“Three times this week I dreamed I was the new drummer for American band Blink 182,” said Brad, calling PowerFM’s PowerPack Breakfast show where I was interpreting dreams.
The drums were bike powered, and the faster Brad peddled, the better the drums sounded. Although he can’t play the drums in waking life, he was a brilliant drummer in his dreams, and the crowds loved it almost as much as he did.
There was no performance anxiety. It wasn’t one of those dreams where you’re asked to perform but it all goes wrong, or you forget the music, or the drums turn to jelly. Brad simply stepped up to the drums, got on the bike, peddled away, and turned in a great performance.
A feel-good dream, three times in one week, must mean something good. But what?
Being radio, there was no time to spend an hour deeply exploring Brad’s dream, but there was time enough in the few minutes we had to get to the main point and give Brad something meaningful to help him forward.
Blink 182 drummer, Travis Barker, was unable to join them for the Australian tour because of his fear of flying.
I needed to be filled in on the details. Blink 182 was heading to Australia on tour that week, but their drummer, Travis Barker, was unable to join them because of his fear of flying. He was one of only two survivors of a plane crash in 2008. He lost two of his best friends in the crash, and the other survivor died the next year following an accidental drug overdose.
Travis Barker was replaced by Brooks Wackerman of Tenacious D in the waking life Australian tour, and by Brad in his dreams.
In Brad’s dream, he had no fear. No fear of playing the drums, no fear of flying. He stepped up to the plate and peddled his bike, and the more legwork he put in, the better he played.
My radio time was running out. “There’s somewhere in your life where you’re scared, but once you commit to it and put in the legwork, you can achieve it and you will enjoy it.”
“Spot on, dream lady,” Brad chuckled.
Our dreams reflect our conscious and unconscious experiences, feelings, and beliefs, and more often than not our unconscious holds us back. In a dream like Brad’s, his unconscious perspective was supportive. Whatever fear had been holding Brad back, something had shifted during the week of his three dreams. Maybe the fear was still there, but the motivation to overcome it kicked in. Or maybe Brad released the fear that week. We didn’t have time to discover more, but Brad now has his formula. He has an opportunity, his unconscious mind is supportive, and all he needs to do is turn up and put in the legwork.
Of course it’s not about drumming. No doubt Brad had heard about Travis Barker’s fear of flying – the media had the story – and unconsciously related to Travis missing an opportunity due to fear. It resonated with his own history of missing an opportunity due to fear, and when his dreaming mind processed this it naturally came up with the perfect dream metaphor.
Brad’s “Spot on, dream lady,” tells us that Brad knows what the opportunity is and what to do about it.
Brad could add some dream alchemy to enhance his confidence. He could visualise peddling that dream bike, drumming those dream drums, tuning back into the dream feeling of enjoyment, and the more he does this, the more his confidence will grow, and suddenly he will find himself doing the legwork that brings enjoyment and fulfilment into his waking life.
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