Bad Dream 219 -- Two Snippets

 These two snippets happened several days ago, the same night but different dreams.  Each was part of a larger dream, but the only remnants of them are these two snippets.  They have stayed with me ever since, suggesting that they were important.

SNIPPET 1  In my dream, I am driving a car.  The snippet doesn't reveal what make/model of car or where I was coming from or going to. 

As I am cruising along in the car, I look down at the gear shift ane realize that the car has a manual transmission -- with either five or six forward gears.  I am delighted to make this discovery.  I put my hand on the gearshift and mentally prepare my feet for a gear shift.  I plan to shift just because I can and not to accelerate or decelerate.  

SNIPPET 2  In my dream, I am standing up inside a house and looking out the front window.  Looking across the street, I see J. Pat Valentik standing in front of the house that's over there.  He seems to be talking to someone over there.  I get concerned but curious at the same time: if this is the J. Pat from back in those old days, I hope and pray he doesn't know I'm here, so he can continue with his life and I can continue with mine.  But maybe just maybe he's come to realize how manipulative he had been with so many people and that he's become the sensible, mature, and pleasant human being that so many people hoped he would become.    

There's a slight pause in the dream.  When it starts up again, J. Pat is in the house where I am, and his attitude and language show clearly that he hasn't changed.  He looks at me and I can see/hear/feel his mental wheels turning as he begins to talk at me.  I realize that I am vulnerable to his "plans" and that my life has just changed -- not for the better.  I start to consider how I might successfully bail out of anything he plans, asks, or feels entitled to do.

It's an interesting pairing of snippets and just writing this down helps me see how they are related and how they bring wisdom to me:  There's is a future that I can mould to my own health and the support of people aroud me -- me to them and they to me.  But I have to be aware of who I've been and the snares that remain.