The Undiscovered Roof. . .

View from the roof just after dusk

Sky Tower from the Roof of Avoka Apartments

Ok. The illusion/pun in the title of this blog post is probably not obvious. It refers to "The Undiscovered Room", which has great significance to me as a dream. More on that later. But the Undiscovered Roof is a Real Thing. Our landlord, who happened to be in town when we first checked in, told us to be sure to go up to the roof, and gave us the 4-digit code for access. For whatever reason, John and I kept forgetting about it. What? How could we? The roof, complete with view, from a highrise downtown. But we did. Maybe it was because the view was pretty spectacular from our 8th floor balcony. We finally remembered to go up there the other night. And it IS spectacular. However, it really is FALL here. The days are short, so by 5:30p, it's dark. Isn't it funny how science really does work? We really ARE in the southern hemisphere, and the tilt of the earth really Does account for reverse seasons. Yay. Science. Anyway, I'll let you see some other photos from the top. It is lovely, though a bit chilly once the sun goes down. As low as 51F, though usually only down to 55F or so. The structure that is reminiscent of the Space Needle in downtown Seattle is called The Sky Tower, and is a landmark for us, since if we're close, that means we can navigate home. Usually.

Panorama of view from the roof

The Pink Walkway really is that pink. It was a former exit ramp to the highway that was no longer necessary for cars, so Auckland turned it into a walk/bike connection between downtown and the K-street area where we live. Nice that they found a use for it. The lights actually change colors throughout the night.

The last image is a panorama, using my trusty IPhone. It looks sort of unreal, but I do like how the moon, nearly full, is centered over the whole scene.

And as to The Undiscovered Room. When we first moved to Boise, I started having this recurring dream about finding a room that I didn't know existed. Sometimes it was in the house I lived in, but more often it was in a house that I had never lived in (but was living in during the dream), or in a house that we were looking at with the intention of buying. It was one of those dreams that stuck with me.  It turns out that this is a THING. The undiscovered room dream has been analyzed extensively by psychology-types. As the story goes, it is a subconscious manifestation of the realization that one is not living up to a portion of their own potential. Here's some verbage from various websites:
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To dream of discovering new rooms is often a symbol of realizing new aspects of your own personality.  The analogy is that you thought you knew yourself so well, but suddenly circumstances have arisen that have revealed there is far more to you than you previously thought.  These kinds of dreams are a great gift, they challenge you to outgrow previous limited perceptions, and to embrace growth and change in your life.

Even if the rooms you discover are old and neglected, it still is a positive sign that there are aspects of yourself you may have forgotten about, but still exist as very real parts of who you are.  The fact that you are dreaming about these rooms means there is still some value to be gained from going there.  It can help if you have a dream like this to take time to contemplate lessons from the past that may be relevant now.  Items you find in the room may give you a clue as to what the message is about.  Look for childhood toys, items you may have used in work or school, things that remind you of a close friend or family member who may have had a special influence on you.  Then consider how these may relate to what is going on in your life right now.

Discovering new rooms in a dream invites you to step outside of what you had accepted as reality, to expand your horizons.  Discovering new rooms can mean learning new skills, traveling to new places or taking on new responsibility, or it can mean rediscovering something special about your self and your history you thought was lost.  Dreaming of discovering new rooms challenge you to move past your self imposed limitations, and to embrace a new and exciting way of living that you never thought possible before.
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I had these dreams prior to embarking on my second career as a studio artist. I haven't had one in a long time now. Now I simply dream of walking through potential homes (no hidden or undiscovered rooms) and a black-and-white collie-mutt who lives with us. Let's hope that I haven't left any potential within myself unexamined at this late date. Or maybe I should hope that I have?