Dream
The psyche can generate any image it wants to communicate to the dreamer. Why send one image instead of another? “The answer —- specific images bring with them an energy which contains a transformative potential. The transformative energy is expressed by these images and no others” (Kaufmann, 1996, p. 4).
A woman dreams she is taking a trip in a small rowboat on the open ocean. This gives us a very specific piece of information to begin to understanding the dream.
Understanding the dream
Questions to explore—— What is a trip? —— What is a rowboat?
A trip is a journey from one place to another, which usually includes a return. A rowboat is a watercraft propelled by oars. If it is small, it can be powered by a single rower and it would usually be found on smaller bodies of water.
As the dream unfolds, the dreamer finds herself in a small rowboat on the open rough ocean. While historically, it is true that people have been able to accomplish amazing feats using a rowboat and able to cover great distances on the open ocean. However, in 2022 the choice of a rowboat for an ocean trip is questionable at best, especially when there are other water-crafts that would be safer and more appropriate choices.
This information indicates that there is in all likelihood something in the dreamer’s life that is non-adaptive. She is using the wrong mode of transportation.
The context into which the image, a rowboat, has been placed in the dream does not change the OBJECTIVE nature of the rowboat, but it does affect how the image is understood.
Now if the dreamer were to find herself wanting to get to shore and suddenly realizes she has a broken oar, it is reasonable to assume that the chances of the dreamer safely reaching dry land are seriously compromised.
This would be a very important communication to the dreamer that she needs to explore. It is telling her that in choosing an inappropriate approach she has seriously misjudged a situation in her life and now may find herself in danger.
