Tuesday, 30 November 2004

Recurring dream

I had another pool dream last night. I hate pool dreams. I dream about pools a lot. I used to work in pools. Years ago, I used to have a lot of dreams about delivering papers (I was a paperboy from year 7 to 10) but I guess the pool has taken over since I only stopped lifeguarding in 2001. The most common dream usually involves dirty water. That cleanup in the 95 season really scarred me: thick green slimy water with a 3-inch thick layer of sludge on the bottom supporting a whole ecosystem of bugs and various fungi, 55 yards long and eight lanes wide. The last dream I had about pools was of a heap of kids playing in the Mildura pool (I used to run it). The water was a milky brown colour: not clear, not clean, and only half-full (which means the filters can't be working, which means it's even dirtier than it looks). Last night may have been a turning point though: for once, the water was clear and I can't tell you what a big thing that is. It was the diving pool though, which is 5 m deep and much more scary than the lap pool. I don't think it's a metaphor for anything. I'm sure dream dictionaries say that water is a symbol for something or other in your life. For me, water symbolises water. Because I worked with it, worked in it, tested it, cleaned it, heated it, filtered it and cooled off in it when work was over. I'll concede that for me, dirty water may be indicative of some anxiety or stress, I don't believe it has any arbitrary, universal meaning and it certainly isn't an omen or harbinger of anything. I think all that is a big load of juicy poo. So what do you dream about?

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