On So Many Levels
Level of Lucidity: N/A Level of Cohesiveness:
Lucid Intent? No
This dream has been viewed 4195 times.
I was going to get my teeth cleaned, apparently. I think there was more to the beginning of this but I forget. The dentist was in this strange building...all sorts of stairs and levels, going around and around at 90-degree angles. Just all over. All in wood, light golden grain. Lots of people, especially well-dressed women (like businesswomen), around too. I guess I walked around and around and up and up all these stairs and over landings and levels. Hard to describe. Lots of these people were waiting for the same thing. I think I sought out a restroom and had to wait because of all the other women. I can't remember if I went or not. I left and went around and around...it's odd, because these stairs went up, but there wasn't a huge increase in height, that I can tell. I guess the stairs weren't very steep. Lots of them, though. The bannisters and levels were in wood but I think the steps were carpeted, and enclosed in dimly but warmly lit hallways at first; as I got toward where I was going they had an open top and upper sides and seemed to be above a large room, like balconies or something, but I didn't really notice it at first.
I got to the level where the dentist was and I think she was there at first but then she left and another woman, a little older and heavier set, took her place, cleaning somebody's teeth. The first dentist, if in fact I saw her, was one of the well-dressed businesswoman types; lots of bobbed hair, about shoulder length and sandy colored, on these women. (At least, that's the waking impression I get; I could be wrong.) I halted and hesitated. I hated the thought of breaking an appointment because who knew when I'd get the chance again to get my teeth cleaned? I felt it wasn't entirely my decision to make because surely my mother, who had likely set up the appointment, would be angry to find I had cancelled. But that was exactly what I did. I turned and walked away before the dentist could see me. I just felt too uncomfortable with this "replacement dentist" seeing my bad teeth. I felt she would judge me the way the old dentist, who already knew my teeth, wouldn't. This is one reason why I would hate seeing my old dentist in real life; how disappointed would he be? -_-
So, I turned and left the dentist without her noticing I had been there, and went walking along the levels and steps, seeking a way to go. I wasn't terribly anxious anymore, just neutral. I wrote down "go back up levels," so perhaps I was going up? I had been going up to start with. :/ In any case, I wasn't sure where to go now. I just kept wandering around and came to this level/landing overlooking this big room like a waiting room for children below. White walls, colorful kiddie decorations, carpeting I think, all sorts of stuff to keep people busy. It was quite big but most of all the ceiling was VERY high to accommodate the landings/levels. I stepped to the edge and considered how to get down. I would have to jump off into the room below. This didn't terrify me in the dream like it usually does, and like it would in real life. There was a wooden crib or cradle or some such below me which would help break my fall. The perspective was skewed because it was a LONG drop but this thing seemed to be right below me, maybe like it was stacked on top of something, though when I landed I got no impression of it being this way. *shrug* This is also kind of confusing because it seemed to be both in this crib, and elsewhere, kind of off to the side as I was winding my way around on the landings, that I saw at least one magazine and maybe more. I seemed to see it in the crib and then while climbing down, which I don't recall doing, so... :/ At least one was either about or had a cover article about some sort of Native American Indian tribe either in California or in the Northwest. The title on the cover said something like, "Where The ___ Came From," and the article was about their origins. It was a tribe name I recognized in the dream but I had never been interested in it because it was a Northwest (?) tribe and I'm interested in the Northeast Woodland tribes. Still, it caught my attention a bit. It might have been a made-up tribe name (maybe something with an A, an N, some S's, like Aniss or something), or else Haida. I just looked up "Haida" and it is in fact a Northwest tribe. I have never actively studied a thing about them, though I might have learned a bit in anthropology class years ago.
I was mildly interested in the magazine but decided to leave it. I had an odd feeling but I can't recall what it was. Disgust that the mag had been handled by other people? Regret that it was geared toward natives and I wasn't one myself? Unsure. I jumped down from the landing and into the room below. I don't remember if I landed on the edge of the crib or on the floor but I landed on my feet and stood up and started walking. The room was cluttered like a messy kid's room and at some point I turned back and saw at least two or three little red pills on the floor. Curious, I moved closer to peer at them. They were ruby red and shiny, looking like cough drops that had been sucked and then dropped to stick to the floor...ick. At first they had been like capsules with the little balls in them, the kind of pills they don't make anymore because they were too easy to tamper with; then they were just fluid caplets, like cold pills. Just lying on the floor. o_o I touched my finger against one for some reason and it stuck to my finger. Blech. I stood up and tried shaking it off but it didn't come off. Quickly growing alarmed and disgusted, I tried pulling on it, but it was stuck fast! :( Ewww!! I glanced around myself and spotted a metal sink (like the kinds we had in elementary school classes)--it was to my right when my back was to the landing, and set against the wall--and hurried to it. I turned on the water to wash the pill off and this helped do the trick, though it's also kind of like the pill just fell off right when I turned on the water. In any case, I was finally freed of it. *whew* I sighed in relief as I turned away from the sink and looked around the room; the pill had left a little bit of residue on the tip of my finger (it was on my right hand), like superglue tends to do, but I could live with that. I might have had the thought to report the pills to somebody so no kid would eat them or something, but if I did I resolved to do that later. I had other things to do now.
I crossed the room and must have gone out a door. Now there were more steps/levels/landings, and I was going down them. It was outside, lots of green trees around, sunny and nice; lots of people out here, lounging and walking around, drinking, chattering cheerily like it was a party or barbecue. I seem to recall in particular an attractive young woman with curly dark blond hair tied up maybe in a bun with tendrils dangling around her face. I think I had been humming it earlier, when still inside, but I hummed even more now. It's like I was making elevator music, and the song I had chosen to portray was "Kaya Kakooya" by Adiemus. O_o It didn't sound like that at first but that's what I resolved it into. (The real song is very light and chirpy, like cabana music--it literally sounds like there's a cricket chirping in it--and has childlike women's voices singing, "Kakaya kooya! Kakaya kooya!" as well as other made-up words. Adiemus specializes in this. It's from their third album, Dances Of Time.) In my head--and possibly for the rest of the people--it was this song transformed into cheesy elevator music but it was kind of funny; the elevator music was kind of hissy/staticky/muffled, but maybe on purpose. I hopped my way down the steps and as I came down to the ground level, which was paved with slate or shale or something, I spotted at least a couple of people off to my right, maybe at a tiny table wedged right in the corner of this little ground space (it was enclosed on the sides, like a little roundish area before the doorway inside), and a VERY tiny chipmunk on the ground right before me, gathering food (though I didn't see any food). This rodent was so very tiny, only three or so inches long; remarkably small. I paused in my descent because I wondered if I should keep going and scare it off unintentionally; I might have said this aloud, for the benefit of the couple to my right (they were below me and before me also since I was still on the steps). I didn't want to scare it off because it was so cute; its back was to me. Still, I had to get down, so I continued and I think the chipmunk ran off. I paced across the little area and pushed or pulled open the door and went inside the big stylish wood-and-glass building before me.
It was the UAW Family Education Center where my dad works, which pops up so often in my dreams. I was now roleplaying a bit that I was my character Det. Max Kristeva though this didn't really come into play just yet. There were lots of younger people now, like elementary or junior high students, wandering around in groups and chattering. I started going down one hallway but then paused and glanced toward a hallway visible to my left. Either they were entirely windowed (as many halls there are in real life), or else I could just see through them. I think they were both windowed at first, which makes more sense. I had been going down the righthand hallway, which was level. The lefthand hallway had little sets of steps in it and I wanted to take it more, so I could hop up the steps, which to me would be more fun. I turned back and started to head for the lefthand hallway.
I paused though before I reached the door--which instead of regular handles had giant metal foot impressions, just like some of the hallway doors at the real UAW--they are foot impressions of Walter P. Reuther. ^_^ Yes, they are really there. He had big feet. *LOL* Anyway, I sensed that the lefthand hallway was locked, and I would probably need to ask permission to enter it...and I didn't even know if I was allowed to just wander wherever I wanted. I was a bit disappointed because I wanted to go that way but I decided not to chance it even if I was wrong. I don't think I ever actually tested the door. I went back into the righthand hallway and kept going. Again, it was all trees and green and sunny outside, like summer; the two halls were beside each other but parted at a slight angle so the further along I walked in this hall, the further away I grew from the other hall. As far as I know the hallways aren't laid out like that at the UAW, but the interior design of them was quite realistic--the windows and footprint doors and everything. The only real differences are that the steps in the hallways are occasional and don't go along the whole length of it, and I think the material making up the floor was different--there are some carpeted hallways and some stone-paved hallways at the UAW, but these ones might have been of the same shale or slate as outside in the dream. I don't think the ones at the UAW are like that. I can't be sure either way though.
Eventually my hallway's windows vanished and it became strictly an interior hallway, carpeted now, probably with sisal on the walls (like in real life). It was dim in here, almost dark; the hallway might have sloped downward. I kept passing posters on the righthand wall and they always seemed similar--they had a cartoony smiley face with big eyes on them, maybe done in red marker, and some writing. I ignored them at first and kept passing also groups of young people. I was pretending to be my character Kristeva and I was investigating something, just walking along casually. There were numerous doorways along the walls and I felt I was nearing the gymnasium or pool room or some sort of boiler room area, though probably the former. I finally stopped and backtracked a bit to look at one of the posters. At first I thought it said something like, "30% off gas for UAW employees," and that lifted my spirits. Then I read further and it was kind of convoluted but they were in fact flyers for a meeting or a vote to be held by employees, maybe a "referendum"?--regarding taking 30% off gas prices. So it was STILL somewhat good news, but there was a lot of negotiation and smoothing things out involved, and who knew if they would vote in favor or be able to pass it even if they did or if my own family would be affected. -_- So my hopes were deflated somewhat and I sighed. I was pretending to be Kristeva for some reason and I was musing over something relating to my case.
Some real-life associations, off the top of my head...
Steps/levels: Something I've probably dreamed about numerous times before, but they were oddly emphasized all throughout this dream. My usually present acrophobia was missing in this dream. The wooden aspect was usual. They were quite convoluted. If they indicated difficulty reaching somewhere, I wasn't terribly anxious about it, just a bit inconvenienced.
Professional women: There were so many of them around that they obviously represented something! I just don't know what. :/ Perhaps issues regarding my wish that I could get a paying job, yet I have no skills?
Dentist: I would LIKE to visit a dentist, as my teeth are so bad, and one has been hurting me lately; but we can't afford it. I would be embarrassed by my old dentist seeing my teeth now. :( Maybe a reference to money troubles?
Cold pills: I recently heard about cold medications being moved behind the counter and requiring ID for purchase so kids can't make meth with them. Based on them containing fluid I'm pretty sure these were cold pills in my dream. The fact that I associated them with used cough drops seems to further indicate this. Maybe a reference to the coming winter?
Stuck to my finger: In real life on my LEFT hand, middle finger, there's a little patch of skin that is like tough scar tissue; it feels just like when you get some superglue stuck to you and it won't peel off immediately. I don't know how my fingertip got like this and it's annoying; it won't go away, no matter how often I pull the tough skin off. :( I can only guess that maybe I splashed scalding water on my hand once and it scarred over? I sometimes splash myself a bit when cooking with my pan, but I never noticed anything bad enough to form a scar. :/
"Kaya Kakooya": No real clue. I don't know if the crickety sound of the song was emphasized in my dream, or omitted entirely. If it was present, then perhaps this has something to do with me looking for crickets every day when I go outside, just to see if they're still there or have died off for the winter. I miss their song at night already. :( Maybe another winter reference?
Tiny chipmunk: We get chipmunks on our porch eating birdseed every morning. I took pictures of one the day before the dream. They are all normal sized whereas the dream one was remarkably tiny. Another possible winter reference? Perhaps a reference to shortages?
The UAW: Where my dad works; this pops up in my dreams frequently, especially its long glass-enclosed hallways. Reference to my dad's employment and by association, money?
Steps: I don't know why I was so jazzed about wanting to take the hallway steps and then disappointed when I couldn't. Perhaps I wanted to hop up and down them like on the levels. Steps are a recurring image in my dreams. I felt childlike in wanting to do that, plus I was surrounded by children. When I was little I always wanted to explore the UAW. Reference to wistfulness for youth, when money issues were not bad and I didn't worry so much?
Two hallways: The one with the steps seemed to be the more "fun" choice; it was inaccessible to me, either due to outside forces (being locked/off limits) or due to my own anxiety (not wanting to get in trouble); I had to take the less-fun hallway which led to the gas signs. Reference to an unfun choice?
"30% off gas": In Michigan, gas prices this winter are set to go up 50%, and electricity is going up too. -_- This has me terribly anxious because we can hardly afford things as they are! I feel very angry that our government's and economy's response to this shortage is to punish the lower and middle classes by charging more, rather than by making the upper class and sports people (like Nascar) use LESS. How is it helping the shortage any by making the people who REALLY need the gas to heat their homes and get to work have to pay money they can't afford, while rich people can still afford and guzzle as much as they want, and there are sports stars being PAID to drive around and around and around and waste enormous quantities of the stuff on TV?? I don't think we're going to make it this winter without numerous shutoffs; already at the moment the cable, gas, car payment, and Internet bills are due, and we haven't even been hit with the bad stuff yet. I can't stop worrying about this. We've turned down our thermostat but it's not nearly enough, and we can't afford to take any other measures. And the temperature just keeps dropping. -_- My dad lately got angry with me for turning the thermostat down even FURTHER, and told me not to a few days before the dream. I decided to disobey and turn it down once he was gone for work. When I awoke after this dream I was very anxious that he would start yelling at me for turning it down, but he never mentioned it.
So overall, the dream seems to point at money issues regarding the coming winter and cold, though I'm not sure about a lot of the aspects, like the levels, and the song and me being Kristeva and such.
