Dream Themes
I'm pretty good at remembering my dreams, especially on weekends when I can lie in bed and drift in and out of consciousness for several hours. They tend to be unique, and often entertaining in retrospect, so I try to write them all down. I've never had a recurring dream, where the exact same thing happens every time, but I do have three themes that recur, with variations.
1. The Wedding Dream: I'm not sure this one counts anymore since I haven't had it since college, but back then I had this dream five or six times within the space of a year or so. One of my male friends, a different one each time, never anyone I had a crush on, asks me to marry him. I say yes. Then I renege - the next day, a month later, at the rehearsal dinner, one time at the altar. I hated this dream because I would feel guilty the entire next day, even though I knew it was only a dream.
2. The Teeth-Falling-Out Dream: This is apparently a common one. The most annoying thing about it is that every time I've had it after the first time I stop, in the dream, and remember that I've had this dream before, and think that this might be another such dream. So I feel around in my mouth to see if my teeth are all there, and they're not. I can feel the gums and the empty spaces where my teeth should be, and sometimes blood dripping down my hand from the sockets, so I accept that it's NOT a dream, that my teeth really ARE falling out, and I proceed to freak out. This is why I am skeptical of philosophies that say reality can be accessed through sensory perception.
3. The Nowhere to Shower Dream: I had a variation of this one last night. This one takes place in a large house crammed with people, often getting ready for a wedding or a dance or some other event that requires getting dressed up. I need a shower, but every time I find one it's already in use, or in the middle of a crowded living room or something with no shower curtain, or when I do find one I can use and start undressing someone barges in and starts brushing their teeth or something, so I put my pants back on and keep looking.
Wait! I forgot one!
4. The Worst Shift Ever: I had this one all the time when I was waitressing, and it still comes back to haunt me every so often. I'm at work, waiting tables. I have way more tables than I could ever possibly handle, and everything that could possibly go wrong does, except things that are so wrong that I could be reasonably expected to stop waiting tables. No tornadoes or Godzilla attacks, just dropped trays and mixed-up orders and over-cooked steaks. The worst part about this dream is that when I wake up I feel like I've just gotten off work, when it's actually just time to begin.
1. The Wedding Dream: I'm not sure this one counts anymore since I haven't had it since college, but back then I had this dream five or six times within the space of a year or so. One of my male friends, a different one each time, never anyone I had a crush on, asks me to marry him. I say yes. Then I renege - the next day, a month later, at the rehearsal dinner, one time at the altar. I hated this dream because I would feel guilty the entire next day, even though I knew it was only a dream.
2. The Teeth-Falling-Out Dream: This is apparently a common one. The most annoying thing about it is that every time I've had it after the first time I stop, in the dream, and remember that I've had this dream before, and think that this might be another such dream. So I feel around in my mouth to see if my teeth are all there, and they're not. I can feel the gums and the empty spaces where my teeth should be, and sometimes blood dripping down my hand from the sockets, so I accept that it's NOT a dream, that my teeth really ARE falling out, and I proceed to freak out. This is why I am skeptical of philosophies that say reality can be accessed through sensory perception.
3. The Nowhere to Shower Dream: I had a variation of this one last night. This one takes place in a large house crammed with people, often getting ready for a wedding or a dance or some other event that requires getting dressed up. I need a shower, but every time I find one it's already in use, or in the middle of a crowded living room or something with no shower curtain, or when I do find one I can use and start undressing someone barges in and starts brushing their teeth or something, so I put my pants back on and keep looking.
Wait! I forgot one!
4. The Worst Shift Ever: I had this one all the time when I was waitressing, and it still comes back to haunt me every so often. I'm at work, waiting tables. I have way more tables than I could ever possibly handle, and everything that could possibly go wrong does, except things that are so wrong that I could be reasonably expected to stop waiting tables. No tornadoes or Godzilla attacks, just dropped trays and mixed-up orders and over-cooked steaks. The worst part about this dream is that when I wake up I feel like I've just gotten off work, when it's actually just time to begin.