Dear Dream Forum:

I have not posted here before, and I have not introduced myself. I think it is proper to introduce one's self before any request for dream interpretation is made. I hope, however, this little introduction will be enough.

I have been dreaming forever, as all of you have, I am sure. As of late, I have been having very long dreams and have come to wonder at their significance. Because of this, I would love any recommendations for books or other media to help form an understanding of the interpretation and meaning of dreams.

The dream I just had last night was interesting, but I am at a loss for its meaning(s).

I was with a group of people whom I cannot recognize. We were putting on a performance, and I was in charge of some of the things that went into it, acting in the capacity of a carpenter or prop person. There was a girl whom I was with, and she could not move onto the stage because I was sitting on her gown. She was annoyed until I got off her gown to let her proceed onto stage.

After this, I remember an old high school friend named Brad, who was with his wife, coming to see me. They asked me to babysit their child, which was a little girl of two or less. She had a burn on her left eye and half of her face. She was pretty nonetheless, and I watched over her. She took a nap on my chest. Brad, however, never returned. I was left with a child, which I began to care for as if I had adopted her.

I remember trying to get rid of her because I felt that I could not care for her. But by this time, she had grown and was in kindergarten. She was learning. She was reading something in class with a little boy, and I knew I could not get rid of her. I remember feeling proud of her. The burn that looked so severe when she was so young had begun to fade. Even with the burn, she was a pretty little girl. I believe I kept caring for the girl or that was my intention at this point.

There was much more to the dream. I actually had many dreams, but all I can remember are snippets, and they wouldn’t help in any kind of understanding.

Most of the dreams I had are mysteries. I cannot imagine what they might mean. But I wonder what the significance of this little portion is.

I am not married. I do not have a girlfriend, per se. I am very much a bachelor, focused on my career. I do not have any pets, either. Because of this, I thought the dream is interesting and mysterious. Any considerations on what it might mean are very much welcomed.

Thank you.

The pioneer psychoanalyst Carl Jung posited that there is in the unconcious of each of us a contrasexual element represented in dreams by one or more characters of that sex. In a woman, this is the animus; in a man, the anima.

From your description of yourself, you are not only not in a relationship with a woman but have no strong desire to be in one; and at the outset of your dream you are preventing a woman from "playing her proper role" though, in fairness, this appears to be unintentional on your part.

Let's leave the nature/nurture debate aside and just stipulate that, since we are the product of a man and a woman, we have elements of both sexes in our makeup. What I see here is that, in concentrating on the masculine pursuit of your career to the exclusion of any love relationship, you are - or have been -unintentionally retarding and even injuring that female side of you; but even within this single dream you can see its underlying beauty and capacity to grow. (Kindergarten, after all, is a big step from babyhood.)

The best I can say right now is, keep tracking your dreams and your reactions and free associations to them. In my case, in short order that malformed female rapidly grew, in at least one aspect, into someone who is probably smarter than I am.

Ha ha ha. Thanks Bob. That cracked me up. I'm sure you are on to something, though the point is taken: The girl in the dream is key rather than what people say. I shall keep track and free flow my loose thought associations with the dream imagery, emotions, etc.

What I have come to believe is that the girl represents something that was thrust upon me in which I have to take responsibility of, despite my not wanting to. What that responsibility is, I do not know, perhaps some quality of the anima within. What I do not understand is the significance of the facial injury and the growing pride, the possible coming to love the little girl. And if it is a responsibility, what is that? Is this something only I can answer?

As far as not wanting a relationship, that is not so. I have been dating but without success; none have been girls whom I want to invest a significant amount of time in or they with me. And my ability to date, as of late, is severely limited by my career obligations.

Anyway, thanks for your great reply, Bob.

All the best!

In my case, the "responsibility" could be very easily described: Take this little girl and what she represents seriously. In one way, that's easy. You do it by those notes, associations, emotional responses. In another, of course, it's difficult since you're always up against that never-fully-pentrable language barrier between the sleeping and waking worlds.
Perhaps oversimplifying, the burn marks or malformations are the result of neglect, just as a "real" child might get burned through parental inattention. Not intentional cruelty or abuse, but inattention. As your dream begins, you're not deliberately sitting on that player's dress, you've sat on it without thinking. With the child, it's not so much that you've been given a responsibility you don't want as it is that you've been given responsibility you were unaware you had. In fact, you may well have been unable or unready to assume it until now.
Here are two greatly abbreviated stories from my own experience.
In the first, I'm walking with an attractive woman I know in waking life whom we'll call Doris. I'm visiting her in a prison and have brought presents: snack food, cigarettes, stuff that as a correctional officer (which I was at the time) I know she likes and are hard to get. Yet she's gloomy, silent; and I'm wondering, what is it she wants? It's only days or weeks later that I get the message: Let me out! I haven't done anything!
In the second, Doris has morphed into what we'll call a Mystery Lady. My Dad and I are in England, sitting in a pub, when she appears silently at our table holding the sort-of slot-topped can used in a charity drive. She extends it. The only coins I have are American, and I reach to put them in the can but she withdraws it. What's of value in your world is worthless in mine.
Where this series goes on to will probably never be told even on this forum. I'll say only that she eventually identifies herself as "Helva", and refer you to the Ann McCaffrey book, The Ship Who Sang. Glad you got a laugh - I'm always glad to give 'em - but in many ways Helva is a lot smarter than ego-Bob.
Fact is, you stand to learn a lot from this inner quest, and the sidetracks may be interesting. Check out my dream diary for another gal whose name I learned. And keep in mind when you think "responsibility": You're not being held responsible for past mistakes; you're being given responsibility to follow Socrates' madate: Know Thyself!