I had a conversation with a lab rat in my dream last night. I was also the rat. The lab rat was voluntarily subjecting herself to experiments. She wore a lab coat and being an experimental rat was her job.
Me: Why do you let them do this to you?
Rat: Do humans not volunteer their bodies to science experiments?
Me: Well, yes… but usually for money
Rat: I am compensated
Me: You are?
Rat: Yes. Every morning, I wake up and realise that the new day has requested my presence in it.
Me: Would you not get that anyway?
Rat: The work that I do makes it all the more significant.
Is that not weird? I am not one to analyse my own dreams, but what do you make of this?
This is a very Zen dream.
It’s so self-reflective, and the image of a lab rat who is a fully self-aware active participant in her day-to-day maze-running. Kind of a metaphor for how you live your life, I would suppose.
I also think it would make a kick-ass short story.
A metaphor… yeah. Maybe it means that it’s significant that I manage to wake up in a new day after all my maze-running. Or, maybe it means that I need to think differently about compensation and how I value it!
I will not get around to a writing a short story about it – have at it!
Dreams are completely incomprehensible to me. In mine people I love are always in some kind of trouble and I can never get to them in time. It makes waking up a relief,though!!
I love the “a new day has requested my presence in it” part. Definitely a new perspective!
You come up with the coolest stuff…
As an aside. I wonder how many of your readers dream in colour?
That was my favourite part too – maybe I need to rethink how I value compensation…
Honestly I’m not sure, but I think the lesson has to do with how you are feeling about your own daily contributions. Interpreting dreams has never been my thing. Sometimes I interpret the emotions behind mine, because the imagery doesn’t usually stay with me, but the feelings associated with them can hang on for a long time. How did this one make you feel?
I felt like she was trying to tell/teach me something, I didn’t come away feeling an emotion about it.
Interesting about my daily contributions… hmm…
That is awesome. It is a very self-aware rat. On another tangent, we as moms are not “compensated” but every day requests our presence. To be aware of the importance of the work we’re doing, the “maze we’re running”, is very uplifting.
I am really curious to see if she visits my dreams again!
It was a very peaceful dream. I think there is a lesson in gratitude in there somewhere. We generally take the new day for granted – gotta appreciate being invited to stay another new day.
There is a lesson in there somewhere. And I agree with an earlier comment, that it would make one heck of a story!
Very Freudian don’t you think? Your blog is adorable. I love the title.
Mary