Personal Statement

Dream: I am with my father in a boat beside a beach. We are fishing. Suddenly I catch a big fish, but then I lose him as I'm reeling in. We get out of the boat and walk down the beach. We see two men in a boat hauling in a big fish. I say to them "That's my fish!" But they glare at me, and I feel intimidated by them. My dad says that's not a fish at all, but a milk seal. Its head is on the beach beside us, its body on the men's boat. Then I notice on the boat beside the carcass of the deal milk seal is a baby milk seal. He's embracing the carcass, crying for his mother. I feel his pain. I turn away-- his pain is too great, too raw. Now I hope someone will put him out of his misery, kill him. I turn back to look at the baby seal, and see that the men have done just that, they've beheaded the baby seal. Now I feel tremendous regret, sadness, and loss.