Dream work

I had a dream about the newspaper the other night. It's one of many I've had since the layoff.

Most often I have these dreams after encountering a former colleague, hearing news of another layoff, or explaining my current job status to someone in the community. I believe this particular dream was prompted by the news that one of my favorite former editors had left newspapers after 30+ years for a different line of work.

Almost always, the dreams focus on me working on some task that has no end or some problem that has no solution. Sometimes, they involve me being treated badly by supervisors I thought respected and appreciated my work. I always wake up exhausted.

This dream was different: The DNT pressroom sat in a separate building on a hill directly above the DNT newsroom. I was the senior newsroom manager on duty, leaving for the night. I looked up as the electronic sign broke away from the pressroom building. A janitor stood outside, also watching the sign fall. Sparks flew. I could see flames in the pressroom windows. I frantically called 911 on my cell phone and the publisher, a former publisher who had just returned to the paper. My desperation to reach the publisher grew as I watched firefighters trying to rescue the workers in the newsroom, which now also was on fire. I felt I should run in and save my former colleagues, but to do so might cost me my life.

I shared my dream today with a former colleague. We laughed as we started to consider all of the potential hidden meanings behind the dream. My thoughts sobering, I commented on the fact that the former publisher, in real life, recently died.

Moving on, or still spiraling downward?