an old dog receives a positive progress report

Posted on March 21, 2026 by Michael Patton
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Maybe you can’t teach an old dog new tricks…

But maybe the dog can teach itself. 

Consider this recent dream:

I see three pans on a stovetop.  All have lids.

I choose the smaller of the three—somehow I know it’s ready and the others aren’t. 

I pour out the contents of that pan, then quickly work the material into shape.  There’s a sense of ease in what I’m doing. 

In this dream, I see three positive messages…

The first one is:

I’m “cooking up” something that will provide nourishment.  Since I’m not a chef, my guess is: I’m dreaming about my creative work.  But often first guesses are wrong.

The second positive would be:

I make the right choice by following my intuition.  I don’t say, “This is what I want to work on right now.”  Instead, I ask, “What should I work on right now?”  In other words, I’m not trying to force the situation. 

And the third positive would be:

I create something from the concoction without undue strain.  The work seems to unfold naturally. 

In past dreams, I’ve often found myself struggling to get something right.  Yes, struggle is inevitable in life.  But to see it again and again in my dreams indicated a problem.  I seemed to be stuck in an old mindset. 

I should explain…

Based on what I saw and experienced, I grew up believing life was a constant struggle.  Naturally, that belief persisted into adulthood.  As a result, too often I’ve taken the hard way when trying to accomplish a task. 

My dreams have helped me become aware of this problem.  But to change an attitude so deeply ingrained takes time. 

That said, this dream shows I’m making progress.  In the dream, I’m putting effort into the work, but not straining to produce a desired result.

I see this dream as a positive progress report.  But I shouldn’t assume I’m free of that old mindset.  I still need to keep a close watch and when I find that I’m trying to force an outcome, ease up. 

I also need to consider future dreams.  Am I struggling unnecessarily in too many of those scenarios? 

I’m still not completely sure what waking-life situation this dream represents.  But that’s okay.  After all, this dream isn’t sounding an alarm bell.  It isn’t saying: look at how you’re hurting yourself.

And besides that, I know this dream isn’t about just one aspect of my life.  This dream is about how I move through the world, in general.  This dream is about my entire life—past, present, and future.

This dream says: you may not realize it, but you are indeed changing.

Get the Message: short guide for understanding dreams
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© 2026, Michael R. Patton

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waiting before I open the door

Posted on February 19, 2026 by Michael Patton
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Maybe I should have opened the door.  Did I chicken out?

I’m talking about this recent dream…

I’ve just arrived in a small city.  It’ll be my home for a short while. 

I’m going around, checking out the downtown area.  I dive into and out of shops and small businesses. 

Then the scene shifts.  I’m now in a small dark upstairs coffee shop.  Six or seven people sit in chairs around the room.  Despite the lack of light, they all study books they hold in their laps.  Someone turns on a flashlight, but its beam barely penetrates the darkness.  The place feels strange to me.  Alien.

On the opposite side of the room, I find a closed wooden door.  I start to open it.  Then hesitate.  Maybe I’m not supposed to go in there. 

I decide to turn back around.  I want to get out of this room.

The dream shows I’ve arrived at a new place in my life.  I didn’t realize I’d made a significant change recently.  But dreams don’t lie.

This new place seems to be a good place.  A place of business, of work.  I encounter no problems on those streets.  So apparently, everything’s going okay in this new phase of my life.

Or maybe not.  What about that strange dark coffee shop?  Maybe the darkness represents lack of awareness.

But even if that’s right, those students are trying to bring light into the room by acquiring knowledge.  In fact, one guy manages to turn on a flashlight.  No, it’s not too bright, but still, it’s a light.

Okay, but what about the wooden door?  Why did I hesitate?  Why didn’t I go ahead and open it?  Did I sense trouble lurking on the other side? 

No, my intuition wasn’t sending any warning signals.  Maybe the plain fact is: I chickened out. 

But the whole time I was upstairs, I felt uncomfortable.  Because of the darkness?  Yes, but there’s more to it.  I felt I didn’t belong there.  That doesn’t mean the room is “bad”.  I just need to be elsewhere at the moment—outside, learning about my new environment.

The work being done in the room occurs on an inner level.  The work being done outside, on the other hand, happens in the mundane world of physical activity.  That’s where my focus needs to be right now. 

In any case, if I need to open that door, that door will appear later in another dream.  Though perhaps in a different form, in a different place. 

If it does, and if the feeling is right, I’ll open that door.  Yes, I’ll probably be scared.  But as a series of “ghost” dreams proved a few years back, when I set my mind to it, I can push past my fear.

Get the Message: short guide for understanding dreams
sky rope poetry blog
myth steps blog
you tube channel
© 2026, Michael R. Patton
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a truce, the beginnings of a peace

Posted on January 20, 2026 by Michael Patton
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A recent dream shows me taking a step towards peace.

In the dream…

I’m walking down the hallway of a home and notice small amounts of debris here and there on the floor.

I step into the kitchen.  Sunlight streams through the sliding glass doors leading to a backyard.

A well-dressed woman of Asian descent starts to nag me about my untidiness, as she has in the past.  Though I know she has a point, I’m tired of hearing her complain. 

But instead of sounding off, I tell her nicely…

“I like you as a person, but your incessant complaining is really starting to annoy me.” 

She then softens a bit and retreats.  I know we still need to resolve the issue.  All we have at the moment is a truce.

Let me say: I have no one like that woman in my life.  Nobody is nagging me about being untidy. 

Except, at times, myself.  Sometimes at home, I’ll suddenly open my eyes and wonder, “What happened?  I straightened this room just yesterday.  Now it looks like a tornado came in through the window.”

So the woman in my dream is an inner aspect.  A part of me that desires a more orderly life. 

I do express that shadow aspect on occasion—I’m actually quite good at cleaning.  Even so, I don’t want to live in a place that’s spotlessly tidy.  I would feel too constrained. 

But wait—is this dream actually referring to my physical environment? 

Other areas of my life are also a bit messy…

Like my computer files.  They could use a little more order. 

And what about all those ideas rattling around in my head?  Those need to be sorted out. 

In addition to that, I’ve got a lot tangled up feelings that need untangling.

This dream could be talking about any of those situations.  Or all of them, for that matter.  After all, if one area of life is a little messy, another area may likely be messy as well. 

Okay, that’s the bad news of the dream.  But the good news is: the way I handle the conflict with the tidy woman.

I don’t argue with that inner aspect; I don’t try to shut it down.

In the past, I’ve sometimes tried to control a dream character.  Once, I actually wrestled with a character and pinned him down.  Then I realized the obvious:

If I relax my grip for a moment, that guy will pop right back up. 

The message was clear: it’s a waste of energy to try to suppress an inner aspect when it’s trying to get my attention.  Better to look at it fully and find its positive qualities and try to express those.

The dream shows I’ve remembered that lesson.  Instead of rejecting the aspect, I respected it.  I gave it value.  In so doing, I was able to ease an inner conflict. 

And more good news:

At the end of the dream, I didn’t pretend I’d resolved the issue.  I knew I still needed to find a compromise.

No, I’ll never be spotlessly tidy.  But I do need to be a little more like that woman.  Now, with the awareness gained from this dream, I’m working to nudge myself in that direction.  I know I can reach a compromise.  After all, I’m not trying to become a different person.  I’m trying to express more of what I truly am. 

Get the Message: short guide for understanding dreams
sky rope poetry blog
myth steps blog
you tube channel
© 2026, Michael R. Patton
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