All I have to do is dream

Last night I dreamed I amputated both of my arms just below the shoulder. Although I don't remember the surgical section of my dream, there is no doubt in my mind that I performed the procedure myself. (Don't ask me how I removed the second arm.) The surgery took place in the garage of my childhood home. As I stood there, looking at my arms lying the trunk of my father's car, I felt no pain. I didn't think, "My god, I have no arms!" Instead, I thought, "Mom and Dad are going to be really angry when they find out. Well, it couldn't be helped." I briefly considered putting my severed arms on ice, thinking they could be re-attached at a later time, but then I realized what a sham this would be: my arms were never going to be part of my body again and I decided to throw them out. Mercifully, it was then that I woke up.

I looked up amputation in Garuda's Dreamer's Dictionary when I got to work this morning. Apparently it "always indicates emotional loss in the near future. Undergoing an amputation means separation from a loved one. Amputation of a hand means your actions are restricted; or that you are not 'sharing' enough with others.... Dreaming about amputation means that your life has been torn apart and your peace of mind is under attack. The part being amputated usually refers to parts of ourselves that haven't been functioning properly." So then I looked up arm and learned that "dreaming about having one arm missing: you are suffering from painful inhibitions." No word on having two arms missing. "The image of the arm represents your ability to express your emotions, thoughts, or needs, and to either realize or destroy them."

To be honest, I think the most telling part of the dream was that I was worried what my parents, both of whom died years ago, would think. But I'm not sure how to look that up in a dream dictionary.