I dreamt I found an aquarium full of fish in my bedroom’s walk-in closet. Upon closer inspection, I realized I had purchased it years ago and promptly forgot all about it. I was surprised to see that most of the fish had survived despite my total neglect. Peering into the tank I noted that there were a few dead fish floating and one very large fish lay at the bottom of the tank, semi-eaten. Perhaps they survived as long as they had by nibbling at this large fish?
“I wonder if I should change the water?” I said aloud.
“Yes, that would be a very good idea,” replied the one fish.
I lifted the aquarium out of the closet and walked it to my kitchen. I spilled out the water and sorted through the fish, discarding the dead ones. I filled the tank with tap water only to observe the remaining fish convulsing terribly. It dawned on me that the reason they were able to survive as long as they had was that they were salt water fish! I immediately remembered that I owned a salt pump and I used it to turn the fresh, tap water into saltwater. The fish recovered quickly. The talking fish asked me to lift her out of the water and take her shopping since she never experienced dry land having spent her entire life living in my closet. I very gingerly cupped my hands around her and removed her from the aquarium. Together we went to the old I-95 Flea Market (that closed down probably around 20 years ago) and shopped for fish finders and earrings.
That’s so weird, I used to have a dream like that all the time but it was about the rats or hamsters, or some small rodents in a cage, but the same dream: I forgot I had them, and I would find the cage, and it was bulging with some dead bodies and others that had spawned and had babies. I would also wonder how they survived and have to open the cage and sort the live ones from the dead ones and figure out what I was going to do with them all, and how I could take care of them now and not forget them again! I haven’t had that dream in a long time, come to think of it, but it used to be recurring!
I am guessing there are inattention or abandonment issues taking place… choosing life over death… who knows! It’s just so weird.
It might be a “things being out of my control” dream. Because the pets were neglected, they just got to the state they were in (they still survived because we don’t have to control everything, things take care of themselves somewhat). Then when I discover it I try to exert my control again to make it better.
Here were the highlights of the reasons to procrastinate:
1. Perfectionism holds you back: it’s tough to finish when you’re worried the results won’t be good enough. By not sealing the deal, it’s self protective in that you can keep believing you would be capable of creating something amazing.
2. Sending a subconscious message: you are angry about having to do it for some reason
3. Addicted to the chase: you get a hit of pleasure from taking on a project, but get bored with the details and let it fall to the wayside.
4. Too much on your list: you feel when you complete one task you’ll just have to start another, then another, so you avoid it altogether.
I thought it was an interesting article (Self magazine June 2011)
I freed my fishes years ago so I wouldn’t have this problem.