Revisiting Dreams

Before I moved to New York I had a series of strange dreams, one that I was recalling this morning when I woke up. In this dream, I was on a flight somewhere, and during this flight I was able to see into the cockpit. It was time to land the plane, when suddenly the pilot started to panic. He turned to me and said, "I don't know how to land the plane." I was now up in the cockpit with him. I tried to coach him through landing the plane. I could see through the large windows as we got closer to the ground, where instead of a runway there was dirt, grass, and small shrubbery for as far as the eye could see. I kept encouraging the pilot to land, but as soon as he got close to the ground, he suddenly pulled the nose of the plane up, and we were flying higher into the air. Several times, we circled around and tried to land again, but never made a landing before I woke up.

I can think of many explanations for the symbolism in this dream, but am not going to get into that here. What I'm wondering this morning is why the images from this dream were suddenly so vivid again. I had this dream over a year and half ago! When I did have the dream I was at a crossroads of sorts: I was trying to move to New York City, had just ended a serious relationship, and was more than a little overwhelmed at the prospect of being a teacher. Now I am settled into my life here, (a fact made very clear upon return from vacation. I have loved the past few days: going out with friends, flipping through my Time Out, buying a slice on the corner, walking everywhere I go, and lounging around in my very own space with a good book.) For the first time ever, I am actually settled into a place. And though I know I will be leaving after I graduate in two years, I am very focused on the day-to-day of these two years. Has my plane finally landed?