“Atlantis” by Lizette Perez
“Every night when I go to sleep, I die. Every morning when I wake up, I am reborn.” Ghandi
I have always been a dreamer, a visionary, someone who can spin ideas into form. The imaginative realm has been my creative playground, one that has always felt quite natural. In truth, we all are dreamers, and our dreams come in any number of ways. Whether we are looking out a window and thinking about where we’d rather be, or watching a movie, so engrossed in the story that we feel we are the characters, or are asleep and in the midst of a dream, we all have the ability to touch a deeper part of ourselves — the one who is unlimited, the one who colors outside of the lines. When we connect with “the one who sees,” our perceptions broaden as we are shown a world much bigger and more connected than we could ever imagine.
When I woke up on December 25, 2020, I knew I had just experienced a dream that felt more life-like than any I’ve had. I hurried to find pen and paper to record it quickly before the dream’s energy dissipated and vanished into the day’s activities. And though it was a “personal” dream, that is, one in which I was the dreamer, I truly feel it speaks to what we are all going through — our soul’s transformation.
The Dream:
I was in a car, driving a father and child to the airport. Their car had broken down, and I was helping them along their way. As we sped along, we passed a grassy side area where my eyes caught sight of a little white dog laying very still. He appeared dead.
“Probably from a car,” I thought.
I said a quick prayer for the dog’s soul, but before I could finish it, the little dog weakly raised his head and looked directly at me. Stunned that he could be alive, I immediately pulled the car over and rushed to his side. He was indeed still alive, but barely. I gently cradled his head in my hands, stroking his fur, gently comforting him, looking into his soft eyes. All of a sudden, I saw that there were many, many other dogs laying still in the grassy area. They all had been “hit” and left for dead. But they, too, were lifting their heads, one after the other. There was a dalmatian, a chocolate lab, a little black spaniel and many others, each in various stages of “waking up.” The little black spaniel tried to lick the dew on the grass. I remembered a water bottle in the car and raced to get it, knowing that I only had a short window of time to help them. Though the water bottle was only half full, I went from dog to dog making sure they each had a chance to drink, for they were all waking up and lifting their heads — they were all coming back to life. The more they drank, the more water magically appeared in the bottle so that there was plenty for all, reminding me of the Biblical “fish and loaves” story.
The joy I felt as the miraculous event unfolded was uncontainable.
“Look!” I shouted to the father and child. “See? Do you really see what has happened here? They’re alive!” By then my passengers were standing outside the car; they had been quietly watching all along.
And then I woke up.
I don’t know about you, but I love to reflect on my dreams. They are so fascinating — like puzzles you have to figure out to see the entire picture. I always notice the details, the colors, the time of day. But most importantly, I notice the images and feelings I walk away with. What did the dream represent?
For me the dream had a feeling of:
souls coming back to life,
souls waking up in various stages,
rebirth,
a new chance at life.
I can’t help but notice that we all spent 2020 “waking up to a new reality” and going through unparalleled transformation. Ready or not, we were kicked into evolving personally and collectively. This dream offers a glimmer of hope: even if we feel we’re at the end of life as we’ve known it, we are being given another chance to choose differently. New perspectives, new opportunities, new beginnings. Waking up in 2021 might just be our best opportunity to see, maybe for the first time, who we really are.
I write more stories like this one every few weeks. If you’re interested, you can receive them by email when I publish them by signing up here.
You can find out more about me by visiting tamihendrix.com.