Self-recognition

Dream: Earlier in the dream people I love and trust offer positive reflections of me, which I discount and disregard. Then this image…in a cabinet I find a small clear glass jar and see what appears to be a large garlic head inside. I open the top of the jar and immediately a large whitish gold snail begins to crawl out. It’s coming out of its shell and quickly coming out of the jar! It seems to sparkle and glisten. I wonder why it’s there and so alive and vibrant.

There are many ways to see this and how it felt for me was: what first appears as a garlic head - useful, but ordinary becomes something alive and radiant. This suggests a shift from ‘this is just what I am, nothing special’ to ‘there is something living and beautiful here I hadn’t recognized’. It’s less self-improvement and more self-recognition. And if recognized - coming ‘out of my shell’, is a move in the right direction. Exploring the symbolism of the snail may deepen the meaning further.