Explore Your Dreams: What Am I Doing Back in High School?

One of the recurring dreams many of us share is the one about being back in high school.  Sound familiar? ‘It was the best of times – it was the worst of times.’ Right?

Some of us actually had a good time in high school.  Many of us had a horrible time. So I guess it depends on what your experience of high school was like. But one thing is true across the boards: high school is a time when we are supposed to find ourselves and create a unique identity.  In adolescence, we leave childhood behind and move into our own unique personality.

But of course, who really does that?  Most of us stumble through high school trying to figure it all out.  And of course, that’s the gist of the meaning of these dreams.  We are still trying to figure ‘us’ out and we feel insecure about who we are and what we're feeling and doing.

The dreams are often recurring and they involve suddenly being in school and not knowing which class to go to or knowing a test is coming up and you haven’t studied for it. You might be wandering the halls, looking for your class or else you can’t figure out the combination on your locker.  In any case, these dreams are usually about being lost or confused.

So if your dream is like this, it is a comment on the fact that at this moment in your life, you are feeling as lost and confused as you felt in high school.  Nobody likes to feel clueless about how to deal with life.  But high school dreams indicate that’s the situation.  Once you recognize that, you can begin to ground yourself in your present day reality and make some grown up decisions about your life.

Now just the other day, one of my sons asked me about his dreams.  He’s been dreaming a lot about high school friends whom he hasn’t seen in years.  This is a different type of high school dream.  This son had many friends in high school, and they all did things together.  So I asked him if he had friends now who were helping him in some way.  And the answer was yes.  He’s just started a business and some of his friends are helping him market it, work it and discuss it.  So these high school dreams were very positive, because they were showing him that he doesn’t have to do this alone.  That he can depend on some friends to help him out.

High School!  Thank goodness we don’t have to repeat it.  And yet so many of us still dream about it.  When you do, it’s a sign that you probably need some help in figuring out what to do in your present day life.  There’s nothing wrong in asking for help, is there?

Until next time,

Sweet Dreams!