Yume Be Right (I May Be Crazy)

by Julie Coulter Bellon

**(Yume is the Japanese word for dream. Thanks to Meredith for the title idea today.)


I think most of us are familiar with the Bible story of Joseph interpreting the dream of Pharaoh’s butler and baker while in prison. As a young girl I often wondered how the butler and the baker, and even the Pharaoh, knew which dreams actually meant something and were worthy of interpretation as compared to just a random bizarre dream. I mean, my dreams seem so real, but very random, and I don’t necessarily think that they’re worthy of interpretation or mean anything half the time.

For example, I had a dream the other night about being introduced to Annette Lyon’s father. In my dream, he was a tugboat captain in Denmark and was proudly showing us around his boat. At the bottom of his boat he had two years worth of food storage stacked in boxes. It was impressive. While we were touring the boat, however, a storm came up and we were being rocked pretty hard. Annette’s father was telling us to throw all the food storage overboard, as the boat was sinking and he was trying to make it lighter. So we all bent to the task and began throwing the food storage overboard. I was standing on the sinking ship, watching the food storage boxes floating in the water and thinking what a waste it was. Then I woke up.

Now, for one thing I’m pretty sure that LDS author Annette Lyon’s father is not a tugboat captain in Denmark. I think he’s a temple president somewhere though. I have no idea why I’d be dreaming about food storage and boats and Annette Lyon’s father. But the entire dream stuck with me. So I thought I’d get my own dream interpreted and turned to the internet. Did you know there are 2,150,000 website on dream interpretation? It turned out to be quite interesting.

For instance, I learned that dreams help you discover your true self. Perhaps all along my self-conscious has thought that food storage wouldn’t last long at my house. Or maybe I secretly wanted to be given a tour of a tugboat. But, then, according to dream interpreters, I learned that if you dream that you are in or see a boat, that signifies your ability to cope with and express your emotions. The dream interpreter also told me that to see food in my dream, represents physical and emotional nourishment and energies. Although it qualified it by saying that to dream that I am hoarding or storing food, indicates a fear of deprivation. I do not trust what I already have. So apparently I’m either looking at or feeling like someone who is emotional and fearful of deprivation. Or I’m throwing those feelings or energy away. Hmmmm…. This could get really deep.

I think if I was going to try to dream about stuff, I would try to dream about timber. Because if you have timber in your dream that symbolizes prosperity and tranquility. Toasters are a good thing to dream about, too, because that means you are quick-witted and quick-thinking. I also would like to dream about books because that symbolizes calmness, knowledge, intellect, and wisdom. I'm sure Kerry dreams about books all the time. Maybe if I dreamed about it, my book could be in a toaster to combine the two or something. I don't think I want to dream about writing, though, because dreaming about writing supposedly symbolizes a mistake you have made. Then again, I wonder what having a writer's father in my dream means. Was it was a mistake not to have read Annette's new book yet? I’m not sure. Maybe if I’d dreamed about a telegram and gotten whatever my subconscious was trying to tell me, I’d know what it really meant. But whatever it was, I think I’m going to stay away from Danish tugboat captains with food storage in their boats. For now, at least.