So what did that dream mean, anyway?

The bicycle is, of course, a bicycle. Me is, obviously, me. The bridge and road I am riding on is my life direction. The spiraling to the left, I think, is confusion as to possible direction of my life. The sudden end of the pathway and dropoff down to the water, I think, represents a major crossroads and life change. The water, I recall, was very murky and brown. I think this is indicative of a lot of stress and uncertainty about where things are headed, how I feel about some personal things going on in my life, and a bit of trepidation about my commitment to riding vs. commitment to other things and how I am placing priorities in my life. Of course the sinking and a feeling of drowning is pretty classic symbolism of a feeling of being overwhelmed. The decision to let go and rise above whatever is going on shows a need for decision and action, and I remember thinking as I was coming out of the dream and back into reality I was going to have to figure out how to get the bike back, so the action I took in the dream was obviously to not allow the bicycle to be the dominant factor in my life.

I tend to be a bit of an all or nothing kind of guy. I think it is a very real part of my nature. Balance is not my strongest suit and, like other forms of compulsive-obsessive behaviors (in my life, my chemical addictions) there are such definite good payoffs to cycling (e.g., increased endorphine levels, better physical and mental health, easier to keep weight off, feeling better about myself because I'm trying to do a really healthy thing) that they tend to foster that all or nothingness and I can easily end up allowing the bike to take control of my life. Of course, I've been trying to modify some of this year's cycling to do more by doing less, and it's going with some interesting results, both positive and not so positive. So this dream, then, seems to me to be a bit of a release of some of the confusion and tension I've been feeling about this process of introspection I take on.

Geez, how did I get so serious all of a sudden??????