The Dream

Work.
I’m reprimanded
for smoking
in the office.

College.
Preparing
to move class.

Tardy.
My friend
leaves
without me.

Lost.
The staircase
has no
balustrade.

Vertigo.
I grip
the floor,
in terror.

The Meaning

smoking
Old habits resurfacing. Resistance to letting go.

college
A new environment without support. I thought I had backup—turns out it’s just me.

stairs
The climb is there, but fear of the unknown environment paralyses me. A crisis of confidence exposed.

What Lingers…

What if authenticity invites distance from those no longer aligned?

What if the real vertigo comes not from the world outside—but from within?

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Marginalia

This is another dream cycle where my subconscious presents an arc, then throws a curve ball at the end to help me process fear.

In The Attic, the Shite, and the Kettle, I’m given gifts of terracotta.
In We’ve Met Before, I’m introduced to the stability that comes from spirits choosing to meet across multiple lives.

But here, I’m faced with abandonment for being tardy — not self-abandonment like in I Was Late, After All, but rejected by a friend.

The fear that we’ll be abandoned for being exactly who we are is something I’m sure that many of us face. Every day, we scramble to align ourselves with what’s acceptable, with what’s expected.