Okay, sorry for the slightly misleading title, but the subject today is dream themes. You know, like the exam dream. Which, after all these years since high school and college, I still dream variations of fairly often. The classic one is that you haven't attended a class all semester, or read the textbook, and it is time for the final. A variation might be that you can't find where the classroom is. And I have dreamed other variations, which don't have a school setting. For instance, being late or unprepared for sacrament meeting. I wonder if exam dreams are largely exclusive to those who attended college. Anybody?
Another common theme I have is being in public wearing pajamas or underwear (or less). A recent variation of this for me is being on the stand at church (un)dressed in this way.
Some dreams are based on real physical symptoms, like a toothache or body aches. Or the most common for me is having a full bladder and being unable to find a functional toilet. Or finding one, but getting no relief (thank goodness!). I often find the toilet is stopped up, or the plumbing isn't functional, or it is in an open public place (related to the underwear dream above?).
I think everyone has the dream of trying to run away from something, but the legs are lethargic.
Does anyone else laugh out loud while dreaming? I think I used to do this more often.
Not many people seem to have my favorite dream, where I can fly like Superman. Actually, I float rather than fly, but it is such a wonderful sensation and I love it when I dream that.
My most nightmarish dream places me in the midst of atomic warfare. Planes are flying overhead, and atomic bombs are going off on the horizon. I wonder if this is due to my childhood emotional scars when we had atomic bomb drills at school, hiding under our desks. (What were they thinking!?)
So, who is with me on these dreams? What common ones have I left out?
My 'exam dream' occurrences have decreased the past few years. I haven't had all the variations you mention (have never flown), but I have experienced waking up w/ my heart thumping because I couldn't find my classroom or forgot to go to class all semester and had to take the final exam.
ReplyDeleteMy exam dream is that I've lost track of the kids. It's a terrible feeling.
ReplyDeleteI also laugh in my sleep, and I LOVE flying dreams. I don't get those very often anymore.
I liked your post so much i am stealing the idea for my own blog today! Flying dreams are the best, I laugh myself awake about once a week, I have never had an exam dream, and running in my dreams is just like running through a kiddie pool.
ReplyDeleteHi Craig. I am a friend of Bridget's and I just had to comment on your post. I've had the exam dream quite frequently, and I just very recently had the unprepared Sacrament dream. I was supposed to give a talk and hadn't prepared it, and on top of that arrived at church in jeans and a T-shirt. The other dream I have very often is that I'm driving a car and the brakes won't work. I push as hard as I can and the car barely slows. Perhaps this is related to the running dreams? I used to laugh myself awake, but that hasn't happened in a while. Thanks for your post!
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, the 'driving a car & the brakes won't work' dream. Not pleasant.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE flying dreams! It is a floating sensation for me as well. Every once in awhile, I have scary dreams where I am hiding from a bad guy and at the end, he finds me and I wake up right before he murders me. Maybe from watching too much "Unsolved Mysteries" growing up or something.
ReplyDeleteI've had the dreams where you're undressed and no one seems to notice or your aware self is trying to communicate with the dream self to please get dressed...also one where I was on the toilet and all the walls were made of glass and see-through to the outside world. And the exam dream, the version I have is that I'm on stage and it's time for the performance of a play or musical or something and I've never attended a rehearsal, don't know the lines or music...and the flying dream, I think it's more like I'm falling, like falling off of a cliff, and jerk awake before hitting bottom.
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