A couple of months ago, a guy that I was seeing all of a sudden just started ignoring me. I was really hurt because I really liked him and still kind of do. A couple of weeks ago, I had a dream that I had his baby. I didn’t really like the baby and I never wanted to hold it; I just let everyone else play with it. When it was two weeks old, I was sitting in a room by myself holding the baby and it looked at me and said “Why do you turn your neck on me?” I have been trying to make sense of this dream for a long time. Can you?

- Anonymous, Age 16, Eau Claire, WI, USA

Hi Anonymous -

Love can be the greatest... and sometimes it can really be the pits. It also is a big let-down when you get your hopes up for a relationship - and then suddenly someone starts acting like a jerk!

I think this guy you were seeing is acting like a jerk - ignoring you after you’ve been friends for a while - but let’s talk about him later. Right now we want to figure out your dream.

The baby you had with him in the dream represents the feelings that were beginning to grow in your heart as you got further along in your relationship. You liked him a lot, and together, you two were “giving birth” to a new feeling. Now that he’s gone, though, it appears that you want to leave this new feeling stranded. After all, you’re not too crazy about the father right now.

I think the baby also symbolizes something much more important. For better or worse, this romance got you excited about all the potential of a great relationship. But now that it’s suddenly been taken away (him ignoring you) I think you may be “turning your neck” (turning your back) on something more than just this boy. Are you turning your back on love?

It’s normal, after we’ve been hurt in a relationship, to not want to try to love again. Being hurt is painful - and we can decide that we never want to suffer through the misery another time. Your dream, though, holds an important message. Don’t confuse LOVE - which is a very powerful force that you want to cultivate in your life - with this one relationship. In other words, just because this guy wasn’t right doesn’t mean that love is wrong. To the contrary - love is the feeling you really want. The tricky part, which you already are learning, is to find someone who is able to share this magic feeling with you.

What’s the message of this dream? Your ex may be out of the picture - but that doesn’t mean love is! It's time to get excited about love again, anonymous!