Dreaming
Two Dreams, Same Conversation
How an escalating dream series grabs our attention when we'd rather look away.
Posted August 6, 2026 Reviewed by Margaret Foley
Key points
- A dream can be an unmistakable reflection of a current daytime struggle.
- Remembering two or more dreams from the same night is evidence of a continuing conversation.
- Dream conversations that incorporate escalation can encourage us to take action when we are avoidant.
- Plays on words and puns are powerful clues for dream analysis.
Bonnie came to me with two dreams from two consecutive nights. Although the dreams seemed unrelated, our analysis showed why they stayed together in her mind: The second dream continued the internal conversation that the first dream began.
The First Dream
"In the first dream, I'm in bed and hear someone lurking around. I call out, 'Who's there?' A woman comes out of the shadows. Although I don't know the woman, I recognize her as someone familiar.
"I get up and see the woman's purse, which is smoking. I grab the purse and open the patio door to throw it in the yard, but then I realize there are flames outside and the house is catching on fire. I come back inside screaming at the woman: 'You set my house on fire!'
"She's standing there, recording me with her phone. She never says a word the entire dream."
The Discussion
I asked, “Are you feeling someone inside your space lately? Maybe not just inside your space, but creating a potential hazard.”
Bonnie answered, “I'm thinking about my niece. My mom has been discussing her lately. Because of that, I feel like she's inside my space.
"My niece is also a bit of a stranger to me. It's just like in the dream. She 'came out of the shadows' recently. Although we are family, we spend very little time together. Every once in a while, I text or message her, but she mostly doesn’t respond."
I wondered, "Does this feel like how you recognize the woman as 'someone familiar' in the dream?"
“It's definitely about her. My mom shared with me the day before the dream that she's very worried about my niece, who is going through a tough time financially. My mom loves her so much. She sent my niece some relief and has been trying to contact her, but hasn't gotten a response in weeks."
I responded, “Considering how protective you are of your mom, I can understand how this incident could feel like it invades your space.”
Bonnie said, “Yes. This bothers me because on the rare occasion that we do see each other, she never puts her phone down. So, I know she sees our texts.”
Bonnie added, "I'm also sure this is about my niece because of the purse. She's been having trouble with money, and in my dream, the purse is smoking. That's almost funny, but not, the way she burns through money."
Next, Bonnie told me about the dream she had the following night.
The Second Dream
"I'm driving, but I stop the car. I try to back up, but something is preventing me. I get out and see my sister on the ground, under the wheels of the car. She looks dead. (My sister passed away five years ago, and my niece is her daughter.)
"Now I'm frantically trying to call 911. The phone doesn't let me dial, and somehow, I have no voice on the phone. I scream at my sister to wake up, and finally she does. I tell her to stay still; I will go get help.
"I run to the nearest street and start asking people to lend me their phone, but the same thing happens. The phone won't cooperate, and I have no voice. I decide to go back to my sister and carry her to the hospital myself.
"I run back to the car, but when I get there, both she and the car are gone."
The Discussion
I commented, "The fact that you cannot get through with the phone or use your voice to get help reminds me of your inability to contact your niece or speak to her."
Bonnie concurred. "Yes, that fits. I'm wondering why both the car and my sister were gone when I returned. It's like the action stopped."
Hearing Bonnie's choice of language, I jumped in. "I'm struck by how you say, 'the action stopped.'"
Bonnie caught her play on words. "That's what happens. She reaches out for financial help to my mom, and when she gets the help, she disappears. My mom is left, not knowing.
"In the second dream, with both my sister and the car disappeared, I am also left not knowing."
"Good observation!" I exclaimed. "Remember, though, your plan was to carry your sister to help. This would have continued the action."
Bonnie reflected, "Yes. Perhaps, even though she may not respond, if I try to reach out to my niece, I would be continuing the action."
I agreed. "You would be treating the dream, where the action stops, as a 'call to action.'"
Bonnie responded, "Perhaps that's the dream's message right there: My lack of voice inside the last dream. Even now, I can feel my ability to speak rising.
"I'm going to reach out to her. Maybe I'll be successful getting her. At the very least, I might be able to give my mom some peace of mind."
What We Can Learn
By describing her dreams out loud, Bonnie caught various plays on words: how her niece "burns through" money and "stops the action," and even how her own inability to speak in her dream ultimately "drives" her to express herself in waking life.
The second dream augments both the urgency of the situation and the theme of speechlessness from the first dream. This intensification illustrates how an interior conversation that began the day before the first dream appears with increasing force in the dreamer's sleep. The escalating conversation through dreams forces the dreamer to notice her lack of speech and opens the door to changing her response. She is now answering the "call to action" by deciding to reach out to her niece.
Given that every dream is, in fact, an interior conversation, the dreamer can change her dream and, in so doing, change her response in the conversation. The simple act of imagining a different response in a dream can help you start to reconsider your inner conversations around difficult issues and guide you toward changing your response in waking life.
