Last night, after adding another 1400 or so words to my novel, I picked up my A.R.T. homework.  After answering the last of the questions which simply required an understanding of the reading, I turned to those which required some action on my part. 

The first one required me to get totally relaxed, then pass a miniature me through my body, looking at organs, digestive system, muscles, etc.  Despite the fact that I sat on the sofa (with the recliner of course so my feet were elevated) instead of laying on the bed as suggested, between all of the snuggling kitties (one rarely sits on a sofa or bed without them in my house!) who are sure to arrive for any energy work session anyway, and just the feeling of utter relaxation, it wasn’t long before I was asleep, having gotten no further than relaxing all of the muscles, traveling up and down my arms and legs and starting down my throat to address the clump of mucus which was causing my voice to go into that pre-cold sexy range. 

The next thing I know, I’m waking up with Toby snuggled beside me, Scooby behind my head and Munchkin on my lap.  Loki was still in the bathroom where I’d left her with a bowl of wet food after getting her meds, or she would have joined the party too. 

After cleaning up the few things in the kitchen and turning off lights, I decided to make it an early night (it was only 11:00!) since I was already so relaxed.  Let me tell you, this was a very bad idea!!!

For reasons beyond my comprehension, my subconscious decided to unleash a series of increasingly disturbing dreams upon my relaxed and defenseless self. 

The earliest ones are bare glimmers of memory now, but involved murder, mayhem and several kill or be killed scenarios.  But the one shortly before I woke to begin my day was quite bizarre.

I walked into some kind of inn or rooming house, and as I was entering a man was slipping out the door.  He was vaguely familiar in a disturbing sort of way, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on why. 

In the dream, I was probably early 20’s and just starting out on my own, surrounded by other young women like me.  Although this seemed to take place at an earlier time in history, in a rather old-fashioned town which could have been in Europe or perhaps the East Coast of the United States, though it wasn’t any place I recognized. 

Throughout the dream, I found myself in rather odd situations.  One involved the women’s restroom in the inn which offered no privacy for anyone using the facilities.  While I was using the restroom, a diminutive man with rather sneaky eyes came in and started sweeping non-existent dirt into a dust bin with a long handle.  I felt like I should report him to the management but noticed that the other women thought nothing of his being there, so I kept it to myself, despite being very creeped out.

Later, I found out why the man I saw while entering the inn looked familiar.  He was the valet for a man I had apparently met before coming to this city.  The man had a very high opinion of himself and could not understand why his attentions were not appreciated by me or any of the other women he approached. 

The scene changed and it seemed I’d been abducted by the creepy man and brought to his employer in an apartment in another part of the city.  Going through a pile of books, he asked me what I wanted to read.  Not understanding what it was he wanted, I picked a book, then opened my purse to surreptitiously check the time on my cell phone.  Although it was an older style flip model, it didn’t really fit the time period and even my dream self found it strange.

Shortly thereafter, two other women appeared in this apartment, and it wasn’t long before we made our escape.  Unfortunately, we found ourselves in an unfamiliar part of the city and were kind of running around in circles trying to figure out how to get back to the inn before he discovered we were gone.  The three of us had different ideas of which direction to go and how to find our way back.  Although we asked a man who seemed to be some kind of constable, his instructions didn’t make sense to us.  When I woke up, we were standing in front of an ancient stone building, arguing over which direction we should take.

And I’ve yet to complete the microscopic tour of myself!

My gratitudes today are:
1. I am grateful that I woke from that craziness feeling well-rested and ready to start my day.
2. I am grateful for dreams which make me go “hmmm” because, eventually, I’ll get the message they were trying to impart.
3. I am grateful for my A.R.T. training which allows me to send some healing when friends or family are hurting.
4. I am grateful to be closing in on the end of the first of 4 weeks left of full-time work in someone else’s office.
5. I am grateful for time to write, contemplate and plan.

Love and light.