You're giving a presentation before a group of peers, mingling at a party or standing in front of a classroom when, all of a sudden, you realize you're buck naked. Not a stitch. And, funny thing, no one seems to notice. How long before someone points a finger and everyone's attention is drawn to the fact that you're wearing nothing but a pencil?
This is my recurring dream. In the dream I try to bluff along -- buff bluff? -- acting as though nothing's amiss. If I don't act embarassed, my secret will be safe.
Dream interpreters claim this is a common dream with a classic foundation. Dreaming you're naked in a public place means you are afraid of being exposed, essentially. Maybe you're not quite as prepared for the presentation as you should be or are in a job for which you're unqualified. Maybe you're trying to be something you're not. Maybe you just don't think you're good enough.
The naked-in-public dream contains an important and often overlooked element: no one notices the nakeditity. Interpreters tell us that means our fears are unfounded. No one notices our shortcomings but us, and we should get over it.
Recently, I was browsing around an antique store and came across this print, "Luncheon in the Grass," by Edouard Manet. For reasons I didn't understand at the time, I had to buy it.
Sitting among her cast-off clothes, a woman is having a picnic with two nattily-dressed gentlemen. They're ignoring the presence of her exposed delicates and seem to be discussing current events or whether it's time for cake.
Art history enthusiasts will have other ideas about what this painting means and can tell you about the scandalous stir it caused in its day, but it speaks to me. The naked woman looks at me, outside the dreamlike scene, and says, "See? No one even notices."
And it's true. No matter what my subconscious mind is trying to tell me with the public nudity dream, one thing is reassuring: so far, no one has noticed I'm naked.
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