Lola's Salon

Oh thank you, Withers. Yes, if you could just put these packages in the closet, I'll pick them up when I leave. How I love shopping in New York; such variety, selection and style. Ah, it's so good to be back in the north after the stultifying conservatism of Florida.

The crisp New York breeze follows Diane into the toasty livingroom where a fire is blazing and Lola, Stella, Peace&Love, Jespah, Trevor and Steve are in various stages of repose with remnants of brunch at their sides. Jack, the wonder dog is happily licking the plates.

Fifi, I'd just like some coffee, please, while I join my lazy friends by the fire.

Stella!! It's wonderful to see you again. Fill me in on all the latest news. After that, I want to tell all of you about some strange dreams I've been having. I know that our dreams sometimes intersect and I'll be interested to hear your dreams to see if there is a pattern to them.

Dreams.......yes. They actually represent (and this is according to Freud, and supported by recent research in neuroscience) the dreamer's wishes. Desires, born in early childhood are newly expressed throughout our lives with current friends and lovers. When these desires bring conflict, we try to disguise them, in an attempt to protect ourselves from danger and that evil feeling of anxiety. But when we're asleep, we're immobilized. We're in less danger from the possibility we might act to gratify certain forbidden wishes, so with a lessening of inhibition, desires are expressed, still disguised, but more recognizable to the dreamer than in awake consciousness. So, yes Diane, I think you're right. Often friends may have overlapping dreams because awareness of certain desires are triggered by interaction with the others. So let's see........ let's experiment. Who has been dreaming?

Then how come I keep dreaming that the tiny screws to my eyeglasses are coming undone (this is a real dream)? I know it's from anxiety, as I truly despise having to fix my glasses.

Jes,

Dreams are impossible to interpret without the dreamer's awake associations. Attempting to interpret a dream without the day residue (what happened recently in the dreamer's contemporary life) and the dreamer's thoughts about the dream is of little value. I would have to ask, for instance, why you hate so much to fix your glasses. But you may not want to go there. Off the top of my head though, I could speculate that you have some ambivalence about wanting to see something more clearly. Keep in mind though, that all this wish fulfillment and defense associated with it is unconscious. It is only through derivatives (like a dream, symptom, fantasy, etc.) that we can decern clues.........and the dream brings the unconscious processes closer to the surface of consciousness (a metaphor for several functions of brain activity.) So when the dreamer awakens, she is very likely to reinstate defenses quickly, making the meaning of the dream seem silly or in exact opposition of it's true meaning.

Hmmm. Mainly I don't like fixing my glasses because it's annoying, e. g. tiny screws, tiny screwdriver, poor lighting, etc. And this is my only pair of regular glasses (I also have prescription shades, but I can't exactly wear them to look at the PC), so I have to fix them if there's a problem. Hence, anxiety.

Stradee overhears Lola speaking of dreams and wonders what type of dream she had the prior evening. Was it prophetic, astral travel, problem solving, release, or wish? Stradee dreamt about a close relative she hadn't seen for many months. In the dream, her relative sat across from Stradee, speaking quietly, and amazingly Stradee noticed the relative was very pregnant! Quite impossible for our age group. The meeting pleasant, smiles and hugs ~ but before we began discussing the baby ~ the dream ended.

My interpretation is my relative wishes to see me, but carries questions (?)
reservations (?) or a heavy burden (?) about the meeting. One of the three, or all three possible. Prophetic maybe?

Stradee will analyze the dream by what she's experienced in the past regarding her relative. Stradee senses her relative will be calling soon.

We're most comfortable with the surface meaning of dreams during waking hours. And well we should be comfortable, otherwise living isn't much fun. Looking beyond the present day, practical explanation requires some intrapsychic risk and when a person's life is going well, that person may prefer to leave well enough alone. I can recommend it highly. There is some disguised wish in your dream, finding it would take work and involve exposure to even more anxiety, and you may well want to ignore it. But the affect of anxiety in the dream, even on waking, indicates there is something mildly pushing on you consciousness.

You're right Stradee. A dream represents more than a wish. It actually represents a method of conflict management called a compromise formation, in psychoanalytic terms. So a dream is always problem solving. It's a very important aspect of dreaming. It's one of the primary methods we have of working out solutions to the conflicts in our lives. As far as it being prophetic, I don't believe in paranormal phenomenon in the sense of something magical happening. But I think dreams can and often do represent a sense of clarvoyance in that we always know more about ourselves and the possible realities existing in the lives of our friends and intimates than we may be aware of consciously. Little hints or unexpected affects in those we are close to will trigger an alertness to something going on with that friend that he/she has not told you outright. So in this sense, dreams can be prophetic. But dreams are wonderful devises in our brains. They serve multiple functions, all at once. It's very efficient. So your dream contains wishes, conflicts and solutions in your own life as well as an awareness of something going on with your relative which has triggered this response in you. Dreams are great. I love em.

Thanks Lola! I believe dreams are a wonderful tool for solving everyday questions, and telling us about who we are and our relationship to our surroundings and the people we interact with.

I do believe in the paranormal, in that I've seen it work in my life. Precognitions of certain events, etc. during waking hours, and in dreams.

I believe we're given signs of certain events as a cushion or protection ~ difficult to explain.

Dreams are pretty cool though, I agree.

I dreamed last night that I was at the edge of a cliff. And I was pushing back, away, trying not to fall in. And then I broke away and felt free, but a bit afraid.

Simplified ~ not wishing to jump toward the unknown with both feet? Or, don't stand at the top of the stairs when your view is obstructed? Or, if you astral travel, make sure you never fall asleep at the edge of a cliff?

A release dream? Fearing a particular decision?

Stradee,

Yes to all the above. But I apologize, I fear I've taken us off course. Diane's suggestion was to see if our dreams over lapped in any way. We have Jespah's glasses dream with anxiety about having to fix her glasses and Stradee's dream about a pregnant relative who is possibly carrying a heavy burden or about to make a difficult decision and my dream about the cliff and feeling free but afraid. Any overlap so far?

Diane, you were going to tell us something?

Or, I should say,

Lola, Diane, Jespah and Stradee sit by the fireplace talking about their dreams as dusk arrives, slowly turning to night. The lights are warm and the company is good. Jeffers brings some tea and sandwiches.

Stradee, Lola, Jespah and Diane sitting by the fireplace ~ Stradee recalls a dream she had regarding her Chevy. Preparing to run errands, I dreamt
that I put the key in the ignition, and the truck wouldn't start. Weird because the truck started the day after the dream. Three days later, (with a zillion chores and errands) jumped in the truck, and the battery was dead as a doornail. No click, no nothing. The Universe has a way of slowing us down when we most need the rest. Plus, the garage offered to pick up the truck, charge the battery, and bring my Chevy home ~ a neighbor crawled
the rafters changing flourescent lighting ~ and God is good, the new light fixture bought for the house didn't electrocute me. An illuminating day.

It has been a late night. Everyone has been feeling good and conversation has been challenging. Lola waves at Jeffers and Withers by the front door as the last of the guests leave, and says, "go on for now, good night." And Fifi turns off the downstairs lights.

When Lola gets to her room, she opens her window. The one facing the park. It is quiet out side, as quiet as it gets in New York at 4 A.M. The street lamps, some shining brighter than others, light the Arch in what would be beautiful shadow if it were not for the "temporary" chain link fence surrounding it. It's temporary only in the sense that it's temporarily constructed, poles leaning in, leaving the chain link sagging in the middle between them. But the fence has been there for a long time now and she doesn't expect it to be removed anytime soon.

In a happier corner of the park, Lola can see the cement tables along the curving benches where the chess players wait everyday for a good game. It's a very pleasant place to spend an hour or so on a sunny, if nippy day.

"Maybe tomorrow morning, if the weather's good," thinks Lola, "I'll go over with my coffee and watch the guys play chess and talk to friends." Lola closes her window, turns off the lamp beside her bed and goes to sleep.

Lightwizard arrives to join in the intellectural festivities (?) (sic) and says," Sorry for the backfiring," referring to the loud noses emitted by the Wizardmobile when pulling up to the house, "I ran out of Spam and tried using Hormel Chili for fuel."

Ah, dreams. They're definitely about managing conflicts and, I bet, working out difficult or scary things in a safe manner.

But I've gotta say, I've never dreamt of spam. LW, you need to get that crate tuned up!

Well, I have to confess I also ran out of old "General Hospital" scripts and was using old "Sex and the City" scripts. Too high an octane.

Thank you Lola and Jesap ~ dreams are great!

Message today from relative ~ a happy Thanksgiving to all!!

Curled up in a big chair by the fire, Diane is dreaming in a sort of mosaic, a jumble of scenes that are disconnected.

Canadians are invading Washington, DC, insisting on a regime change, while Diane drives through the rush hour traffic without stopping. Suddenly there is New York, with a fragility she had never noticed before, stores, shopping, taxis and faces from all over the world, then Yo Yo Ma's hands. His left hand is fingering quick notes while his right hand slides the bow across the strings, making the cello sing. There are dancers in the background and the tympany crashes, a cacauphany, dissonant, abrupt--Light Wizard!!! What did you put in that thing??? I was dreaming of Yo Yo Ma's hands when your blasted WizardMobile woke me.

Seeing LW looking contrite, knowing she could never hold a grudge against him, she calls Withers to bring him something to drink, while LW makes himself comfortable next to Jespah and Stradee.

Before we forget, let's be sure to order more Spam and plenty of old General Hopspital scripts. Now that you're comfortable, please tell us where you've been?