense the intent.   

That is her true characteristic, I realize, thinking about all of this.   Her clever ability to  drive any result without anyone ever knowing they have been ‘played’.   Ok, so I could ‘get’ that piece of it – a dream asking me to take on a few of these otherwise undesirable characteristics, if it meant that I would get what I want and be successful.   Be successful.  BINGO. 

The question I realized, was not what these characters represent alone as opposite truths, but what they have in common.   Once that piece crystallized, I was able to unravel the message, approach it from an entirely different angle.  For all of their realistic faults, the question becomes, what do my dream characters have that I don’t?  What positive characteristics do they both embrace?   

The purpose of the dream is to give me what I need to handle some situation that either feels or will soon feel like I’m stuck in a ‘cat & mouse’ game or maze.   Maybe I will be dealing with unsavory characters who remind me of these former professional colleagues.   Or perhaps I am being asked to look at characteristics they share in common so I will know how to navigate this situation, whatever it is, in my own life. 

When I think of ‘cat & mouse’ games, I think about hidden agendas, so know the dream is preparing me to deal with this element, either in the way that I communicate, or will be communicating with others in a professional project-oriented culture, where I am expected to lead (rank in dream), set an example, so I have to be on my best behavior, be mindful of corporate ‘traits’ that are perhaps not so appealing, but certainly productive in driving a specific result. 

So, now I turn to what I have in common with my dream characters, or more importantly, what I am being asked to examine or embrace, because this is the ultimate goal of the dream I realize, to alert me to characteristics I have or must embrace, if I want to be successful in the ‘rat-race’.   This is why an ex-boss and colleague appear.  To remind me of skill-sets ‘in play’ when I enter this arena again.   

OK, so what skills do both of my dream colleagues have that I don’t at the moment?  Or, better question:  what do we have in common that I have forgotten and need to remember?  There is a thread connecting all of us, if I can find it.   So, despite unflattering character traits that come to mind, I think about this for a minute.  Because I know this is what the dream is asking me to do.  Step up my ‘game’ and embrace a characteristic that I would usually dismiss because it runs counter to how I usually think, operate, or communicate in a corporate environment. 

Both the ex-boss and ex-friend/colleague are exceptionally intelligent, highly motivated, ambitious individuals, devoted entirely (for the most part) to their own self-interests.    Both demonstrate political savvy, stamina, staying power, and commitment.   They are both charming, well-educated ‘tap-dancers’, with impressive credentials and timing.  Always in the right place at the right time.   Well-connected in a ‘good old boy’ system.  Master manipulators.  Master Players.  Go with the Flow.  Consistently true to their core beliefs.  

And suddenly I understood this unusual water-map dream.  What skills must I embrace to get what I want and stay true to who I am?  The ultimate question, because as a project leader of the ‘water map’ team, the one that figures out all of the water routes, studies how all of the water systems and tributaries are connected, I know the dream is also about balance on a spiritual path, the ultimate conflict for me.   Yet, the dream gives me the answer right in the beginning.   I am in the waterway in my business clothes, perfectly balanced, arms outstretched, not a wave or a ripple in sight.   The water is clean, fast-moving, and I navigate the current with ease, so I have all of the information I need in this dream to handle whatever is coming in the future. 

I am anxious when I wake up, because thinking of my ‘old path’ triggers old conflicts and unresolved issues.   I am reminded of cut-throat antics, one ratting another out to gain favor, all of the ‘stuff’ of my old life in a corporate business world that never settled well with my soul, so I was happy to leave that dynamic behind. 

Yet, I am dreaming of it again, so it has some significance to me now, and I need to pay attention.   I struggle constantly with this idea I have to live in one world or the other – secular or spiritual – but not both, yet this dream is telling me I can navigate it all, if I just ‘go with the flow’, the master trait my dream characters have in common.  

They know how to navigate the system, are political experts, and always know how to ‘play the game’.  Above all, they are both ‘master players’ in a corporate, cut-throat, rat-race world.  The very one that I am getting ready to step into again, and must handle well, if I want to get the ultimate reward – the ‘cheese’. I pride myself on being ‘out there’ at times, a tried and true non-conformist, but compliance has its perks, I am reminded, especially when I am working so hard to fuel this dream.  As my dream characters demonstrate, I have long had the skill set in place to navigate intense office politics and dynamics, it is just a matter of understanding the system .   (The water map team study).  

I am still not crazy about this dream, because it taps into ancient anxiety, but perhaps in a way that will be easier for me to handle this time out.   There are positive associations to ‘rat’ that come to mind to help me here.   In truth, I am a ‘water-rat’ who thrives in water, and must always be connected to a spiritual path to grow, evolve, center, and keep flowing … 

Nonetheless, the admonition in the beginning of the dream for this old water rat to ‘be quiet’ is a piece of spiritual wisdom I really need to embrace at times ….  It is not so much about navigating the current as it is a reminder to ‘be’ still in the flow of it …