October 12, 2014

October 12, 2014

Written by Maximus  Peperkamp, M.S. Verbal Behaviorist

Dear Reader, 

This writer had another good night sleep and woke up from a dream about his father. He was seated across the dinner table. His father was talking at him in an admonishing manner and he pointed the knife at him with which he was cutting the meat. This writer, who in the dream still was a little boy, told him not to do that. Moreover, he told him not to do what he himself had instructed his kids not to do. His father put the knife down and walked over to him and his brother, who had agreed and who had said “yes dad, you said so yourself: you should never point a knife at someone at the table.” The two sons were defying their father and were ready to get slapped by him, but it didn’t happen. Instead, as the father came closer, he became smaller and when he had reached around the table, he was no bigger than the two boys themselves. He just stood there as if he was waiting for permission. This writer reached out and his father then crawled onto his lap and put both his arms around him. His brother, who was sitting next to him, also put his arms around his father and they said “you are a good father.”

Yesterday, this writer had watched a movie about World War II, which had made him think again about his father, who was still a little boy at that time. Also, he had had a wonderful barbecue with his wife and they had eaten steak, which they had cut with sharp knives. The dream was a reinterpretation of this writer’s father’s behavior. His knife-pointing was a warning about the terrible danger in the world, which had left him traumatized as a child. A beautiful aspect about the dream was that the brothers were again united in their love for their father. 


This writer no longer has contact with his family, because it was always having negative consequences for him. When he read the dream to his wife, tears flowed down his cheeks. This writer is happy with this dream, which signals the positive changes he is going through. Although he is not going to resume his contact with his family, it feels as if he has. Interestingly, there was nothing in the dream about his mother. For whatever reason, this writer seldom dreams about his mother.