Blister

Some irritating or injurious experience; something that has gradually produced hurt in you over a period of time; attitudes that attempt to protect from further hurt.

Things also blister as in the following dream – quoted from Our Dreaming Mind.

Mary’s dream of the “blistering paint,” often turn out to be concise metaphoric statements of as-yet-unfulfilled aspects of the dreamer’s fundamental “life task,” or the “deepest value conflict” in his/her life, not just in the moment, but over the entire span of time that the dream has been recurring.

In the group work with Mary’s dream, it was suggested that maybe she had grown up in a repressed home where the spontaneous expression of feelings was not allowed and had to be covered up with white paint. If strong emotions began to bubble up, the thin veneer of social politeness might blister and possibly peel away. The family image would be tarnished if feelings trapped beneath the surface heated up and became visible. Mary was stunned by these comments but recognised their validity. Suddenly she found herself flooded with previously repressed memories about specific incidents of physical abuse and emotional trauma from her childhood. These were memories that had been totally blocked from awareness during the intervening years. She realised that she had internalised the adult fears that her family’s social position would be destroyed if someone were to find out the family’s guilty “secrets” about her abuse. Mary was therefore expected to “whitewash” them. Although this technique of coping with the abuse may have been necessary during childhood, it was no longer appropriate and was preventing her from feeling comfortable with emotional expression and intimacy.

As a result of these insights, Mary began to talk about the family situation with her adult siblings and found out that each one had been abused, but had suffered in silence and guilt because they had assumed they had been the only one. As a result, the family members experienced tremendous relief, although this was accompanied by feelings of grief and anger. Once the members began to exchange honest communication, the whole family’s pattern of neurotic behaviour began to change. Harold and Mary felt that they obtained very significant benefits through exploring the meanings of their dreams. Taylor feels that such benefits are potentially available to all of us. Here is how he characterises the potential payoff from working with your dreams:

Useful Questions and Hints:

What is irritating or painful for me at the moment, and what does the dream suggest I can do about it?

Has there been a build up of pressure about something in my life that I am now ready to deal with?

Do I feel any discomfort in my body – if so, is the dream warning me of a physical problem?

See Easy Dream Interpretation or Talking As