Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Dream Sketcher

I know what you are thinking. You saw "dream" in the title and you groaned a little inside, didn't you? You were thinking, "Great, Lori is going to be talking about beaches again. And almonds. That's all she ever talks about." But NO! You are wrong, wrong, wrong. This is something entirely different. We are going to talk about my other favorite subject: SLEEP.

Do dreams fascinate you? (My goodness, you do dream, don't you? I don't want to offend anyone who doesn't dream, or has insomnia, or a new baby.) I find it amazing that the mind can be so active when the rest of your body is comatose. It gives me great reassurance that I'm not brain dead after all! My dreams vary from strange to mundane to scary (although that doesn't happen all that often) to creative to inspirational. I typically remember my dreams and have decided that I should sleep extra long (like 14-16 hours a day) so I have more dreams to think about when I'm awake.

I didn't have a lot of nightmares as a child, but when I did, the dream was always the same: A band of robbers would come out of the closet and be lurking in Paula's room and I would see them there and become frozen with fear and not be able to move, let alone scream. I now know that this means that I was actually afraid of Paula and she was stifling me and not allowing me to express myself. (JK Paulawog.)

Picture from here.

Occasionally, I will have a nightmare and it always involves something bad happening to one of my children. Those are THE WORST. Interpretation: I love and care about my children's' well-being, even if I am the kind of mom who is glad when they head off to school each morning.

Of course you know that Twilight began as a dream, and this happens a lot to other authors. Did I ever tell you guys that The Reign of Trees was born from a dream as well? I know it sounds cliche, but that's a super amazing experience. Many great book ideas have been hatched this way, but sadly sometimes I forget what they were before I have a chance to get up and write them all down. It's also possible that the ideas really aren't that great but in my sleep-induced delusion, I think something is profound and it's really about as worthless as clothes in Miley Cyrus' dressing room.

One thing that always baffles me is when you dream of a person from your past that you haven't seen in over a decade (or longer) and that you don't even recall thinking about in practically just as long. These dreams mean that you are a bad friend and you should really keep in better touch with people.

Weird dreams are my personal favorite. I love it when you wake up and you're like "WHAT THE ???" Just last week I had one of these which involved a large group of children letting off hundreds of yellow helium balloons (wait for it) and on top of each balloon was a red Clifford stuffed animal, all of different makes and sizes, hand-selected by the child to release into the atmosphere. Now let's remember I don't have little children anymore, so I haven't seen a Clifford movie, book, or stuffed animal in a couple of years. What the heck did that mean? ... Rising balloons mean a desire to escape from life (hello last week's post about living on the beach!) and embrace my inner child.  Yellow represents brightness and sunshine (hello last week's post about living on the beach!) and Clifford the dog means that I am larger than life (hello ... um nothing I've ever said anytime, anywhere). So all of those elements put together means I shouldn't drink so much Dirty Diet Coke. (You have had one, haven't you?)

(Google search Clifford + Balloons)

I frequently have "teeth" dreams, although they seem to be decreasing as I get old (oh no, not THAT again).  Basically, it's like when Sylvester the Cat gets hit in the mouth and his teeth are like piano keys, and they play the scale as they fall from his mouth. In my dreams, this happens while I'm trying to talk to someone and every time I say another word, out flies another tooth. This means that I'm vain and that I'm insecure. It is a good thing I don't have those dreams so much anymore because those are traits I don't really love. I also suspect I don't have those dreams so often now days because my horrid habit of chewing ice is going to make those dreams a reality and who wants to dream about something that will inevitably happen?  (Kinda can't wait for dentures though. Who wouldn't want white, straight teeth that aren't sensitive to heat?)

The other weird dream I have involves gum. I'm chewing a big wad of gum and I try to spit it out, but it just keeps growing and growing. I try to pull the gum out for what feels like forever, but I can never get it all out of my mouth, so I can't talk and all I do is mumble to people, sounding like I just swallowed an entire can of marshmallow creme. This means that I feel like I have problems expressing myself (says the writer with a bad case of writers block) or oftentimes am not able to say what is on my mind (says the coward who backs away from any confrontation). It also could mean that I feel like I have bitten off more than I can chew (yes Primary, I'm looking at you).

What frequent dreams do you have? Anything scary? Or just plain weird?

Do you remember a particular dream that was just amazing? Do you ever want to fall back asleep so that you can stay in that certain Dreamland?

And since I am now certified with a BC in Dreamology from the University of Anywhere (Online), I will interpret your dreams for you! So tell me all about them, and I will tell you what is really wrong with your life. (I promise to be gentle)


Picture from this site right here.

Ready? Let's get lost in the world of Inception!

Plus: it's the end of the month, so I will have a prize for one super lucky person! Make sure you come back Thursday to see who has Lady Luck on their side!


16 comments:

Jennifer Lovell said...

Lori, your gum dream is interesting! I have that teeth dream all the time, and I always hate it. Talk about terrifying. Only, mine don't come out while I'm talking. First I just notice that they are loose (what my dentist told me a few years ago), and then they just get looser and looser until I can just gently pull them out. It's horrifying.

I remember my dreams constantly too, and sometimes it feels like a burden! What really gets me is that when I have a particularly disturbing dream right before I wake up, I always enter into that SAME dream when I lie down to sleep again the following night. Who wants to press "continue" on their bad dreams? Not me!


I am always afraid that one of these days I'm going to be held accountable for what I do in my dreams. I hope that's not so, though, because I can be a very sinful person in dreamland. I probably shouldn't go into detail there, but sometimes I wake up feeling like I owe my husband a serious confession! But truth be told, those are often some of my most entertaining and "fun" dreams. (Sorry, Jeff! I love my husband!)

My #1 most over-used recurring dream has to do with a locker in high school, and a final exam. History class. I haven't studied, or haven't attended class, and I need to get to that textbook which is in my locker. Can't remember which locker it is, and I don't know the combination. The office staff can't help me because it's after hours.

Another dream I've had a hundred times is that I have always wanted to meet Bill Cosby (Jeff and I got to see him live in Eugene, Oregon, that was fun). All I ever wanted in this dream was to have my picture taken with him. I get so excited when I finally meet him, but then there are always problems with the camera. Dead battery, out of film, film got exposed, forgot to bring it, etc. Frustrating.

It was a miracle when once, I believe in the last couple of months, I was able to overcome the locker challenge--I got into my locker, prepared for the test, and passed the class! I thought that was the greatest thing EVER for a dreamer. What a gift!

Lori Folkman said...

Jenna: I found that there is more than one meaning to teeth dreams: it could mean that you are putting your trust in man and not God. Interesting, eh? Some cultures believe that these dreams mean someone very close to you is sick or even dying! I don't like that one! Yes, you will be held accountable for your dreams. You better repent, quickly! JK. The solution for those type of dreams: write romance novels. Get cracking Jenna! Your high school dream means that you feel like you are being judged (not by me!) and that you keep certain aspects of yourself locked away (hello romance novelist). The Bill Cosby dream means you need to stop stressing and laugh more. :)

Nicole Jessop said...

My nightmares are always about snakes. I'm not telling you about them because I refuse to relieve them.

One dream that is always recurring has Gollum in it. He's always attacking me and I punch him, but his head is rubbery and my hand always bounces back. When I was teaching RAD every week, I use to have RAD dreams.

I always feel bad for Steve when I have dreams that make me mad at him and I wake up and just want to kick him but I have to try and remember that he didn't actually do anything wrong. (How's that for a run on sentence?)

LStevens said...

I dream every night, some I remember more than others. I still remember a dream from when I was about 8-12 years old. I was swimming with a family friend in a LAKE. In this lake there were sharks, big giant eels, alligators, etc. everything that should NOT be in a lake. So while swimming along a BIG eel came and bit me in the side, when I woke up I had a pain in my side. :/ crazy. I also usually have dreams about someone chasing me and not being able to run, or someone is after my children and I must protect them. I usually hate dreams. They always involve things chasing, or biting, or whatever.
The only dreams I like are when I dream of a loved one who has gone to the other side. Those ones I want to hang onto forever.
Dreams....

LStevens said...

I don't know why it posted twice, you can remove one if you would like. :)

Lori Folkman said...

Nicole: I can't interpret if you don't give me all the details! I'm not a fortune teller! But ... I'm sad for you that the snake dreams are so scary you won't even talk about them. My best guess is that you want to be a treasure hunter like Indiana Jones, but your fears are holding you back, therefore, the snakes appear to make you feel a deep connection with Indiana. (I know I'm dead on with that interpretation. Don't tell me otherwise.) The dream about Gollum means you've watched Lord of the Rings one time too many. And the dreams where Steve gets in trouble mean that he really is the perfect husband and you have no reason to get mad at him ever, and since we are programmed to believe that men can't do anything right, your subconscious uses your dreams to release the pent-up frustration from being frustrated that there's nothing to be frustrated about. (How's that for a fun on run on sentence?) Man, I'm getting good at this dream interpretation thing. :)

LStevens: Yikes! That one is scary! Eels represent someone slippery and noncommittal and being bitten represents that someone wishes to harm you! You had some scary friends at age 8-12, and it is a true wonder you survived to adolescence! Phew. Count your lucky stars. The chasing dreams mean that you need some new running shoes. Seriously! Go buy some right now! Make sure they are comfy AND colorful, and you'll be able to out run anything in your dreams, even eels!

Nicole Jessop said...

I'm thinking the snake dreams mean I'm terrified of snakes.... but, I'm a pretty big fan of young Harrison Ford. Will he take me on his Indy adventures?

There is no such thing as watching Lord of the Rings too many times.

And.... I love your run on sentence. :) As for my angry dreams, they're never things he would actually do and I have no idea where they come from. It must just be exactly what you said ;)

Lori Folkman said...

Nicole: there's only one way to know if you are truly terrified of snakes or if you want to go on and Indy adventure: you must go to a pet store and ask to pet a snake. If you can do this without fainting, then it means you need to start searching for treasure. If you faint, then I'm sorry. I hope the floor isn't too hard. Same with Steve: if you are worried about him,(which your subconscious says you are) then you should hire a P.I. to follow him around every minute of the day. If the P.I. sees that Steve is perfectly behaved, then you can rest better at night. If the P.I. sees that Steve is up to no good, then I'm sorry. I hope the floor isn't too hard.

Mary Allen said...

Until I was about 16 I always had the same "bad" dream over and over. then one day my dad told me if you tell someone the bad dreams you will never have that one again. So, I did. I was about 6 in this dream, standing at the bottom of an open, circular staircase. At the top was a lady trying to coax me up the stairs. I would start screaming in fear and it would always make me up. turns out after I told my parents about this dream it wasn't just a dream, but a bad memory! two things I am afraid of..open stairs (any shape) and spiders. At least there were not spiders in my dream too!!

bigskyboys said...

I dream but don't usually remember them except first thing in the morning. I waited to comment until today hoping for something profound last night but nothing, so sorry. The worst dreams are ones that I wake up from in a bad mood and I can't always remember what it was about but the emotions stick around. I remember a reoccuring dream from childhood that I was stuck in some spinning tunnel or black vortex. It just kept going and going, deeper and darker. It was awful!

Lori Folkman said...

Mary Allen: I guess I don't need to interpret that dream since you already know what it means. Who was the lady and what did she want? That's crazy it scared you enough to give you nightmares and a fear of open stairwells. BTW, have you seen the one at Bannack? A perfectly preserved stairwell at a ghost town? That should give you a fresh batch of nightmares!

Bigskyboys: so if you are ever mad at me, I will assume it was just emotions leftover from a dream and I won't have to worry that I did something wrong! Phew. That is a relief. Your vortex dreams sound scary! It sounds like you felt like you were being pulled in a direction that you didn't want to go and that you felt no hope at all. I'm guessing that you didn't like having to do homework and household chores like dishes and sweeping. Clearly you were deeply scarred! Poor child! You might want to rethink asking your boys to help with the household chores: you don't want to scar them, do you???

Devree said...

Hey, sorry I missed the real days; I had a lot of homework and then played x-box with some cute boys last night so I've been busy. I don't remember my dreams a lot of the time unless they're really awesome. One time I had a dream that I got to meet the Jonas Brothers and when I woke up I was thinking about how I would really introduce myself if that ever happened. When I was little I had this terrifying dream that we were at Latin Farms picking raspberries in a maze (yeah, I don't know how that works) and it was getting dark so I tried to find my family. When I found one of my brothers, he was a vampire! (Now this was before Twilight so the vampire was scary and blood cover, not sparkly and gorgeous(btw, Edward is not a gorgeous vampire. I was very disappointed when he was cast[Shiloh Fernandez would have been a smexy Edward and HE auditioned {I can't believe they didn't pick him!}but didn't get the part.] Jasper, Jackson Rathbone, is a pretty vampire. Emmett, Kellan Lutz[that's a fun name] too.) which is ridiculous.) (That was quite an Aside.) My younger brother was a werewolf and my mom was a werewolf and my baby brother who wasn't even a year old was a vampire and that scared me so bad I woke up. There's a lot of weird dreams I found scary and others that are strange but awesome but that is my subconscious for you. I'm bummed I didn't get this in before the drawing but so is life.

Lori Folkman said...

Devree! I was wondering where you were! I don't like that you had too much homework; I do like that you were playing xbox with cute boys. I hope you played that dance game dealo so you could show them all of your mad moves. I loved your Twilight aside, it was much better than any of my asides, because yours made sense. :) So I've never picked raspberries in a maze; I feel completely left out on this one. What fun that would be! So Devree, either you ate something really strange (like squid, or squidward) or you were having some serious issues in your young life. You felt like you were lost or being led astray, and those charming vampires were really out to get you. And they were your family! And you thought your mom and baby brother were wild animals, representing that you felt like you were being raised by a pack of wolves! Devree, if you ever have this dream again, I think you should send your family in for counseling. (JUST KIDDING, I know they are wonderful because they raised YOU!)

Mary Allen said...

When I was about 45 I was climbing up the steps of a huge slide, I slipped and instead of falling off, my legs slipped thru and I ended up hanging there until my Dad came and rescued me.. that is why I am afraid of open steps or stairs.. The lady was the wife of one of Dad's professors and was trying to get me up the stairs to the playroom (dad carried me up, by the way) and where is Bannack?

Mary Allen said...

oops! that should have read 4 or 5

Lori Folkman said...

Mary: haha, I was thinking you were a little advanced in age to be playing on a slide, but you are a fun lovin' kind of gal, so I wouldn't put it past you to spend your afternoons on the playground! Bannack is down by Dillon. Cool old ghost town!