When Life Experiences Mix with Inherited Judgments
In the dream, I found myself in the heart of a lush forest. I was there with my father and other family members. Among the trees, one caught my attention the most—a tall, sturdy cherry plum tree, its branches twisting through a narrow path among the other trees. Some of the fruits were ripe, their color deep and their taste sweet. Others were still green and firm, and I knew they were sour. But strangely, only a few plums remained on the tree; the rest seemed to have been picked. Next to this tree stood a peach tree. But there were no peaches on its branches—instead, the fruits were neatly arranged in a wooden box, pink and enticing, like something that calls to you from afar. I had seen the cherry plum tree in another dream before. And now it had returned.
Sometimes, an experience in our lives seems simple at first glance: seeing a scene, hearing a phrase, or even dreaming of a tree with unripe and ripe fruits. But these simple experiences, if we look closely, can sometimes echo a deep inner knot—one that doesn’t allow us to feel at ease.
In the dream you just read about, there was a forest full of trees, fruits with different flavors, and a family nearby. A sweet fruit that brings doubt and judgment instead of joy. A beautiful experience that is immediately questioned: “What if this isn’t good? What if I shouldn’t enjoy it?” This is where real life enters the gray zone of learned judgments.
There’s a confusion within you: something pleases you, but your mind instantly searches for interpretations and judgments you’ve learned from others. It’s as if you can’t stay with the experience itself—you have to consider what your father, mother, or society would think about it.
Clear signs of this state appear in the dream:
- The green forest: A symbol of a lively yet tangled and unknown psyche. Something inside you is alive, but it hasn’t yet found its path.
- The cherry plum tree with sweet and sour tastes: Mixed experiences—you don’t know if they’re truly good or bad because your mind has learned to always seek external meanings.
- The box of pink peaches: Beautiful and orderly, yet detached from the natural flow of life. Like a success you have, but it doesn’t feel real.
- The recurring dream of the cherry plum tree: Your mind is still preoccupied with this image. It’s as if it’s tried repeatedly to understand it but hasn’t found a way to truly grasp it.
- The presence of family: Your inner voice is still preoccupied with others’ opinions. You have a personal experience, but you’ve outsourced its interpretation to what you’ve heard in the past.
In this state, an inner duality forms: between what you feel and what you “should” feel. And this gap is where joy, meaning, and even decision-making get lost.
But how can you move past this knot?
The way forward is to transition from seeing to tasting:
- Touch the experience, don’t just observe: In the dream, you only saw. You didn’t pick or taste the fruit. It’s the same in life. You see many things but don’t engage with them. It’s time to step into the experience.
- Build your own language: If something feels sweet or sour to you, don’t let others define its meaning. Ask yourself: What do I truly feel? Where does this feeling come from?
- Connect beauty to its roots: A box of beautiful peaches, if they come from a barren tree, has a superficial meaning. Outer life, if not rooted in inner growth, won’t last. Try to build your beauty from your own roots.
- If the tree has returned, touch it this time: The cherry plum tree has reappeared in your dream. This means your mind is still ready to learn something from it. This time, don’t just look. Go and touch it. Let yourself taste its flavor.
Summary
We all have an inner voice that asks: “Is this feeling right? Is this action good?” This voice isn’t always bad, but when it blocks real experience, it becomes an obstacle. Your dream is telling you that it’s time to make your experiences your own—not through past judgments, but through what you feel now.
Perhaps it’s time to move beyond looking and start living. To distance yourself from inherited meanings and build a new language for your own feelings.
Because only in authentic experience does meaning become real.
