Your Messenger message:

"Good morning, Sir Tony. I would like to consult with you a dream that is so random and weird yet felt important and meaningful at the same time.

"Nov 16, 10pm "It started with a conversation about getting in a ship for my grand uncle’s wake. I told my parents that the diamonds where there when he told his wife to kiss the huge rock as he was saying his final message. But the wife refused to believe. I know how the rock looked like specifically. I can’t imagine why they would refuse such big treasure. There was a woman who was behind us who almost caught our conversation so we had to really talk cryptically. The next thing I know is that my brother is the one lying in front of a crowd, not feeling well. I was at the backstage with my sister. We were singing Lupang Hinirang. Our mother joined us but she was out of tune. The three of us were laughing as we hear her sing. Prior to that, we started the song even before the one who is supposed to lead it started singing. We were really chuckling. "I had to pay something on the table for a 10aed pitch in with previous college-mates. I had several coins in a cup, on my table, so I gave 3 coins. I am not sure if it was 30 in total value. I had a full cup of those coins. I could have given more but decided not to since that will be an enough share for my part. It turned out that I contributed the most. I pitched in more than my part and larger than the majority. I was happy to know about that. I went about my way. "While in the crowd, there was a very stylish guy. I instantly judged that he wasn't doing well in his studies because he had so much of his focus on his clothing. I knew because he looked really fine and posh all the time. He really cared about his looks the most. I liked his style, though. "I saw another college-mate from the crowd. But the face was of another friend. He was a chef apparently busy cooking all that time. It just happened that people before him created a mess on his path and he wanted me to clear it up for him. I didn’t mind. I picked the food up and put it on the side as it wasn't my trash. It looked like a siomai. I had a pair of knife. I just had to move it to the side with it. I moved on. He, then, asked me for another favor to ask someone about being abroad. I asked the person the specific question (which I cannot remember). I told him that it wasn’t me who was asking but someone else. I told him to tell the answers directly to that same person. He refused and said that he will only tell his answers to me. I said okay then. I moved on. "Then, after this, I can’t remember the transition but I was in a ship again where I was helping someone organize some stuff for a guy on a shelf. Next thing I know, another guy was torridly kissing my neck and wanted me. There was a particular song that was playing making this scene go by in slow motion. I refused the guy, firmly stating that I am not that kind of person. He felt humiliated but made it look like he was the one rejecting me and it was my loss because he wasn’t mine, in the first place. I never looked back and just went forward saying bye and I don’t care. I don’t associate myself with his likes, I thought to myself. He moved on to another ship for another girl. I shrugged it off as if already expecting it to happen. "Moving in the opposite direction. Now, I see a very huge current in the ocean. I had two choices. It is either that I jumped to another ship (which is relatively safer since I won’t get wet in the process and it looked like a really smooth path) or worked through my way up to the stairs with raging waters. I did the latter. I was really careful with each step that I make because the stairs were made of bamboo and the water gushed in between each step. I took one step at a time until I saw a poor guy (who looked homeless) who was helping me through the process. I was hesitant, at first, as I could well do it by myself. But I still chose to grab his helping hand to show that I am grateful of his offer (besides, I do not want him to think that I refuse to hold him for the reason that he looked filthy because that was not the reason at all). "After that, it got so much easier for me to climb up. Another guy helped me again to move up to another set of stairs. As I reach the concrete ones, I felt truly grateful for choosing that path. I reached the peak. I saw two familiar looking girls who were best friends in their young age. I asked where their Ate’s where. It seems that we were friends. There, I reached a barangay which had chaotic characters in the scene (the typical chismosang kapitbahay, the teenage girl who has a fight with another teenage girl, children playing on the streets) It felt like a typical Filipino barangay. I woke up to this dream feeling inspired. The dream wasn’t anything fancy or close to fairytale but it felt magical. "As I was listening to the song after the dream, I cried as I realize that my highest self is the one conversing with me through the song. "This is the lyrics of the song "Oceans by Kenna Childs "You call me out upon the waters The great unknown Where feet may fail And there I find You in the mystery In oceans deep My faith will stand And I will call upon Your name And keep my eyes above the waves When oceans rise My soul will rest in Your embrace For I am Yours And You are mine Your grace abounds in deepest waters Your sovereign hand Will be my guide Where feet may fail and fear surrounds me You've never failed And You won't start now So I will call upon Your name And keep my eyes above the waves When oceans rise My soul will rest in Your embrace For I am Yours And You are mine, ooh, ooh, ooh You are mine, ooh, ooh, ooh Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders Let me walk upon the waters Wherever You would call me Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander And my faith will be made stronger In the presence of my Savior Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders Let me walk upon the waters Wherever You would call me Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander And my faith will be made stronger In the presence of my Savior And I will call upon Your name And keep my eyes above the waves My soul will rest in Your embrace For I am Yours And You are mine "I write to you to see perspective that I may have missed in interpreting this dream. Thank you very much for sharing your precious time."

My reply:

Hello _____!

This is another summary dream that capsulizes where you are at the moment, where you want to go, and what obstacles you need to overcome.

The dream must have been triggered by an event in your waking life, most probably within the day, and aroused your frustration about your limitations--who you are, where you are, what you are allowed to do, and what you are not allowed to do.

The sea represents your emotions, the ships or boats your traversing them. All of the male characters in your dream are personifications of your Masculine Self; I recall a few of your dreams in the past that indicated your subconscious desire to be male and have powers usually exercised by males.

Those characters are:

--a deceased granduncle, the legacy he left behind in diamonds, and the dismissal of the diamonds by fragments of your Feminine Self, who are reminding you to favor the spiritual over the material. Your Masculine Self protests; he reminds you, on the contrary, that you must always have coins in your cup.

--the stylish guy, who again emphasizes a conflict in values: he is well-dressed (materialism) but you know he is poor in his studies (spirituality).

--the chef, who has the power to feed others (material and spiritual), whom you assist, and who represents your past yearning to go abroad and make a name for yourself.

The message of the chef becomes most disturbing to you because he contains polar choices, and, it seems, you have really not made a deliberate choice. You continue to question where you are and what you have become. This brings you back to the sea of emotions and to ships or boats. The next male character who makes an entrance places yet another obstacle from making a rational choice; he is physical passion. In the dream, you reject him, for physical passion is yet another factor that brings you farther from spirituality. This creates an anxiety situation, and you are presented with two paths: to take the safe path or to take the path with risks. You choose to take the path with risks, and two more characters representing your Masculine Self emerge: a poor young man who extends his hand to assist you, and the second finally bringing you to concrete steps and to the reality of your context in your community.

My advice is to never look back at the past and its broken dreams. All of those were simply part of your lifetime journey. You chose to get married rather than be a career woman. That is where you are, but where you are is also where you can be the best of what you can be. Value that role and know that it is not only good enough--it is where true spirituality is, and that is what the song is telling you, for Allah is neither here nor abroad. He is in your heart.