Dream of using many keys in an old house, finding objects from earlier in life in boxes, and a friend saying I and the objects are 'free to go'. Told at Noah's Yard, Swansea, event funded by the Royal Institute of Philosophy, 17th January 2024

I am outside an old house, I don't know where it is. It looks like a hotel, very posh, with gold light coming from the windows. I peer through a window and see a large room with old furniture. I knock on the door as I want to use the toilet, but there is no answer. I go in and look around what is a large reception room, there is no bathroom to use, it is empty but with wooden, very ornamental furniture. It is not really creepy but is instead inviting, drawing me in with curiosity. I find a keyhole in a furniture drawer and look for the key, and then find more keyholes and more keys. There are twenty to thirty keyholes and I unlock them in turn like a combination lock. The keys are all metal and of different shapes and sizes. I enjoy this and feel like I am piecing together a puzzle. From this dark, brown room with wooden floors and wooden furniture I go into a room that has concrete walls and is undecorated and not well lit. Having unlocked the locks seems to have allowed me into this room. The only furniture in this room is tables, on which are cardboard boxes. In the boxes there are objects that I know had been mine many years ago, including tools and a pottery vase and other pottery items. I had not seen them for years. I then see a friend who says 'congratulations, you and your things are free to go'. I leave, but without the objects, and have a feeling of relief.
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Julia chose pages to paint on with a large indented paragraph on the left-hand side, so as to depict the house seen from the outside, and three indented sentences on the right-hand side which had shapes like keys. In reference to the vase and other pottery items, Julia highlighted 'and hollow containers', and, as the objects were from earlier in life, Julia highlighted 'told the story of the forgotten' and 'reminiscence of a scene in my childhood'. Regarding the undecorated concrete room, Julia highlighted 'enclosed in my cavern', and, in reference to the friend, 'dreams, expressed a friend'.         

In the discussion the dreamer told of liking physical or mechanical puzzles, and of recently having evaluative thoughts about past friendships. 

This Dream Salon was organised by University of Wales Trinity Saint David as part of the Philosophy Conversations series of online and face-to-face public engagements, funded by and in collaboration with the Royal Institute of Philosophy.