What does it mean to dream about driving?
In my car upside down…
Dream: I dreamed that I was in my car upside down in the middle of the highway. In my dream I did not experience a wreck or the fright of crashing. Only that I was in the car on the passenger side upside down in the car. All of a sudden (as if my dream went to act II, as if it were a play), I was then standing on the side of the road looking at my car upside down and I can see that I was in the drivers seat. Well, I thought it was me, but the body was just that, a body. I did not recognize myself and the body did not look real. Then someone came and helped the body be taken from the car. The person who helped seemed to think that I (body), was ok and I actually saw me the body standing against a wall. Then I woke up frantic.
DreamsMaster: What interesting dream images! Here are some ideas for you to try on to see what fits…
A car in a dream often represents one’s independence or sense of control. I can also be a symbol of transition, since metaphorically it’s a way of getting ourselves from one place to another, from one way of being to another way of being.
Another metaphor comes to mind, the expression of “being in the driver’s seat” – the one in control – vs. being a passenger along for the ride, not in the position of control. Add to that being upside down in the middle of the highway, and that’s a very strong case for feeling a lack of control and like the world has turned “upside down”!
Interesting that in “act II” your dissociated body is now in the driver’s seat, while your conscious self is outside looking in. Is this a metaphor for how life has been feeling for you lately, like events are happening beyond your control and you’re more of a bystander on the outside looking in?
What’s curious to me is that you woke up “frantic”, even though you were not in any real danger in the dream. What, specifically, were you feeling frantic about? I’m guessing it was out of a sense of powerlessness over your own destiny, and perhaps angst about not being seen for who you are.
This brings us to the following questions for self-reflection:
- Where in your life are you feeling powerless or out of control?
- Where in your life do you feel that you’re not being seen for who you are, just a body taking up space?
- In what way are you approaching life as a passive bystander instead of as an active participant?
- What can you do to stand up and be seen?
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