THE DREAM I was looking at what seemed to be my bedroom. It looked my bedroom when I was a child. I looked at the paint work which I had recently painted. It actually looked pretty shabby and even dirty. It all looked run down and in need of some work.

THE REALITY The dreamer had recently tidied up his flat after years of mess and disrepair. This had been forced because his landlord had asked to make a flat inspection. Since this he had decided to keep his flat in better order. At the same time he had recently stopped drinking but his health had not significantly improved. He was getting constant pain.

THE INTERPRETATION It is difficult to interpret this dream as it could have two slightly different meanings. The dream may have a literal meaning as the shabby paintwork could be a symbol of his flat starting to descend back into the mess before his flat inspection.

A house can also be a symbol for the human body. This dreamer had recently stopped drinking but his body was not recovering as much as he wished for. The shabby state of the walls could be a shabby state for his own health. Actually this second meaning probably is the most likely. You can never truly tell the meaning of a dream so we will never know. A dream never truly reveals and explains itself. We can only make guesses. Often these guesses are intelligent guesses but in many cases two or more ideas may seem consistent with the dream.