Vox

I Dream of ... Apples?

Or at least I did last night. I imagine it was related to the pie, but with me there is no telling. Which makes me wonder whether my dreaming experiences are universal or unique.

For instance, the things I think may be a bit odd about my dreams:

* I always dream. I know that everyone supposedly dreams, but I always remember them (OK, 97% of the time) When I wake up, I know what I have been dreaming; if I write it down or tell someone, it sticks, otherwise I only remember for a few hours.

TMI below:

* I generally know that I am dreaming, while I am dreaming. At least, I have an underlying feeling of it being a dream - which serves to make them more amusing/interesting/comfortable/frustrating.

* On that note, I often redo parts of the dreams, during the dream. Over and over until it works right. (e.g. say I am walking along a road and come to a lake. I may try to swim across, but when I get out on the other side, my subconscious isn't satisfied. So, I am at the other edge again, and this time there is a boat and I row across. Then I try it in a boat with a motor. Then maybe I turn and walk along the bank instead. Then I see there is a bridge and cross....) Over and over one little part of the dream replays until I get a 'satisfactory' outcome, and the dream continues. That can happen at several points in the dream and I am almost always aware that it is a dream and find myself amused (or irritated) that I am stuck in a loop.

* If I like a dream, or I am unsatisfied with how/where it ended, I can easily get back to it either by going right back to sleep or thinking about it later as I drift off.

* I can often start dreams however I choose; place, time, subject, people. I can sometimes (actually, often. If it is one of those dream in which I am aware) steer a dream while I am in it. This sort of applies to those loops I get caught in - I can't force the loop to stop before it is ready, but I can think of options and try them.

* I have had several instances of recurring 'themes' in my dreams that I didn't control. The last one was the phrase "it is done" showing up somehow every night for 2 weeks; someone would say it, I would see someone write it on a notepad, at a glamorous shindig all the tables were elegantly decked out with floral centerpieces - complete with little flags that said "It is done", watching a receptionist type it into the computer.... All different dreams, all different places, all different people - same phrase. Those are the dreams that freak me out.

* I used to have unbelievable nightmares (not boogeymen or vampires, real people being very bad) that would cause me to wake up, heart racing - but I haven't had anything like that in at least a decade. Maybe two.

As an aside: I occasionally talked in my sleep as a child. I not only taught myself not to jabber, I also taught myself not to toss-n-turn. Now, I am a very passive sleeper. I don't disturb my covers at all, so when I am alone making the bed is a breeze :-)

Posted by Vox at December 1, 2008 10:56 PM | personal