I have this disturbing recurring dream as an adult about floating fish. I have had aquariums since I was a child. I find the fish outside the tank, floating around it, transparent, very difficult to see, but they are there, many of them. It is a haunting, frightening sight. I know they are going to die if they don’t get back in the tank. I don’t know how to save them. That is how the dream ends. –Brenda, Las Vegas

Lauri: You may get this dream whenever you are in a situation that makes you feel like “a fish out of water,” whenever you are feeling like you don’t fit in. It can also happen when something is “up in the air,” when there is uncertainty and you are having a hard time “seeing” the situation for what it really is. It may also be about something that once was in a safe, controlled environment (the tank) but is now out there and in jeopardy of not working out or ending. This might even refer to worry about your own children (if you are a mom), who were once in the safety of your home but are now on their own.

Brenda replies: Yes, I am a mother of four. Three of the children are out on their own. I believe the aquarium is “home” as I used to know it, where I kept all my children safe and protected, where I could always see them! Now that they are grown and gone, I can no longer see them, no longer protect them. It makes perfect sense now! At last I understand!