Dream or Journey

 

Date: 14 October 2021	Dream State: SD
Title:  An Alternative Stockholm
Summary: I am in Stockholm. I spend the day wandering around doing touristy things  At the beginning I am at the container port seeing the huge container ships up close. Then I wander into a shopping centre with low ceilings like a converted and enclosed old market in the older part of town.  There are small cafés selling fish dishes, souvenir shops, furnishings, etc.  After that I go outside and walk along a sort of causeway to an island.  I think that it must be under water in bad weather or at especially high tide.  I see fishermen casting their lines out into the muddy water and in the distance on the right there are two naval training sailing ships like the old barques.  They are moored alongside one of the royal palaces that looks very closed.  At the end of the causeway I reach a small island. It has ark sand and a tropical feel that does not seem like the rest of Stockholm at all. People are growing tomatoes there and I see signs pointing to a small zoo which I do not get time to visit. The next day I follow exactly the same itinerary but I am with my friend Ruth and am showing her around.  We see the container ships, browse in the market like shopping centre.  Ruth is interested in the souvenirs and we also get a tour of the small fish restaurant whose new owners (two young men) are keen to show off. We head out along the causeway and the sunny light is just the same.  This time we notice that there is a party of school kids visiting the two sailing ships.  We also notice octopuses that are leaping out of the water like dolphins or fish but they are clearly octopuses of a yellowy-grey colour. Someone has left their fishing line in the water and we joke that it belongs to the Queen of Sweden.  We reach the island and step off the causeway but the junction between causeway and island is wet and we have to jump over some water and scramble up a small bank.  I go first, show Ruth how and then we set off together to visit the island.
Feelings afterwards? Intrigued about the repetition of two daysdoing much the same activities.  It is a relaxing calm dream.
Connections, associations, then and now. I went to Stockholm once and this was almost completely different. Maybe the palace and sailing ships were things I saw then.  I was watching a film with a scene in a container port the previous evening. I used to travel frequently with Ruth during several years.  We were very easy travel companions.   Could any of this play out? Yes, once we start traveling again, maybe not Stockholm or with Ruth but the type of exploring is highly likely
What would I like to know? The fish and the octopuses seem to have some meaning.  The tropical element in a non-tropical setting? Who am I guiding in my life and having a trial run so I can show them what it is like?  Are the sailing vessels important and the contrast with the container ships? Is the fact that it is Stockholm significant?
Input from others
Action plan. Draw something from this – maybe the causeway scene.
Themes and symbols Octopuses Old and new – sailing vessels vs container ships Old market transformed into new shopping centre The closed up royal place Contrast with tropical island scene
Bumper sticker Flying octopus spotted by tourists in Stockholm harbour