I have dreamed, more than once, of an airplane crash. I dreamed it years ago when I was contemplating divorcing my husband of 35 years. I felt like it was a sign, or an omen of sorts.
But recently, I dreamt of a different plane crash. This was one, which I thought I had experienced myself, but I was, instead, an observer. I saw survivors of the plane crash kayaking towards me, as if it was part of a drill. No one was injured and they all made it safely to land. But where did the kayaks come from? How were they unharmed. What did this mean?
Lately, I have been reverting to my childhood. My kids finally brought me my Australian trail saddle that had been stored in their dad’s house, and then stashed away in their garage for almost 2 years. Covered in dust, dirt, horse hair and sweat, when I finally got it back the smell of those memories of owning my own horse for the first time took me back to my 12 year old self. I spent 2 decades or more of my life with horses. But it was the familiar smell of my tack that brought me back.
My mom surprised my brother, sister and me one day after school. She had been driving around exploring while we were all in school and found a small run down barn near a gravel pit. It backed up to a utility easement. How she found it, I will never know, but she found and bought our first horse.
Animals are our mirror. The qualities we see in animals, the feelings they invoke inside us, both positive and negative, are also within us. If they were not, we could not see them in the animal.
So what does a plane crash, a kayak and being raised with horses have to do with each other? I’m not entirely sure, but each was a springboard into a phase of life that propelled me into seeing the world through different glasses. Well, maybe not a plane crash, but to me the crash symbolized my breaking free from a life that had not served me well. Horses were my salvation as a teenager, and kayaking was an adventure I often used to escape for the mere joy of it during times when I was struggling.
There’s a writing term called, “Deus ex machina”. The Machine of the Gods, is a plot device whereby a seemingly unsolvable problem in a story is suddenly or abruptly resolved by an unexpected and unlikely occurrence.[4][5] Its function is generally to resolve an otherwise irresolvable plot situation, to surprise the audience, to bring the tale to a happy ending or act as a comedic device.[6]A divine sort of rescue that steps in when no other form of salvation will make a difference. I think sometimes the Divine does send a kayaker to rescue us from a burning house, or a horse in shining armor to save us from a fire. These are just metaphors describing an example of the way the “machine of the Gods” can step in at times to offer us some form of grace which our current situation requires.
My point is thus, crash, burn, give up, but know that at any moment, right up until the worst happens, the divine could step in with any sort of s transforming capitulations!
Did that plane crash really happen? No. Were there a dozen kayaks stored inside it to use as an escape route, of course not. But did my mind find a way, when all seemed lost, yes. It certainly did. So, don’t give up. Hang on, your kayak could be something else no one could ever imagine.
Bringinthesheaves 