The other night I had a dream that I had to have surgery. It had something to do with my nose. They cut a flap of skin from my cheeks and across my nose and used a drill on the bone of my nose! When the surgery was over, they told me that they used a clear adhesive suture so that people wouldn’t stare. I was horrified at the sight and the pain from the surgery. –Diane, 25, Newport News, VA

Lauri: Going under the knife in a dream is a good indication that there is something in your waking life that needs repair or improvement. Since your nose seems to be the problem in the dream, perhaps “nosiness” is the problem in waking life. Have you been getting all up in someone’s business when you know better? Or has someone been awfully nosy with you, perhaps “drilling” you to get information or juice from you? Whatever the case, you now seem very concerned about how others may perceive you, which is why you were horrified at how you looked. The pain you feel in the dream is about emotional pain you are dealing with in waking life. The message of this dream is: Despite how fresh and uncomfortable this situation is, rest assured that things are on the mend.

Diane replies: Your interpretation definitely makes sense. I am the one person that everyone talks to at work, and sometimes other co-workers try to get personal information out of me that truly is none of their business. The emotional pain probably stems from the loss of a friendship. Someone who had been my best friend since we were kids really hasn’t been there for me and has done some things that really hurt. But your interpretation gives me hope that I will get through this and be a better person for it. Thank you so much!