Crossing Racial Lines
I am with group of people at a party on a patio. A a woman I'm interested in is sitting in front of me in what appears to be a large chair with a tall back and sweeping armrests. As I approach her she seems to be almost surrounded by something, like a blanket or dark upholstery. I ask and she agrees to dance. I realize she has been sitting in the lap of very very large black man. I think to myself that he was so large and dark it was like he was invisible. I immediately apologize. I think there's no way I can tell him I didn’t see him because he was so dark and large. Instead I make a comment or even possibly ask how tall he is. He is obviously taken back. I then ask him if it's OK if I dance with the woman, because they're obviously friends, at least, he says it's perfectly fine and we go off to dance.
As I am with her we start discussing my interactions with her friend. I have obviously offended him. We are in the same scene but our positions have changed. He has moved across an open space and climbed inside a small open shed. He is now completely invisible but we are talking.
I try to apologize for the way we met. I explicitly apologize for my comment about his height. There is another topic we need to talk about that I'm also embarrassed about. It is very specific. It may be someone's name. It is even more reluctant to talk about this. But as the conversation continues he slowly engages with me and emerges from the shadows. He stands up, comes out into the light and we begin a full conversation.
I awake.
Notes. As I awaken I review the dream and name it. I feel that his coming out of the shed was like a bear coming out of its den. I am able to go back into the dream or the dream state a couple of more times. I forget the detail the dreams.The theme of bridging cultural divides comes directly from my waking life. I am actively trying to cross racial lines and understand the differences between by coming up with ways to communicate less awkwardly.
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