Have you ever had dreams where you are trying to escape from bad guys, but can never quite get away? Those dreams, and others of their ilk, leave me – not refreshed but exhausted when I wake up – but glad I woke up, I certainly am.
Or have you ever had dreams where you can fly? I have asked others if they have, and my informal survey shows that many haven’t. I get flying dreams about once a month – and have had such dreams for the past few years.
In the very first time my flying dream had me soaring, shooting really, out of the earth’s orbit into planetary space. I remember being scared out of my mind and since then, to my eternal regret, I have been unable to fly higher than a couple of hundred feet. Somehow my dreams of flight have compensated and adjusted for my feelings of fear. What a bummer, in this instance. Generally speaking, however, my dreams of flight are wonderful, whether I fly feet first like a luge racer, or hands first like Superman, but I have noticed that whenever I am flying, the people below hardly care a whit, or don’t notice at all. My magical feat is wasted on them. Perhaps this is a way for my dreams to not give me a swelled head of other-earthly accomplishment. But nobody else flies in my dreams, so that has to count for something. I hate it, however, when power lines interfere with my flights. Sometimes they do – and that can be nerve racking. They prevent one from getting a good lift off – and that is frustrating. I am not sure what this impediment means...
I think I dream in color – but can’t say yes or no, for sure. I have had dreams where people from my past who have passed away, like my parents, have appeared – and they have talked. I don’t think they’ve appeared together much, maybe once or twice. Not sure what that signifies either. I think I have had nights of many dreams. Sometimes I wake up, regenerated. Sometimes I wake up relieved to be out of the dream and glad to be alive. Somebody once told me that a dream – which sometimes seems to go on for hours – takes but seconds from start to end. That is incredible, if true. (In fact, dreams can last as long as approximately 30 minutes. And we can dream four to six times per night.) Sometimes, when I am fit and not fat – I have been both a few times - I’m braver (and yes, more aggressive) towards enemies or foes. So real life physical conditioning would seem to be reflected in my dreams, right?
I think my dreams match my current age. I think I might have died in a couple of dreams, have been terrified in many, and some are just scrambled eggs – indecipherable and unremarkable. And I think, warts and all, I am me in my dreams. I don’t seem any more courageous as a whole (other than when I am in tip-top shape) nor do I seem wimpier, more reasoned, racist, what have you.
Admittedly, and I don’t know whether I should be ashamed of this or not, my dreams revolve around me – and not the issues of the day, like ISIS terrorism or the possible exit of Greece from the Euro zone. I have never saved the day, never solved world problems. But that may be a plus – I don’t have delusions of grandeur played out while snoozing...except sometimes I can dunk a basketball in a dream. I love that feeling. At five feet five inches, I can well, only dream of dunking - in my dreams!
I suppose a little research into dreams, is in order, huh? Let’s see what we can find out...
Sigmund Freud believed all dreams were sexual in nature. Mine sure aren’t. Of if they are – I have no idea how they relate to the sexual world. Some are, sure, but they seem to be the exception, rather than the rule. And sometimes I get the object of my affections, but just as often I don’t – which would mirror real life...
Carl Jung figured dreams were a way in which in our subconscious tried to work out problems of life. This makes more sense to me, based on my dreams, but if that is true, I have to say I am missing the point(s) in relating this dream or that, to my real-life problems – most of the time. So maybe I am flunking out in dreams like I sometimes do in conscious life.
Did you know there is a Dream Dictionary? It contains words and symbols from A to Z, with each item carrying some pretty significant meanings. The web site stresses, however, that only each person can analyze their dreams most accurately. Other specialists, though, are dubious as to drawing direct relationships between symbols and meaning(s). Dreams and dream analyses – are a mixed bag, in other words.
Should we worry about our dreams, their content, and frequency? Should we have them analyzed to the nines? I think not. We have our day-to-day faults to parse, should we wish. All of us, I suspect, have enough material there to keep a shrink on easy street for years.
Let us leave our dreams - these night time movies - as something to wonder about, with casual curiosity. Let us peruse and poke and prod these pics for fun and fancy - let us treat ‘em with kid gloves – when push comes to shove...