Another passport dream...

About a week ago I had a dream that I thought was significant. I won't go into all the boring detail but it involved me preparing to catch a LARGE plane. Interestingly, I was aware in my dream that I was overseas and the plane was to bring me home, not the other way around. I was in an airport and people were around me, ready to see me off. I was collecting things along the way that I would need, and then - right when I was ready to board, I suddenly stopped frozen with the realisation that I don't have a passport. That was the end of the dream. Except that I remember thinking "But I'm already overseas so I must have got here without one, therefore I'm sure I'll get back without one. I'll just get on the plane and no-one will ask me for it".

Now, in reality my passport has expired and I need to get a new one so maybe the dream was literal but I got the feeling it was more symbolic.

Fast-forward to a couple of nights ago and this time I was stuck in heavy traffic. It was going way too slow and I was in a hurry to get to this place where I was to collect my passport. When I got there, it wasn't an actual passport, it was more of a security ID thing. The lady who gave it to me assured me that it's all I would need. So again, I got the feeling I didn't need the actual passport.

I've been thinking a lot about these dreams and I'm thinking that maybe the passport is my Masters degree. I've been hesitant about starting a supervision program because everyone tells me that in psychology you really should get the Masters. Even though I know plenty of psychologists who don't have it and are very successful, those are psychs who were registered years ago before Masters became the way to go. Medicare rebate for Clinical Psychologists (ie with a Masters) is $110 an hour, but it's only $75 an hour for psychs without a Masters so if I was to bulk-bill, I'd automatically be increasing my income by at least 25% with a Masters degree. And these days most hospitals will only employ Masters graduates and the same with a lot of organisations. But on the other hand, it's hard work, it's expensive and it's time consuming. And you don't actually need it to practice as a psychologist.

Argh, I'm getting myself all confused again but I think both those dreams were telling me that I don't need it. And my gut feeling is that I need to start the supervision program and see where it takes me (ie just get on the plane). The woman who has offered to supervise me is very well regarded in the industry and I'm sure she would have lots of contacts who could possibly help with my career after I'm registered. She is on the board of the Australian Association for Infant Mental Health and her colleague wrote the position paper on Controlled Crying which I spam people with whenever I get a chance. These are people I would LOVE to get to know better.

We'll see. With a bit more meditation and some more passport dreams, I might have an answer...