Everything Dreams

[Ben]

I can't remember if we've ever done a thread like this before, but I've been meaning to make one for about a week now.

Dreams. Everyone has them, whether we remember them upon waking or not. For as long as I can remember, I've had at least one every night, sometimes more, and I usually remember them. Not 3 weeks ago I had 5 separate ones that were all quite vivid, and I remembered each of them in detail when I woke up.

Now, I've never put much belief in dream interpretation (e.g. if you dream your teeth are falling out or rotting, it may signify you're concerned with your physical appearance. Or afraid to be embarassed. Or obsessed with power. Uh, yeah, thanks for that drivel, dreammoods.com), and some of mine are too much like bad action movies for me to ever believe they serve a purpose other than to entertain me while I sleep.

However, every once in awhile I'll have an absolutely vivid, emotionally draining dream that seems real even after I wake up. Sometimes they're terrifying, other times they're just draining. Sometimes they're even lucid (meaning you can control yourself and are potentially aware you are in a dream state). Do these mean anything? Is it possible to take something away from a dream? To learn from your dream-actions?

What do the dwellers think? Do you dream often, or can you not remember the last time you dreamt? Lucid dreams? Dream journals? My curiosity is growing.

[trashcanman]

I either seldom dream or almost never remember them upon waking. And when I do dream, the memory fades minutes after I wake. It kind of sucks, because I had a very vivid dream life as a child. I remember dreams I had as a kid, but almost none as an adult. But seeing that dreams are creations of the subconscious mind, it stands to reason that they can represent what you are thinking on some level so interpretation is not out of the question. The problem is that different people's minds work differently so those books that list any given dream as meaning specific things are only going to be right part of the time, thus rendering them mostly useless. I once had a dream about my teeth falling out and I am the least fucking concerned about my physical appearance it's possible to be without being a complete slob, I think power is exclusively for assholes, and....well, I don't like being embarrassed, but I think that's a bit fucking universal to be attributed as an individual personality trait based on a dream.

I was actually reading Neil Gaiman's "Sandman" the other day and it put forth the interesting observation that while men tend to dream about superior versions of themselves doing extraordinary things (like in your "action movie" dreams, I'd guess) while women dream that the world around them is different, essentially that their life is not their real life (they are really a princess, etc) and that something better awaits them. The dreams I remember from childhood were usually either horror films (I had a recurring one where I was trapped on a small boat in the ocean with a giant shark, likely signifying my social isolation/anxiety....also, sharks are scary) or fantasy (being part of a RPG/fantasy novel-like party out adventuring, confirming my media escapist tendencies). So neither princess nor action hero for me. Just a dork.

[Ben]

I had a recurring "chase" dream as a little kid about an alligator chasing me down the sidewalk. I always managed to get inside my house and slam the screen door on it (in dream world, screen doors are very strong) just before it chomped me. I'm convinced this one was nothing more than my wild imagination creating something really fucking scary just to mess with me. I've always had ridiculous nightmares, the ones that could be made into actual horror movies, and not the ones average people seem to get (i.e. loved ones dying, friends turning on you, etc). Recently, I had one about fighting the Devil. Pretty damn cool, right? I love my subconscious.

[The Curmudgeon]

Yeah, dreams have not been my friend for a good few years now. Pretty sure I mentioned this before, but while we're on the subject..

A few years ago I had massive sleep issues. Like, couldn't sleep to save my fucking life. I was given sleep pills that didn't work, and eventually anti-depressants (not that I was depressed, but they slow down your.. uh.. system? so it makes it easier to sleep). Those things are a pain in the ass, because every medical report I've had since, for a new job or whatever, means that if I put down any medication I'm taking it instantly turns into a red flag, and I've had possible employers call me up and ask me about them before they hire me. Seriously.

Anyway, when I DID sleep I had the same recurring dream, just in different locations but always with the same outcome. It'd be a normal sort of dream, and then I'd get.. The Feeling. That feeling being I couldn't breathe. I would feel it come on, and I would try to get outside into fresh air, but nothing would come into my lungs. This would continue until I was on the floor, gasping for air while people I knew were running around trying to help me.

I would then WAKE UP, gasping for air, my lungs completely empty because I'd just plain forgotten to breathe in real life. Mrs C once woke up beside me and I was asleep but gasping for air like a fish out of water until she shook me awake. This went on for months, sometimes happening three times a night, always with that terrible, horrible feeling of dying and helplessness and the what seemed like a very good chance of me simply dying in my sleep.

So no-one could work out why it was happening. It was possibly a form of what's called Sleep Apnea, but that usually happens to grossly overweight people, and it had nothing to do with diet or substance abuse or anything like that. In the end, after seeing doctors and, ugh, "anxiety specialists" I ended up seeing a hypnotist, who put me under and told me that when this feeling happened in my dream, I was to WAKE UP immediately, and I would feel safe and at peace.

Bullshit, right? Wrong. The dream DID come later that week, the same feeling of breathlessness but this time, it was like someone pressed a fast forward button in my brain. Everything started moving really quickly in my dream, the way people were talking and moving, everything... and I woke up. And I never had the dream again.

Mind: Blown.

[Ben]

That's nuts. The thing with hypnotists (or so I've been told) is that they can only do their work if you allow them to do their work. Basically, if you're sitting there calling bullshit, nothing is going to happen. It's somewhat of a fad here in the U.S. to bring in a hypnotist at large high school events (like "post-prom," which is a giant after party), ask for volunteers, and watch all your idiot classmates get turned into dogs, ride imaginary horses, and stick band-aids on their faces every time the hypnotist says a cue word. It's some good stuff.

I feel your pain about the insomnia, Curmudgeon. I used to have it so bad I'd end up lying in bed staring at the ceiling for hours, wondering why the hell I even bothered trying. They did the same thing for me with the anti-depressants, which worked alright for about 3 weeks... except then the damn pills started fucking with my emotions (who would have thought?) and I became incapable of much happiness or sadness. Everything was just a shoulder shrug to me. That frightened me, so I immediately stopped taking the meds and decided I'd figure out how to deal with insomnia on my own, which I've more or less done.

Coincidentally, I also had really lame dreams while I was on the anti-depressants. For example, I'd be sitting in class in my dream doing exactly what I'd do in real life: listening to the lecturer and trying not to space out. Maybe taking a few notes. Booooooooooring.

But now you've riled up my curiosity some more- get any dreams now? Or did the hypnotist absolve you of all sleep-time mental activity?

[trashcanman]

Jesus, C, that sounds absolutely horrible. I don't want to freak you out or anything, but my ex-roommate died from that condition, so make sure you stay on top of it. One of my worst fears is going to sleep and just never waking up, or waking up to find my family gone or something like that. Sleep has often felt like an enemy in my adult life because I have so much stuff I want to do, my body is slowing down, waking up is often physically painful for me, and that feeling of helplessness like something horrible is going to happen while I sleep. Plus if I fall asleep and get woken up abruptly, I often can't fall back asleep and I feel even worse than if I hadn't slept at all. Very aggravating.

I've been thinking on this one and I managed to dredge up another dream memory. I'm backstage at a Led Zeppelin show and they have magically been returned to their prime for the reunion concert. My favorite guitarist of all time, Jimmy Page, puts his guitar in MY incompetent hands and pushes me onto stage to take his place in front of millions of psycho rock fans, but I don't really know any Zeppelin songs...
So I just start playing whatever seems right and it's not that bad, but I am playing by the seat of my pants, never knowing what note I'm going to play next, just winging it and terrified the whole time. Then I wake up. I've had dreams similar to this one a few times (I think I filled in for Geddy Lee once as well). My guess is that this is a subconscious combination of hero worship, unfulfilled dreams of being in a band, and my very conscious fear of going through life without really knowing what the fuck I'm doing and just hoping something good happens.

[The Curmudgeon]

Man, I dunno. I don't know if I believe dreams represent some inner fears/anxieties/hopes or they're just a bunch of random crazy shit that goes through our minds. I remember writing a script once and one of the lines was that dreams are just your brain's way of taking a shit. Part of me kinda believes that. The playing guitar in front of everyone is probably in the same category as turning up in class in your underwear, if we're to read into these things.

I have a recurring dream that the room I'm in is haunted, and as soon as I discover the ghost I'm sucked up into the air and I spin around with this horrible whooshing noise in my ears. It happens a lot, and I remember one dream I caught a reflection in the mirror, and it was this woman with a green coat, messy hair and black hollow eyes...... brrrrr.

[trashcanman]

The correct answer to your first statement there is probably a combination of both. For your brain to take a shit, something's got to be in there to begin with, after all. But the idea that people write books and the like claiming to interpret dreams is idiotic because every single person is unique and interprets and perceives things differently so only someone with intimate knowledge of their thought process could even hope to assign meaning to their dreams, and even then it's pretty much just guesswork.

[Ben]

I once had a dream Dave Mustaine of Megadeth met up with me in the parking lot of my former church (?) after a show to hang out. He invited me to play a song onstage at his next show and pretty much the same shit happened to me as it did to you, Trashcanman. I couldn't turn the man down, he used to be one of my top 3 favorite musicians. So I started playing "When" which is one of the simplest songs Megadeth has ever written (and I actually know how to play in real life). I was proud of my dream self for thinking on his feet with that one.

Recently I've been having really suspensful dreams where a group of my friends (which changes every time) and I are being chased/hunted by another group of people through a city. I think what's causing this is that I'm in the process of writing a story with the exact same plot. So in effect... my dreams are doing my writing for me.

[trashcanman]

Stephen King often claims that stories come to him in dreams. I think he once said "It" was so long because he just kept writing without knowing how to end it until a dream showed him. Then again, Stephanie Meyer claims Twilight was inspired by a dream too so that's a double-edged sword.

[Ben]

Writing has always been a hobby of mine (maybe I'll even throw something up in the Dweller's Domain some day), and I get a ton of ideas from dreams. Luckily I've got a fucked up mind like Stephen King, not a sappy one that dreams up sparkling, loveable monsters like Meyer.

[The Curmudgeon]

I have a recurring nightmare, where my family and Mrs C are fakes, that is so fucking frightening at the time I'd love to try and turn it into something. Example;

I once dreamed that me and Mrs C were in the bedroom (steady), and we're both just talking normally. A phone rings next to me, I pick it up and it's the REAL Mrs C, crying on the other end of the phone. As soon as I realise that the woman next to me is a fake, she launches herself at my throat, trying to kill me.

Later I had the same sort of dream, where my mother is making jokes and laughing that my cat has died. I can't believe she's being so horrible, until I look out the window and see my REAL mum, locked in a car. When I turn round the fake mother is grinning horribly, and a fight to the death begins again.

Seems trivial now. Awful at the time.

[trashcanman]

That is goddamn awesome. Stuff like that has obviously been done, but I don't know, your doppelganger dream seems somehow better.

[Ben]

A bit of a bump, but what the hell. I have to share this.

Two nights ago I had a bunch of dreams. Barely remember any of them, and they were all boring. However, one particular moment blew my mind.

Real life story first. In high school I took five years of German (I wasn't held back, so put your judgement pants away. Our schedule allowed us to "double up" and take 2 foreign language classes each year) but I graduated without anything that resembled fluency. I liked to tell people I could survive in Germany as a tourist just so it would appear as if I actually learned something, but even that was pushing the truth.

Fast forward to my dream from the other night. I'm in a conference with the student government here at college (no idea why; fuck that shit), and two of the members start speaking German. Sooooo whaaaaat, right? Wrong. I could understand what they were saying. The guy who went to college with German skills that began with the ability to order food and ended with the ability to ask for directions auf Deutsch is making sense of a whole German conversation in dreamland. "But it probably wasn't actual German. You just thought it was." See, that's what I thought. Dreams can be screwy like that. But I woke during the middle of this dream and remembered some of the phrases. I punched them into Google Translator right after I rolled out of bed and boom, it was real German. How awesome is that?

[Ben]

Oops.