I had a less literal dream this morning. In fact, it was pure transparent metaphor so I won't even bother describing it. The overall metaphor was the journey that can't get started due to trivial, petty distractions. The dream journey was to drive with my parents from New Jersey to my uncle's place in Ohio in separate vehicles. I think I was driving a big u-haul truck. My parents never make an appearance in this dream.

One of the distractions was a woman who was asking me a question and then blowing me off when I was answering. Another distraction was Katie, the black hole of a friend who is now attending Golden Gate University law school, and yes, this part of the dream was set there.

There was a futility metaphor as I went searching classroom to classroom for the professor/parent of a friend who I was supposed to call upon arriving in Ohio. The "friend" was no one I know in real life, and I didn't have a name or face for the professor/parent, I was just supposed to recognize her.

Then there was the disconnected/abandonment metaphor as I gave up on trying to find that professor/parent, and was trying to figure out how to get in touch with my parents who were waiting for me at my uncle's place on this end of the journey, and who may have left already, in which case I would have been screwed. I realized I didn't have their phone number, and also didn't know my brothers' phone numbers either, so I was trying to figure out who I could call to get the phone number.

The metaphor of the beginning of the journey being the same as the end of the journey is more subtle. But not as subtle as the journey in The Conference of the Birds where the end of the journey turns out to be the travellers on the journey. Oh come on, I didn't give anything away. Like you were about to go read a book that is filled to the brim with metaphor after metaphor why all your excuses for not undertaking the spiritual path are invalid.

Other assorted facts about the dream: That uncle, who now lives in New Jersey, as do my parents, used to live in Ohio. Even though we were leaving from New Jersey, it was actually San Francisco with both my uncle's place on this end of the journey and Golden Gate University located on or near what looked like the Embarcadero.