When I was in school studying psychology we spent a lot of
time analyzing dreams. Freud has fallen
out of favor, but the idea that dreams mean something lives on.
The other day, riding in the car with my grandsons, the talk
turned to the currently popular monster-like creatures in video games. The littlest grandson wanted us to stop
talking about that because he said we were giving him nightmares. The older ones pointed out that you have to be
asleep to have nightmares. In their
opinion, he was having visions.
A nightmare, the eight-year-old explained, was when he
dreams Grandma is chasing him with a baseball bat and all he has in defense is
a little piece of Styrofoam. (And in
defense of Grandma, I don’t even own a baseball bat!) I wonder what Freud would say about that?
In the meantime, author Sharon Sala (@Sharon Sala) recently
posted that she sees stories in her dreams, wakes up, and writes them
down. What a wonderful skill that is! I’m sure Ms. Sala puts a lot more work into
it than that, but its’s such an appealing concept and a skill I’d like to develop. Maybe that could be considered having
visions.
Thinking about dreams, I did some research into recurring
dreams and discovered they generally attempt to address a problem someone is
having in waking life.
I hope I never have the problem featured in my most frequently
recurring dream, which I call my “atomic bomb dream.” I blame it in the A-bomb drills we used to
practice in elementary school, when we had to file into the hallway and sit on
the floor, against the wall, curl into a little ball with our heads between our
knees, and wait to be disintegrated, I guess.
The thing that stuck in my mind was the idea that you mustn’t
look at the fireball. And since we were
only 30 miles from New York City, which most experts considered ground zero for
an impending attack, we’d have only seconds to prepare and get to shelter.
In my atomic bomb dream I’m usually outside, and my
classmates or whoever they are, are escaping on a school bus, but I miss the bus. (This is a likely scenario based on my childhood
habits.) So I do the next best thing if
I’m trapped outside when the bomb comes—I lie down behind a curb. Except in the dream I’m always facing the
wrong direction, and I always look at the fireball just before I wake up.
As far as I know, this dream is totally useless as far as
helping me resolve problems in my life. I
sincerely hope it’s not a vision. The
only message I can glean from the thing is that I need to be on time for
things.
Do you have notable dreams?
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I had some bodacious dreams while I was on pain medication following recent surgery; other than that I'm blessed that I usually only remember little bits that don't make sense and they never repeat themselves. I want whatever Sharon Sala's having!
ReplyDeleteI remember when I first wake up and tell myself to remember but it only lasts about five minutes.
DeleteI've had some wild dreams - I DO visit spooky places, and I LOVE scary movies - but yours is a real-life horror, Hannah! 😬 I have dreamed about things I use in my books, such as rune stones. Not sure if it was a dream, but I woke to "someone" whispering those two words in my head. A ghostly message? 👻 A bit of rune magic?✨ Who knows. But it IS some fun backstory behind the creation of my Time Traveler's Journey series. Cool post. Looking forward to other's comments!
ReplyDeleteI've never used rune stones but they're interesting. I'll have to find out more!
DeleteI occasionally have recurring situations which I look up in my dream book. One example is not being able to find my car where I left it parked. Parking lot ot street meter. Was it towed or stolen? I'm always pretty panicked and wake up anxious. Apparently this scenario has to do with feeling a loss of control in my life. Come to think of it, I haven't had this dream since I quit my job to write full time. Taking back control.
ReplyDeleteThat makes sense, Kathleen! Although for me not remembering where I parked is pretty common.
DeleteI had a Sala-type dream the other morning...I say morning because these things come to me in that half-awake state where consciousness looms but I’m not quite there yet. I “feel” these things...not so much as see them. I had four characters. 3 small town cops and 1 big city interloper who turned their romantic lives upside down. It was perfect! I KNEW it had series potential...I could feel it to my bones. Then I woke enough to think, “Well damn! Now I need a crime to solve and I can’t be bothered dreaming up one.” And I woke up...all of those “feelings” and understanding of the conflicts etc are gone...pfft! And no, I never wake up and jot notes. I just don’t and I likely never will. I figure if I whine enough this story idea will bloom during my walking hours, as a good story should. LOL
ReplyDeleteBonnie, I keep reading that advice about keeping a notepad next to the bed but I could never manage that.
DeleteI rarely remember my dreams, but weirdly, my recurring dream is that my youngest son--who just turned 48--is a little boy! I've never stopped dreaming that he's a little boy. Very weird.
ReplyDeleteI do wish I had productive dreams like Sharon Sala. I saw her give a talk 20 years ago, and she said then she got her plots in dreams. I have another author friend, former Precious Gems author Gerry Bartlett, who dreams plots, too. I'm so jealous. Nice post. And I am seriously jealous of you because you've got grandsons. I've gone none. Zilch.
Cheryl - I have 4 grandsons from age 5 to 10. They belong to my son. I'm not allowed to put them on the internet. I have one granddaughter who's 10 months old who belongs to my daughter.
DeleteI remember my dreams for maybe 5 minutes after I wake up if nobody is talking to me or anything.
I have crazy dreams that cause me nightly insomnia and have for most of my life. I have night terrors that have me reliving the traumas I've lived through in vivid detail, completely horrible to deal with. Then on the other hand I have dreams that are predictive at times and they are always in like extra color. If I don't do something about them, they just keep repeating. These are just two type of my dreams. I also have a psychology degree so you can imagine trying to figure all that out... Lol
ReplyDeleteOh, wow, the night terrors sound awful!
DeleteYikes! That's some dream, Hannah. Maybe it's telling you that there's a post-apoc romance in your future?
ReplyDeleteOoooh! Write a post apoc romance!
ReplyDeleteAlso, don’t go putting your granddaughter on the internet either!!
From the time I was a small child, I had a recurring dream about being in a place at twilight. I could hear people talking, but I couldn't understand anything they said. When I went to Japan to live, the first night I was there, I experienced that. I've never had that dream again. I've also had dreams about events that came true. Those are unwelcome dreams. No wonder I'm an insomniac!!
ReplyDeleteNice share, dreams are very mysterious and a great experience. I seldom dream in my sleep anymore.. maybe I just forget.
ReplyDelete