What Does it Mean to Dream About Losing Things?
The majority of dream interpretation requests I get have to do with 1 of the following types of dreams:
- Dreams of dying
- Dreams of a lost loved one
- Snake dreams
- Dreams of falling
- Dreams of being lost
- Dreams of losing things
I thought we’d take a good look at one of these dreams today: Dreams of losing things. Many people want to know what it means to dream about losing things – some wonder if it’s a sign that they’ll be losing something (or someone) in their life. First of all let me say a resounding NO, these dreams do not tell the future or imply that you’ll lose anything or anyone in your waking life.
Dreams deal with what’s going on in our lives – or with what has gone on in our lives. Dreams are where we sort it all out.
When we dream of losing things, its almost always because we are (in our waking life) overwhelmed and are currently being pulled in too many different directions or are trying to do too many things. These dreams often have to do with us, personally, more than things we lose. They’re just symbols for the bigger picture.
It’s our brain’s way of telling us: Too many pots on the stove! Something’s going to happen if you don’t get it together. Dreaming of losing things often means we are “out of touch” or “out of control” in some area of our life.
Many times, life gets so hectic and twisted that we lose touch with who we actually are. We try to be so many things to so many people that we sort of lose who we truly are. We forget the things that truly matter (or at least should matter) in life. At the risk of wading into the deep end of the pool, dreaming of losing things often reflects that we’ve “lost a part of ourselves.”
If you dream that you have lost something, examine your heart and life the very next day, while the dream is still fresh in your mind. Have you lost touch with yourself lately? Are you too busy? Are parts of your life sort of spinning out of control?
As I point out in the article, Dream Prophesy: When Dreams Come True, dreams simply tell us that The stage is set for something to happen. Whether it does or not is almost entirely up to us.
Dream Analysis: A Plate Upside the Head Doesn’t Spell Future Headaches
I dreamed about 4 nights ago that my husband and I were fighting so bad that I hit him in the head with a plate. We were yelling and yelling and he was so unreasonable and was saying such mean things that I felt like I had to just shut him up. I am not a violent person and actually don’t even fight with people that much. I argue with my husband sometimes but all marriages have that. But I never hit him with plates. Why would I be so violent in my dream? It is really troubling me. I can’t get the image of the plate and his cut head bleeding so much blood out of my mind. It makes me sick and I don’t know what to do. Is it a bad omen for something happening to one of us or to a big fight. As you can see I am really a wreck over this. Please help me.
First of all, rest assured that there is no omen involved. People often think that, but dreams can’t tell the future. They do, however, often indicate something that is currently going on or something that has gone on. A dream such as this one indicates that there is something “below the surface.” More times than not, if we dream about an open wound (or surgery, pulling teeth… that sort of thing) – our mind is trying to “dig” beneath the surface for something.
In this case, I would be willing to bet that you have been trying to get something across to your husband for a while – something that he either isn’t accepting or simply isn’t “catching.” It could be hints you’ve been dropping for a new sofa, something around the house that you want him to take care of, or something on a grander scale. It could even be a case of wanting him to listen to you or pay more attention to you.
The hit in the head with the plate was pretty much your subconscious mind’s way of saying, “Now I’ve got your attention!!!”
As far as dream symbolisms go, I think that the fact that “so much blood” came out of the wound indicates that you fully expect to be able to get through to him – in your heart you believe that you’ll get to the source of the problem. If, in your dream, you had hit him on the head and nothing had come out, I’d worry that you might be fighting a losing battle and that (down inside) you knew it.
Think about how this relates to your situation. I’d be willing to bet that a light bulb has already appeared!
Again, this is absolutely not an omen for anything. If, by coincidence, he cuts himself shaving or you have an argument about what movie to see Friday night – know this: The dream did not predict or cause either one. Dreams rely on what happened yesterday, not tomorrow.
Sweet dreams!
What Do Fairy Tale Dreams Mean?
Have you ever had what I call a “Fairy Tale” dream? One in which everything seems more surreal than usual. Things are bright and sunny, pretty and larger than life. If you had to describe it, you would probably use the words “like a fairy tale.”
In these dreams, you may or may not be a prince or princess and there isn’t always a castle and moat! Yet there’s something distinctively “fairy tale” about the dreams.
So exactly what do these “fairy tale” dreams mean? In a word: ESCAPE. That’s not to say you want to escape your life altogether but, make no mistake about it, there’s some element of your life or a particular date on your appointment calendar that you do want to escape from.
Oddly enough, the people who have this sort of escapism dream are the ones who are going along, acting as though everything is great, and coming off as though they haven’t a care in the world. The girl with a school assignment that she’s sweating bullets over acts as though it’s a breezy cake walk. Because she’s in such denial, the stress builds up. She’s a perfect candidate for an escapism dream such as fairy tale dreams.
The man who refuses to face his relationship problems, trying to cover them up any way he can is another candidate.
Sometimes just admitting that we aren’t perfect and that we have worries and insecurities can free us up to find solutions. Whether the solution is studying harder, preparing more, or talking things out with a loved one – the solution is always a HEAD ON approach and never a HIDE FROM approach.
If you’ve had a fairy tale dream recently, ask yourself what you could possibly be trying to escape from. It could be any of the following types of situations:
- an upcoming test
- a dental appointment
- meeting someone in particular
- work evaluation
- a project at work or school
- a confrontation
- vacation
- an interview
- etc!
Meet your fear and reservations head on – admit them, then prepare for them. Create your own fairy tale ending.
What Does My Dream Mean: A Knife Dream That Seemed Prophetic
Here’s a recently submitted dream that’s, well, more than just a little creepy:
I dreamed…
My fiance and I had become vampires. I was really happy about this and wanted nothing more. We wanted to purchase a motorcycle to go to bike week. I said we should shop for a nice new outfit for me first. We went to some clothing shops in a country downtown atmosphere.
I started worrying that maybe I was not really a vampire, maybe I could get hurt. I decided to cut my hand to see if it would heal quickly. As I looked at the wound I had given myself a flash of a dog with a stab wound to the eye came into my vision. The vision came and went very fast. I then saw my hand heal and felt excited again about being a vampire but confused about the vision.
I am a fan of twilight so I can understand why I would have a dream like this. My problem with it is what happened a few days after my dream.
I work at an animal shelter. At work a dog came in that had been stabbed in the stomach and in the eye. The knife was still lodged in the dogs’ eye. This was done by a cop in “self defense”. The dog had to be euthanized. After the dog was dead the knife was removed and it was the same image I had seen in my dream..
It was a traumatizing event for me to witness and the fact that I had a vision of it in a dream is making me crazy wondering how or why.
First of all, the vampire theme: I’ve gotten many (make that many, many, many) dreams over the past few years about vampire dreams. When I double-checked for a pattern, I found what I suspected – they mainly occurred around the release of Twilight and New Moon! Not surprisingly, people who are romantics at heart see this as something too delicious not to partake of in their dreams.
Some people are wondering if dreaming of vampires means they are looking for or craving excitement. It’s actually, in most circumstances, more on a romantic path than anything else…. especially since, as you said, you are a Twilight fan (me too by the way!).
Second of all, dreaming of a knife in any way is a symbol that there’s something in your life that you’d like to remove. Knife dreams indicate that the dreamer has something they want to get out of their life – or cut out of themselves (such as bashfulness, bitterness, a weight problem… even a bad memory). The dog in the dream is very much expected, given your work. He would seem to indicate that what you want to remove from your life is at least partly connected to your job.
As for the hideous incident with the dog, it truly was a most unfortunate coincidence. I can see how the vision would be troubling and difficult to get out of your mind. It will take time, but eventually your mind will be filled with adorable cats, dogs, and other patients who meet with much, much happier endings.
I hope your dreams and your thoughts are much sweeter very, very soon!
Dreaming of A Mother Who Has Passed Away
Below is a dream that was recently left on the blog to be analyzed and interpreted. I felt many others could benefit from the dream, so I’m sharing it below.
Hello my name is Delandra and I am 25 Years old I recently lost my mother and I am now beginning to have dreams of her dieing again .Some of the things in my dream are kinda weird. There is one dream that I had where I was fussing wit my uncle about something and he follows me into the house and I end up underneath him and he place a gun in my chest and begins to pull the trigger but while i’m screaming for help the bullets are just blanks and then i’m where someone gets a phone call from my grandmother telling them that my mother is dead and i begin to scream and cry and I wake u wit tears in my eyes as if i am crying but i really was crying. Can u explain this to me please?
First of all, I’m terribly, terribly sorry about your mother. 25 is unbelievably young to lose a parent. I’m profoundly sorry and hope you have a good number of people around you to help with the months and even years ahead. As someone who has walked the dark road you’re now facing, I can tell you that you have to take your time and heal – give yourself patience and time. You can’t lose someone you had your whole life and not feel the loss for a very, very long time.
During such a horrible lose, our brains (understandably) have a difficult time processing and making sense out of what has happened. How do you make peace with something so outrageously unfair and heartbreaking? During the day, while we’re in the grieving process, we often “busy” our minds. It’s a coping strategy and one that everyone recommends…. “Keep busy” – how many times do we hear that?
We do the best we can to keep our mind occupied while we’re awake, but when we’re asleep, the mind tries to make sense of the loss the best it can. It’s extremely common to dream about people we have lost, especially in the first weeks and months after the loss. When the loss hits particularly close to home, we often think about our own death. This explains your dream. While your mind is trying to wrap itself around your horrible loss, it’s also sorting out fears you may have about your own mortality.
Take very good care of yourself during the coming months and get plenty of rest. Your dreams will be a better place to be very soon. Again, I’m very sorry for your loss.
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