The dream: I was with some old nursing school friends, and they talked me into a boating trip. (I don’t do boats). Even though I was supposed to be with one of them in the boat, I ended up alone and panicking in an origami boat made of paper with inadequate paddles/oars . (I think they were kitchen spatulas). I got swept away on this paper boat. Ahhhh! The terror. Inevitably, it capsized/sank and I ended up swimming in the Tyne river with two strong undercurrents. I chose the current that took me to shore where some olden day ship building industry was still ongoing. I got out of the river as if it were a swimming pool. Old nursing school friends are nowhere to be seen.
Transportation metaphors such as this commonly refer to the world of work and business. There are many business metaphor structures; shipping is one example. We can talk about launching a business, getting other people on board, running a tight ship, and so on. Construction metaphors are also common in that we can talk about building a business, a business plan, a blueprint, building on solid foundations, and so on.
One of the problems that can arise with transportation modes is the level of control that the traveller can exert over the 4 criteria for reaching an outcome: mode of travel, rate of travel, direction of travel, and distance of travel.
When one is up shit creek without a paddle, then it is very easy to be carried away and end up somewhere that one doesn’t wish to be.
And so we have a similar situation here. Thus, at the beginning of the dream, the dreamer is entering into a situation whereby she relinquishes control of where she is going to end up. Only when she goes completely overboard is she able to go with the flow and exert some control over her destiny.
Of course, the vehicle for her transportation is woefully inadequate, and it seems like the wrong paperwork got her into trouble, and her whole world turns upside down.
As a result, she ends up immersed in something outside of her control, but still manages to avoid getting in too deep, even though she may well be in at the deep end. With two currents trying to take her in different directions, luckily she chooses to go along with the one that enables her to end up in a more secure place. It’s a sure thing.
Unfortunately, this whole sequence of happenings meant that she lost friends.