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Some people have reported that their dreams have gotten more vivid, or that they’ve had an unusually strong sense of God, or felt the presence or heard the voice of departed loved ones—has anything like that happened to you? If it has, tell us about it.
My dreams are often drawn and look real. The people and places remain actual but I see them as drawn by hand.Yesterday, on a facetime birthday (7th) call to CA from CT our granddaughter used some odd app - and she became a black and white drawing of herself - so now my dream seems closer to reality. I am dreaming of crossing a frozen lake (like the oil painting I created after walking across Lake Candlewood) on a bitterly cold day with my husband. I completed this R/T once - vowing never again - and we were fine. In my dream I must once again cross the frozen lake but I am afraid that due to climate change I will break through and die. I feel death is close - not a distant & abstract concept any longer - I must wear a mask in my dream and no virus is lurking on the other side of the lake. I will contract covid only if I remain on this side of the lake. I must cross. I wear my Star of David around my neck and hold hands with my husband. We begin to walk on the ice. Crack crack crack !! Tree stumps stick up, all are dead. This lake is manmade & originally flooded rolling farmland. Crack crack crack! I want to turn back but fear covid. Suddenly my feet slip beneath me as the ice opens in a wide gap. I reach for my husband and we look at each other closely. It is the same glance as the moment several winters ago when at 2 AM, 10th floor of Marriott, Anchorage Alaska a 7.1 earthquake shook our room violently, the hotel was like a ship tossed in violent waves. Miraculously we felt secure simply because we were with one another. CRACK CRACK CRACK I wake up and reach across our bed for my husband’s hand.
October 29, 2020
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What has changed most about the world since the pandemic began?
Most of my extended family is not vaccinated and has become very opinionated about it. They also are very opinionated about the government role in all of this. I have never discussed politics with my family until now. My dad owns a restaurant and said he will refuse to check vaccination status for his customers. People are getting counterfeit vax cards. There are protests and even just arguments outside restaurants where people are taking their anger out on the doorman. It has become a hot topic in every conversation and honestly I’m tired of it. It gives us one more thing to judge each other on; one more thing to separate us; one more thing to cause stress in our lives. I don’t want to take sides. I want to be able to enjoy my family as I did before the pandemic. I can’t as easily because of our differences of opinion about the vaccine. You would think they would look to me for information since I am the only medical person in the family but no, they don’t. And now they talk about unsubstantiated studies and what’s going on in the hospital when they seriously have no idea. When I told a family member that 72 of the 76 patients in the ICU were unvaccinated, he said they must have other co-morbidities or be elderly. I said no, many were otherwise healthy and there were several in the 20-40 age range. He said well they are probably overweight (because that is what a news report said). I told him about the 2 pregnant women who DIED on the very unit I worked at for years and where all the grandchildren were born! They were otherwise healthy but UNVACCINATED. The conversation continued with him basically refusing to believe that the numbers had anything to do with them not being vaccinated. I had to leave. Ask any medical professional- if you are not vaccinated your chance of being extremely ill and /or dying of COVID are exponentially higher. So the pandemic has caused a rift in my family dynamics for sure. I avoid any topic that can lead to vaccination or political discussion. I have become an expert at changing the subject. I am thankful that my kids and I are on the same page and are all vaccinated. But I worry most about the future of my relationship with extended family. I am trying everything I can to preserve my family relationships, but I know others who have completely cut off communication with family members who will not get vaccinated. The pandemic has separated us. This to me is the scariest part.
September 30, 2021