strange house dreams

[Sundaymom]

I used to have a strange recurring dream. I'm in a big house with nothing all around.-- in a big field or at the beach maybe. It is a big wooden house with lots of windows and doors, porches, stairs and balconys and even a basement (which doesn't really work on the beach, but there was one in this dream.)

I am in a big kitchen with windows all around (no curtains). I am afraid because something is trying to get in. It can see me, but I can't see out into the dark. Somewhere in the house are small children that I have to protect. The whole dream consists of me running around trying to lock all the doors. I keep remembering another one. The basement door! I run and run but I can't get to all the doors and windows in time. This is a very scary dream to me. I was once watching a movie about a woman and small child living out in the country and a strange man comes to the kitchen door. I don't remember the name of the movie, but as I watched, that scary feeling came back.

This dream puzzled me for years until I was at the beach one day and I told my friend who happens to be a therapist. "Oh," she commented very casually, "Dreams of windows and doors are about boundaries. For instance, someone who was very closed off might dream about being in a vault." This made a lot of sense to me and, as far as I can remember, I have never had the dream about locking doors again. I thought I was cured until recently I realized I still dream about houses all the time.

The cool thing is the houses are always beautiful. The bad thing is that they are always a little scary. Often I dream I am back at an old house where I used to live. In my dream I am so glad to see the house, but as I look around, I open a door and discover a whole new wing. Lots of wings. Sometimes there are two or more kitchens and living areas. Lots of fireplaces and stairs. Once a fairly modest house opened onto a huge master bedroom that looked out onto a beautiful pool and beach. I realized this morning that I had a similar dream last night. Not only are the houses I dream of complicated mazes, but I am almost always looking for something, or worrying about something. What this means about me, I do not know. Is there a whole section of my psyche that is unknown to me? Why? What could it be? I am being dramatic, but I do wonder about this. I would just sit back and enjoy the tour if the anxious, scary part wasn't there.

One of my favorite authors, Frances Mayes, who wrote "Under the Tuscan Sun" has this passage in her book. Her dreams seem more pleasant than mine.

"At home I dream of former houses I've lived in, of finding rooms I didn't know were there. Many friends have told me that they, too, have this dream. ... In Vicchio, a house I rented  a few summers ago brought the recurrent dream to reality. It was a huge house with a caretaker in a side wing. One day I opened what I'd assumed to be a closet in an unused bedroom and found a long stone corridor with empty rooms on either side. White doves flew in and out. It was the second floor of the housekeeper's wing and I hadn't realized it was uninhabited. ...

Does anyone else dream of houses? I would like to hear. I also would like to thank Jen who had mentioned a house dream on her blog and got me started thinking about this subject.

P.S. The house in "Nights in Rodanthe" reminds me of my house, except my dream house is always white.

"

[grammijudi]

Apr. 6, 2009 at 2:24 PM

Go to dreamdictionary.com and you can look up anything about dreams.  You could type in key words, like house,  and then read what they mean.   It's interesting.  Hope this helps you.  judi