Last night, I dreamed that I was in the grocery store here in Millinocket. There was someone in the meat section who looked familiar to me but I couldn't remember who it was. Since he was here in Millinocket, I was referencing my internal files for Millinocket and couldn't find him there anywhere. Then I had the feeling he was someone I had known before moving to Millinocket. He noticed me, and I could see that he knew me as well. He didn't say anything but it seemed that he was waiting for me to. I was embarrassed to admit that I didn't know who he was. I had the feeling that he was someone with whom I was friendly when we came across one another, and that we probably ate together in a restaurant sometimes, but I didn't have the impression that we had been close friends. Still, I should know who he was. Finally, I admitted that I couldn't remember his name. "I'm sorry. I know that I know you but I am drawing a blank," I said. Or something to that effect. "We were friends once," he replied, with an emphasis on the last word. Then he walked away.
Wow that is a pretty powerful dream that can mean many things, and it is sort of creepy in the way I am sure that it stayed with you even when you woke. I don't think I know what "I was referencing my internal files for Millinocket" means exactly, you were someplace where you had a computer? Where were you? It is strange but the verse from the Pink Floyd Echoes song springs to my mind here, "Strangers passing in the street By chance two separate glances meet And I am you and what I see is me" Could it be that ONCE, you had a different drive and a different ambition that you sort of recall but can't put a name to anymore? I think the point to meditate on would be the restaurant, because at one time you broke bread together or so you thought. I think that symbol will unlock the meaning for you. Eating together might mean once you fed both ambitions. My guess- Logic seems to have over ridden something that might have been more artistic perhaps. Your shadow self wants time to express itself. Only you know what medium is best.
I was referring to however my brain files away information. Some people I might know that I remember from church, although I may not be able to recall their names. I might recognize someone else from my time as a paramedic. Sometimes I will see someone who looks familiar when I am in another part of the state and know that he is from Millinocket. Rather than going through the entire list of everyone I have ever met in my life, I tend to recall them according to reference points.
I hope you will get to see your once-friend again. That it would be a wonderful, sweet meeting again. I hope he calls you and regale you with how he has been in life.
This does happen, we can recognize the face but not remember the name. Yes, it doesn't happen to me if its a very close friend, or someone who left quite an impression on my along the way, but I have had this happen none the less with people I knew. Did you ever figure out who the person in your dream was? I think its funny that you were dreaming about them all of a sudden. Makes me wonder if maybe they could pop up again in your life.
No, I can't picture the face anymore. In the dream, I recognized him but couldn't place him. I've lived in a lot of places and have done a lot of things, so that wouldn't be unusual. However, unless someone has changed considerably, I will generally know who my friends are. After twenty years as a paramedic and paramedic instructor, I came to know a lot of people in EMS, fire departments, and police departments in southern Texas. When I would see them in uniform or in a familiar context, I would know who they are. But if I were to come across someone that I knew then in a grocery store in Millinocket, Maine, I might feel the way that I did in the dream.
Hope that person's name comes to you so that you can call them and say "Hey I was thinking about you and decided to call". You meet so many people during your life time it is hard to remember everyone as well as you want to even if you had a close releationship.
It was a dream though, so it may not be an actual person. My dream self recognized him but dreams are not necessarily to be taken at face value.
Ken, I don't know if you believe in reincarnation or not, but there are some who would say it was possibly someone from a past life, or maybe even a future life.