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Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Analyzing Stolen Purse Dream


I had my recurring dream about losing my purse again. It is always such a bad dream because not only have I had my money and credit cards stolen, but also my identification. The latest dream occurred Sunday night. (Technically, early Monday morning.) It went something like this:
I was in a movie theater sitting in a short row by myself. A man came in and sat one seat away from me. Then a friend of his came in and sat next to me. I decided to move, but forgot my purse which I had set on the floor by my feet. (In the dream my purse was a dark green suede rather than the smooth olive green one I currently use. (I'm not sure that is significant except that I gave my daughter the dark green suede one some time ago.)
When I realized I had left my purse I went back to the row behind the two men and saw them going through my purse. I reached over and took back my purse and contents and then moved several rows back. When the movie was over I once again realized my purse was gone. I had no money, no cell phone, no car keys. I had to walk several blocks to the police station where I tried to report my stolen purse. The only people working were cafeteria employees who told me all the cops were at a party. I opened the door to the squad room and barged into their party, but they were all too drunk to help me. (Significance? No one could help me, not even the authorities?) I was going to walk back to my car but then realized that even if I did, I didn't have keys to open the door or start the car. I awoke with an awful feeling of helplessness and loss as well as a feeling of relief - it was only a dream.


As I tried to analyze why I had this recurring dream again - indeed, why I keep having this same lost/stolen purse dream - I thought about what I had been doing the day before. We had gone to a granddaughter's home for a surprise birthday party for her step-mom. I had my purse with me which I quit carrying on a regular basis just because I had been having those dreams about losing it. It was going to be a good time made even better because I would get to see great-granddaughter Lily whom I hadn't seen for six months.


One of the analyses of a lost purse dream is the fear that you've lost or are in danger of losing your identity. When I applied that to my feelings about seeing my grandchildren and two of the great-grandchildren the day before, I began to see what my dream meant: There was a time in my life when those grandkids were little that I was a very important part of their lives. Now that they are grown with families, jobs and responsibilities of their own, I am not a big part of their lives any more. And those little ones - the great grandchildren, Lily and Rodney, Ridge and the expected new one - I will be even less a part of their lives.


I will be a picture they look at and wonder who the old woman in the photo with them is. No wonder I had another recurring dream about losing my identity. I am afraid of not being someone memorable in their lives.


The recurring dreams about losing my purse prompted me to quit carrying it, instead putting my driver's license, debit card, medical cards and one credit card in this little 3"x 4" coin purse which I can slip in my pocket and am less likely to lose. (Ironically I did really lose this a couple weeks ago but luckily found it on the floor of my car after a tense half-hour of searching.)
In my dream, this is what I grabbed out of the hands of the two guys in the movie theater - even this little bit of my remaining identity was being stolen.
Now that I've analyzed what these dreams mean, I wonder if I'll quit having them. Do other people my age have dreams about losing their identities?

1 comment:

  1. Yes, I dream the same dreams all the time, lately every other night about loosing my cell phone and my car.....



    I am 71 yo with five kids and five grandchildren.
    I think about them and visit often. I have daughter in Florida that I do not get to see and she never calls.
    Andrea

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