I am a Filipina currently in (cyber)love with a Hollander. We have known each other since January 1998 (through a chatroom) and we have been officially “going steady” for about 2 months now. We have plans of seeing each other next year. Anyway, his most recent mail to me included a dream he had and if I’m not mistaken, it was his 5th dream about us. I’ve yet to experience a substantial dream about us myself. Please allow me to write the unedited portion of his letter pertaining to his dream hoping to receive some insights and eventually, to understand its meaning. Thank you in advance.

My boyfriend wrote:

“It was like the weirdest dream I ever had. Okay here we go: It started with me having a flash “I have to see her NOW.” I raced to the airport and within 10 minutes I was there (impossible because I live further away) and when I got there I saw that I was only wearing one shoe - the ones I use for working. Then I discovered that I hadn’t packed anything and then suddenly I was in a tourist tour. They shouted at me “Hey, stay here you can’t leave!” I felt like brainwashed for a few minutes and then I heard a voice in my mind again, “You have to go to Phoebe!” so I escaped from the tour and got on the plane. I arrived in Manila late in the night and I searched for your house but I couldn’t find it. And then suddenly I saw you (light again). You looked at me and then walked on. I ran after you and took your hand and we looked at each other in the eyes. You had tears in your eyes. As we stood there for a few minutes, we could feel all our feelings and love for each other of the past months flow through our bodies. It was like....like.... I dunno....special. We didn’t say anything but just that moment was so great! Then instead of the Phillipines we were in the Netherlands. Don’t ask me how that went! And then only vague things...a house with blue exterior....and us together as if we had always been together....I don’t know if that was the end of the dream, but that’s all I remember. Oh no, one more stupid thing. When I saw you, I wanted to say your name, but I couldn’t say it. We should have these dream of mine analyzed. Probably the outcome will be that I’m completely nuts!”

--Phoebe, Age 29, PHILLIPINES

Hi Phoebe -

I think your cyber-lover’s dream is fairly straight-forward in that it shows a lot of things that he has been thinking about and planning in his life. That he will come to the Phillipines to visit you, that perhaps also you will go the Netherlands and be with him. I think it is significant that he has only one shoe as he departs - and that it is his work shoe. This most likely indicates that he is not prepared yet to make this trip (which in real life he is not, as you two are planning on seeing each other next year). The symbolism of the work shoe most likely is that he needs to arrange his work time off, or that he is concerned about having enough money yet for the expense of the trip.

The most interesting part of the dream, to me, is that your cyber- boyfriend is unable to say your name to you. You two are far away from each other and have never been together in person. His inability to say your name most likely reflects his own awareness that, despite your communication through the Internet, he still doesn’t know you very well. Often when people are imagining people whom they have not yet met they experience dreams where they are with the person, but unable to see their face. (See “Can’t See His Face!” in this section). I think his dream may be a variation on this.

I wish the best of luck to both of you. If the Internet can bring love between two people on opposite sides of the world, then it must be a very good invention indeed!