Dream: a semi-recurring dream involving my ex that involved us trying to get a chance to talk but not quite making it anywhere private. Constant interruptions. He asks me a few questions, tells me I've changed, or that something is different, or he doesn't feel this way or that way... and then he's gone and someone says to me from out of nowhere, "well, take heart dear, penguins mate for life." That penguin thing, it's said a lot in my dreams. Also, I usually feel like I'm right there inside of these dreams.
Significant events: lots of change in the past year/few months especially. Promoted at work, stressed out about school, getting ready to take (and pass) my roller derby skills test.
Background: female, 31, Chicago dwelling, caucasian, single, librarian
No history of mental illness or depression.
How I feel about people in dream: My ex-boyfriend: I love him. Miss him. Don't understand what happened and want to fix it. He was the first for me for a lot of things, and I feel like the situation my life was in at the time made me inadvertently make a mess of things. He's a great guy, I have nothing but love and respect for him. But I feel incredibly regretful for crumbling under everything else and not giving him what he needed from me for our relationship to grow.
When and how often: I had this dream twice in the last two weeks. Have had it before, in variations, probably about seven times in the past year.