Dream of the Week: Looking for Bailey

⚡️ I'm lying awake in bed counting breaths and honing in on my recently discovered gazing method. Before long, I know that I have fallen asleep as I can hear the faint buzzing sounds that often come with a WILD (Waking Induced Lucid Dream). During this transition, I try to get up in my sleep. Meaning, even though I know that I'm sleeping, I try to move. In thinking about sitting up, I seem to dream of sitting up and hear Sam ask me what I'm doing (but of course, he and I are asleep). Then, I really do rise up out of bed, at first in a sitting position, and then I feel a sensation of being pulled up to the ceiling.

I am fully lucid and aware, and I continue to get pulled through the bedroom wall. I let the dream fly me wherever it wants me to be, and I float down the hall and out of the front door. Once outside of my apartment, I seem to gain control of myself again and fly forward. I am very high in the sky, soaring over generic neighborhoods. It starts at night, but in some ways, it's also day. As I'm flying, I turn around and fly upside down so that my back faces the ground. I do this for a little while before thinking that I ought to set my intention. I know exactly what I want to do.

I turn my body toward the ground again. As I am flying, I call out to the dream that I want to find Bailey. I continue flying for a little while longer until I land (or perhaps more accurately - I am dropped off) in a neighborhood on a sunny afternoon. It doesn't look exactly like my childhood neighborhood, but that is absolutely where I am. The familiarity is so striking. Excited, I know that if I make my way to my parents' house, I'll find Bailey there. I call again to the dream that I'm looking for Bailey. I start walking, slowly at first, carefully observing the scene around me. I'm walking on a sidewalk around a familiar corner, and I look to one to the house's backyards. I notice some unusual things back there, so I decide to follow my curiosity into the yard. As I'm walking up the driveway toward, I see a 2ft tall plastic statue of the Virgin Mary (note: I am not religious) wobbling down a hill on a skateboard. I consider this for a moment and laugh. The wobbling is so silly, and I'm not a religious person. I continue towards the backyard, and the sense of the neighborhood falls away. I'm in a mixed landscape of rolling hills and a mini forest. It's actually not too far from a large park that's right next to my family neighborhood in real life.

There are three wooden bench/swings back here. The benches are full of stuff - Things like bouncy balls, colorful wooden bird carvings, and unusual musical instruments. I approach one of the benches and wonder what kind of musical instruments they are. One is kind of a cylinder metal thing, perhaps like a three-dimensional, silver oval cymbal. The other branches have other types of unusual musical instruments that I've never seen before. I push one of the metal cylinders, and it makes strange musical sounds as it tumbles off the bench. It's all so very delightful. I remember my intent and walked toward another rolling hill. To my right, in the far distance, I see a tiny sailboat sailing over the green hills. I smile at the sailboat on the "grassy seas," wondering if there's any water over there that I can't see. With that thought, a little lake appears just nearby the sailboat as if to say "I hear you, here's some water." I tell the dream again that I'm looking for Bailey and continue on walking down a grassy hill.

I notice a wooden structure in the grass and decide to go there. As I walk, I see a tuft of brown and white hair, as if it could be Bailey but I don't know what it is. As I get closer, a cloud of bright white dry ice covers the ground. It's not ominous in any way. I am closer to the fur, and it seems as though it's a collie, perhaps stuffed, as I never get a full image of it. I do not understand it to be Bailey or any representation of her, and I'm a little letdown. I call out to the dream again that I'm looking for Bailey. Immediately, I'm down on my hands and knees in the grass. There's no transition from standing to being in the grass. I'm near the collie and the smoke, but I'm on my hands and knees now. I am there for a moment thinking about what I will do now when I realize I can no longer move. I'm stuck here on all fours for a little while longer, and I wake up.

Quick Reflection:

• Bailey is my family dog that we’ve have for 17 years - she died this week.

• It was my goal to go find her in this dream - it was nice to have the agency to remember this goal.

Note: Dreaming can be a positive way to deal with grief with the appropriate mindset.

Weekly Stats: