I am at my ex's office (I used to work there as well). A portion of the office space has been cordoned off as a training space or an office for someone I can't really make out. There is a cubicle fitted with a phone and the yellow pages are there (Note: This office is a telemarketing outfit and we used to generate appointments for the sales staff through the yellow pages). I have been told to train another girl on how to create appointments for the sales staff. So I pick up a number from the yellow pages, dial it and generate an appointment. CM is there too and at some stage in the dream I notice myself sitting on his lap. I remember thinking to myself in the dream as well that I am sitting on his lap. I think I apologise to him for that. I am not sure however, where in the dream do I find myself sitting on his lap. Anyhow, after making the appointment, I tell him to put it up on the board that an appointment has been generated. I try to make a few more but am unsuccessful and there is a momentary sense of frustration that I can't generate any appointments (Note: I used to feel the same sense of frustration when I couldn't generate appointments in reality). CM is sitting with me and we are talking to each other. We are in close proximity to each other so that each time i move, I land up touching his arm. I notice my hand on his arm and I consciously move my hand down his arm and he gets really angry with me about that. And then I wake up ... Wonder what that means?

I think that generating an appointment refers to making something happen in your life. So you're feeling frustrated because you want to make something happen, but you can't. CM's getting angry with you when you try to move your hand down his arm also symbolizes frustration about something. I think your being in a training space has to do with the idea that you can learn from your experiences in life, so even though you feel frustrated now, if you think about what you are doing and what is happening in your life, and try to learn from it, you might succeed at your goal.

Dear Maria,

Thank you once again for the dream interpretation. On the surface it does seem like I am reliving or reminiscing about the times past but I feel my dreams are also trying to tell me something more. The frequency and the common themes that keep playing up again and again are perhaps what needs to be looked into in greater detail. The telephone, communication, sense of frustration are some of the common themes but among all of them there is always some dream symbol which indicates a success after hard work. Perseverence pays off. Lets hope it does. Thanks once again.

Cheers,
Pooja.

Hi again,

Have been pondering about something. When you analyse dreams, what sort of dream symbols would you search for? Of course, each and everything in the dream can be understood to be a symbol. Would what you do in normal life be considered a dream symbol or would they be what is different from normal? For example, lets take the following dream:

I am at my ex's'office (I used to work there as well). A portion of the office space has been cordoned off as a training space or an office for someone I can't really make out. There is a cubicle fitted with a phone and the yellow pages are there (Note: This office is a telemarketing outfit and we used to generate appointments for the sales staff through the yellow pages). I have been told to train another girl on how to create appointments for the sales staff. So I pick up a number from the yellow pages, dial it and generate an appointment. My ex is there too and at some stage in the dream I notice myself sitting on his lap. I remember thinking to myself in the dream as well that I am sitting on his lap. I think I apologise to him for that but not sure if he says its okay, I think he does. I am not sure however, where in the dream do I find myself sitting on his lap. Anyhow, after making the appointment, I tell him to put it up on the board that an appointment has been generated. I see a white board with stuff written on it with red marker (but it's not written in the format it used to be written at work, it looks different, maybe there are fewer people at work, about 4 maybe and its written in blue). He writes it up on the board. I try to make a few more but am unsuccessful and there is a momentary sense of frustration that I can't generate any appointments (Note: I used to feel the same sense of frustration when I couldn't generate appointments in reality). My ex is sitting with me and we are talking to each other. We are in close proximity to each other so that each time I move, I land up touching his arm. I notice my hand on his arm and I consciously move my hand down his arm and he gets angry with me about that. And then I wake up ...

From where I see it, the dream symbols include: me sitting in his lap, noticing his left arm (though it felt like my right arm when I woke up, maybe just a sense of the side of my body indicating the arm since I was facing him, it would be his left arm), touching his arm, him getting angry and possibly telephone (that is a common theme in almost all my dreams about him), writing on the board with a red marker.

From another perspective, one could perceive generating appointments as a dream symbol however, that was my role at the workplace in real life. Would generating appointments still be considered a dream symbol?

Hope someone can help answer my question.

Cheers,
Pooja.

I think the general situation of the dream and the general feeling you have in it is more important than individual objects or actions that take place. Which parts seem more important is basically intuitive, the parts that jump out at you.