Massive tornado, dad, and a quarter

[LoneFlower]

Thanks for taking the time out to read this. Hopefully this will make more sense to you than it does to me, and you can help me understand the meaning behind it.

* * * * *

The first part began with me being on the other side of a street. The sky was dark, lots of dark clouds overhead, very clearly a skyscraper to my right side. Then there, in front of me, on the other side of the street, was a beach, the ocean.
In the shallow water was this

looked almost exactally like that one.
People were running away from it, away from the beach, screaming, shouting, trying to get out of its way. However, I remember standing there, not at all alarmed or scared by it. Calm and observant.

The next part of the dream I remember is that I was up a few floors in a hotel, that water tornado having come slightly closer to land, but had gotten bigger and a lot more dangerous looking. I was still feeling the same way as before. Calm and observant. Not upset, not scared, nothing like that. I just aimed my camera at it so I could get a good picture of it.

The part that came after was that the tornado had left the water and was now on land, making its way across the street and causing damage to buildings (oddly enough, not ripping up the road, not throwing people or cars around). I found myself underground somewhere, close to a doorway (sort of like how a subway entrance is)

something along the lines of this (only not dark. It was all solid concrete, well lit, clean, no graffitti, orderly), where I was at the bottom of the steps, able to look up and see the sky out of the entrance / exit.
I remember hearing people screaming as they ran past as they tried to find shelter from the tornado.
Again, me not even bothered by it, or upset that there were people upset by it. Calm and observant.
The scene changed slightly from there, where there was a ledge slightly above me with a railing for people to walk across. My father came racing inside, arms held up against his head to try and protect it from any flying debris. (Not my real life father. Weird thing is, he looked like Nicholas Cage, but in this dream, he was my dad.)
He momentarily stopped when he saw me, reached over the railing, and handed me a shiny new quarter. Had the feeling that it was something I was suppose to protect / keep safe.

The dream changed one last time and I was still underground in the same place, but further underground. My father had caught up with me, was hurriedly leading me, gripping my right wrist, trying to get us into a tunnel that led to the left, as if that was our destination and would keep us safe as the tornado did its thing and passed on by.
I had my camera in hand, maybe trying to review the pictures I'd taken with it?, though the screen was either blank or so dark it looked blank, and still felt that same way. Calm. Observant.
It was only when I woke up from this dream that my heart was racing, I was trying to catch my breath, and had to calm down from it.

So, do you have any idea what this means?

[dream jo]

i no iv had tonrndoo dreams wear evn wear catss balnkrttss is on o lf floorr or th bedin is coz i no on nite tim my 2 cats go in kitchn thy do
had a few torndo dreams resentlyyy i hav

[Michelle11]

Tornadoes are generally symbolic for emotional outbursts or volatile situations, possibly arguments and fights. an intense reaction or even over reaction to something. Considering it came off the water or was created from the water, which is symbolic for emotions, it does tend to suggest an emotionally out of control situation as opposed to a physical one. Do you have a tendency to have emotional meltdowns and go on a rampage verbally or do you know someone like that? Considering you were pretty calm it may suggest that you have people in your life who are like that or if you sense it is you, it could be a sign that you hold things in too long until it becomes too much and you get all worked up but that you have the ability to remain calm when others don't. Either way the dream indicates that you have the ability to stay objective and clear headed in emotionally tense situations, get the full story or picture and sort out the best course of action instead of just panicking and running for the hills like most people.

Going down into the subway tunnel could be symbolic for looking deep for what triggered the meltdown and outburst. It is possible your step father is the one who panics and gets emotionally wound up and tries to take you with him into the upset or you possibly learned it from him. A train is symbolic for the tracks our life is on. Can be symbolic for one track thinking or a one track mind. Being a subway system suggest mass transit or mass or group thinking. Everyone else does it so that is what we are supposed to do kind of thing. But being in a panic never solved anything and I think you are starting to see this. You may or may not be aware of your ability to stay calm in the storms of life but you are on the path to that end.

Overall I rather think that you have made progress when it comes to dealing with strong out of control emotions, whether from yourself or others but you may still not be clear on what triggers them. The dream I think suggests that people can feel threatened by strong emotions in general, whether from themselves or others. Whenever we feel threatened we either want to fight or flight. In this instance it appears that the message passed on to you was the solution to flight. The way to win (Nicholas means victorious people) is to run and hide from trouble. But you are becoming aware that doing such a thing keeps you locked in a cage. We need to try and remain calm and observant and get the full picture before we fly into a panic running for our lives. Most of the time the things that happen to us, even the intense things, aren't as life threatening as our emotional body makes them out to be.

So I would say just assess if you struggle with strong emotions or know some people who do. I suspect the dream is trying to help you see how to remain calm in the midst of your or someone else's out of control emotional storm.

[LoneFlower]

Michelle11 and Perfection thanks for taking the time out to help me understand this dream.

Dream Jo ... o__o?? I'm sorry but I have no idea what you were trying to post. :(

* * *

Perfection, thanks for what you posted, and what a lovely picture! It's given me some food for thought, and I appreciate that.

Michelle11, you're right on the nose with so much of what you posted. I've had to learn how keep my cool when others around me get into a mood and all snappy. My doing the same thing as them doesn't help anything, or if I try to reply in kind, I get ignored or make things worse. The only solution is to not do that and avoid getting caught up in those emotions.
"The way to win (Nicholas means victorious people) is to run and hide from trouble. But you are becoming aware that doing such a thing keeps you locked in a cage."
lol Oh my gosh. That took a lot more thinking than I would've put into it, but I see how that makes complete sense. And would just HAPPEN to be Nicholas Cage. Gwah~ My subconscious works in peculiar ways to get its message across.
"We need to try and remain calm and observant and get the full picture before we fly into a panic running for our lives. Most of the time the things that happen to us, even the intense things, aren't as life threatening as our emotional body makes them out to be. "
That right there. That needs to be a life motto. 100% true.
"So I would say just assess if you struggle with strong emotions"
Yeah, I do. It bugs me that something small can bother me alot emotionally. I've been trying to not let that happen, but, still learning as I go.

Thanks again for your help with another dream of mine, Michelle11. I appreciate it!

[Tomma]

Hi LoneFlower, Michelle's dream interpretations are always awesome and so right!

Just a few thoughts that came to my mind ...

Regarding Nicholas Cage/your dad - since he's the only person you interact with in this dream I feel he holds some kind of clue for you. Did your dad in real life teach you to act a certain way when it comes to expressing emotions or being confronted by other people's emotions?

He gives you a shiny quarter, does that have any significance to you? Any connection to/memories from your childhood perhaps where you used a quarter? It seems to be important and valuable to you for some reason.

The camera is also interesting. I think it stands for your rational mind. You use it to focus on the tornado (the emotional outburst) but later when you look at it the screen is blank or too dark, which indicates, I think, that your rational mind does not understand what you have witnessed or experienced (the emotions). You draw a blank.

It bugs me that something small can bother me alot emotionally. I've been trying to not let that happen, but, still learning as I go.

It's the same for me. Rather than pushing the feelings of being bothered by something seemingly small aside, try to find the root of it, or the story behind it if you will. Small things might bother you because they indicate a pattern, something that happens repeatedly and builds up over time. Then, finally just a small thing can set you off and make you angry or miserable and bring a lot of emotions to the surface. Try to follow them deeper, like in the dream, go underground and search for a way, a reason, a beginning ....

[LoneFlower]

Hi Tomma, thanks for taking the time out to share your thoughts about this. It's appreciated! Always gives me a new view and insight into my dream.

Michelle's dream interpretations are always awesome and so right!

Definately! It blows me away every time, and I still wonder just how she does it. No doubt she's helped oodles of other people understand their dreams, too.

>Did your dad in real life teach you to act a certain way when it comes to expressing emotions or being confronted by other people's emotions?
Oddly enough, not really. I learned that from my mother. Passive aggressive, then when I'd hit my breaking point and go 'No more!', I'd be made to feel like my upset / anger / any emotion that wasn't calm, was seen as bad or something. It's taken me til I got into my mid 30's before I realized I needed to unlearn that.We've got emotions for a reason and feel them all. The tricky part few parents teach their kids is how to be allowed to express them in a healthy way. I know my parents and even older siblings never taught me that.
As for being confronted by other people's emotions, I tend to avoid conflict. Peace-maker by nature. And when I get into a disagreement with someone else,it being clear the other party has no interest in listening to my side, I simply go silent and disengage. No sense having a voice if the other person is wholly unwilling to listen.
As for my father, he says what's on his mind, states it clear and right away. Passive agressive he is not.

As for the signifiance of the quarter, you'd think something from my childhood would stand out involving that, but about the most I can offer on that is me getting a quarter, or quarters and dimes, to buy stuff from a vending machine or capsule vending machine (you know, stick a coin or two in, turn the lever, get a toy or some candy), which is something I did many times as a kid and teen, but not often did I get it from my father.

That's a very perceptive view you have with the camera, and makes total sense in the way you described it.
lol See? This is why I ask about my dreams here. I have trouble making that 'see beyond the physical to look at the symbolic meaning behind it' connection. (So glad other people are better skilled and gifted with this. <3)

You're right about the possible pattern when it comes to something small making a bit emotional reaction. (Heck of a way of showing it dream-wise.) Reassuring to hear I'm not the only person who struggles with it. But, when we can see the pattern to it (lol not including being directly shown it dream-wise), what then? How do we go from recognizing that this is a pattern, that this IS a problem into actually changing this to something more positive? (That seems to be a running theme for me this year. I can recognize a problem, admit it IS a problem, but don't have any idea how to tend to it / fix it / change it.)

[Tomma]

Originally Posted by LoneFlower

>Did your dad in real life teach you to act a certain way when it comes to expressing emotions or being confronted by other people's emotions?
Oddly enough, not really. I learned that from my mother. Passive aggressive, then when I'd hit my breaking point and go 'No more!', I'd be made to feel like my upset / anger / any emotion that wasn't calm, was seen as bad or something. It's taken me til I got into my mid 30's before I realized I needed to unlearn that.We've got emotions for a reason and feel them all. The tricky part few parents teach their kids is how to be allowed to express them in a healthy way. I know my parents and even older siblings never taught me that.
As for being confronted by other people's emotions, I tend to avoid conflict. Peace-maker by nature. And when I get into a disagreement with someone else,it being clear the other party has no interest in listening to my side, I simply go silent and disengage. No sense having a voice if the other person is wholly unwilling to listen.
As for my father, he says what's on his mind, states it clear and right away. Passive agressive he is not.

Oh so maybe your father is in the dream to show you how to deal with emotions - clear and open. Maybe he gave you a quarter as a reward because you were doing better in that department lately?

Originally Posted by LoneFlower

lol See? This is why I ask about my dreams here. I have trouble making that 'see beyond the physical to look at the symbolic meaning behind it' connection. (So glad other people are better skilled and gifted with this. <3)

Oh but I also post my dreams here. I think it is easier to understand other people's dreams than one's owns. Michelle and Horace have given me so much valuable insight into myself I would never have thought of myself.

Originally Posted by LoneFlower

You're right about the possible pattern when it comes to something small making a bit emotional reaction. (Heck of a way of showing it dream-wise.) Reassuring to hear I'm not the only person who struggles with it. But, when we can see the pattern to it (lol not including being directly shown it dream-wise), what then? How do we go from recognizing that this is a pattern, that this IS a problem into actually changing this to something more positive? (That seems to be a running theme for me this year. I can recognize a problem, admit it IS a problem, but don't have any idea how to tend to it / fix it / change it.)

I think we have to give it time. First we become aware of it, then we think about it, watch our behaviour more closely, think some more and become aware of more connections .... and after some time we start trying out new ways of dealing with our emotions and people and situations. It's a process I think, it doesn't happen in an instant. Just let it develop, you know? The old patterns were also not put in place in one day, so it takes time to dismantle everything and do something new, learn new ways.