Dreaming with a Headache

A dream from this morning:

My husband and I went to a religious meeting at a house with diverse-looking people.  The religion was a mix between an eastern and a modern science-based religion. There were car parts in the yard and broken tree limbs everywhere. We followed the group into a big, messy, crowded garage with oil stains on the concrete floor. I wasn't completely sure why we were at the meeting. I felt we would observe and be open minded. I also felt slightly uncomfortable because we are devoted, practicing members of another faith and I didn't want to misrepresent myself.

Suntanned people with white hair and sunglasses sat in the back. They were ready to show a movie to the group, but many people were still in a line for snacks. We skipped the snacks, found chairs, and were waiting for the show to begin.

My husband started talking to those sitting near us about our faith. I was a little embarrassed and afraid. I was waiting to be thrown out, attacked, or at the very least met with rudeness. These were rough-looking people. It didn't feel appropriate to talk about our beliefs in the middle of this other religion's gathering. So I was very surprised when I noticed people respond with interest.Their faces turned toward him, eyes were focused, and they asked to hear more. They weren't angry. Because they wanted to hear him, I was glad he was sharing his beliefs.

I'm not sure why, but I walked away and found a seat at the fringe of the group. I sat by a guy who was using a wheel chair who at first I thought was deaf, perhaps because he had a white board in front of him. I was going to write on the white board to let him know what my husband was saying. Then another guy walked in who looked blind.

"What did he say? I missed it. I was sleeping," said the "blind" man who walked up to the "deaf" guy. He wasn't blind, just tired.

The guy I thought was deaf looked animated and said, "He was talking about his scriptures and how at first they didn't make sense to him, but now they do." He wasn't deaf.

The "blind" and the "deaf" men both looked at me and wanted me to explain what my husband had been saying.

I told them, "There is no escape from life. Life is supposed to be about pain. We were sent here to learn. We learn from suffering."

Both men agreed.

And then I woke up with a vibrant headache.

I don't believe life is supposed to be only about pain. I do believe it's supposed to be about learning. We learn from all kinds of experiences including painful ones, but also from the joyful and pleasurable. It's easy to spend time on pain avoidance but pain does have value.

I didn't immediately take medication for my headache. I needed to eat something first and I was busy, and not yet hungry. That reminded me of a college philosophy professor who questioned why we immediately extinguish pain. He said sometimes he didn't take medication when he had a headache because he wondered if there was something he needed to learn from the pain. Was there anything I needed to learn from that headache?

I took medication and I'm grateful the headache is gone.