Lyn Leehane is a social inclusion education officer in Plymouth In the summer holidays I dreamed I had weeds growing out of the soles of my feet. In the dream I was sitting barefoot on my bed, watching TV and feeling relaxed. I looked down and there were tiny bits of weed growing out of my feet. It didn’t trouble me - it just felt bizarre.
I started pulling them, then bigger cracks appeared and the weeds just kept coming out, but it wasn’t painful. It disturbed me more after I woke up because I thought maybe it was a sign that there was something I should be worried about. But there was nothing particularly bothering me at the time and no big change in my life. My main concern was my son’s GCSE results, which weren’t as good as they could have been.
I have a lot of vivid dreams, but they often come when I am worried about something and I can usually work out what they mean. I recently had my small front garden concreted over and I had let it become covered in weeds because I knew I was having it dug up. Or maybe it was a metaphor for the grass growing under my feet.
Petruska Clarkson writes: I am impressed that Lyn is aware of the metaphorical level of dreams; that her unconsciousness may be telling her she is letting opportunities pass. She is also relating the dream to her everyday life and her small front garden. Even so, she was disturbed by the dream and concerned that there might be something else she is worried about.
She says her main concern was her son’s GCSE results. It is tempting to consider the interpretation that the “fruit of her womb”, instead of being a luscious fruit-bearing tree, may turn out to be a weed. She must remember that a weed is just a flower in the wrong place.
We could also look at this dream on another level - and give it an evolutionary perspective. However strange it may seem, humans are descended from plants - including weeds - and sometimes we forget our animal or plant selves. This dreamer could look to how she is connected to her “roots” and whether there is a way in which she could be needing to honour “nature” or her own first nature in a better way.
We often speak of second nature, suggesting that something we have learned has become automatic. One of the most important things in life is to get in touch with our first nature - who we really are. After all, the only thing you can be perfect at in life is being yourself.
Lyn Leehane and Petruska Clarkson were talking toHarvey McGavin. Send a 300-word description of your dream, with contact details and a photograph of yourself, to Jill Craven, Friday magazine, Admiral House, 66-68 East Smithfield, London E1W 1BX. Email: jill.craven@tes.co.ukPetruska Clarkson says anyone wanting to understand their dreams more fully should contact a recognised psychologist
