I had a bizarre dream last night. Bizarre enough to tell you about.
Like most dreams, it was sparked by an incident during the preceding day. I had checked my mailbox and found it completely empty, even of junk mail. Which is a fairly uncommon thing, especially this time of year.
In my dream, I went out to check the mailbox again, and found it full of stuff. Not only mail, but packages. And there were packages, some of them Christmas wrapped, lying on my front step.
So I gathered what I could, took them inside, and went out to get the rest.
And there was Santa Claus, standing just outside the front awning. This was a huge Santa Claus, maybe twelve feet tall. I couldn’t actually see his face, but I recognized him from his outfit.
“I’m sorry,” he said, “but these packages were meant for another address.”
So I went in to bring them out again, and that’s when I woke up.
Dude, that is just too cruel.
I wrote Santa about this today.
Thanks. I think he probably reads your letters.
I occasionally have memorable dreams. The one I’ve had repeatedly probably says something about my personality or beliefs. I walk throughout the dream, often seeing some beautiful or remarkable sights and often in vivid color or detail, but I keep walking because I’m looking for something. Sometimes I don’t know what I’m looking for, and sometimes I’m looking for something in the context of the dream. I remember once being in a mammoth auditorium, coordinating a big concert or play, and I started looking for someone, found him maybe, and started looking for someone else. Of course, I don’t find the person or thing before the end.
My recurring dream used to be of wandering a store of some kind, looking for something. Sometimes I knew what it was, sometimes I didn’t (or didn’t remember afterwards). But, as in real life, I was afraid to ask for help, so I just looked and looked and never found it. Haven’t had that dream in a long time.
As a kid, my recurring dream always ended up with me playing on the roof of my neighbor’s garage when I noticed that the garage was sitting on railroad tracks and a train was approaching. I always woke up just before the train hit the garage.
In 92 when I was running for state representative, I kept dreaming I was about to speak in some public forum when I realized I’d left my room with no clothes. The place always had lots of Corinthian pillars which allowed me to dash from one to another back to my room. Except my room was never there. I couldn’t find it. I was lost in a public venue with no clothes on and I could never find my way back to my room.
Nowadays I have two recurring dreams that often merge into one. Often I find myself back in London where I lived for two years in the eighties. It usually begins with a nice reunion with some of my old friends and coworkers and a tour of various locations from my memory. Then I get lost and can’t get to some place I’m supposed to be.
The other has me preaching at some big church (sometimes in London). I go to the bathroom just before the service and come out the wrong door and find myself unable to find my way back to the sanctuary. Every door and hallway leads elsewhere. I’m in a panic because the service is about to start and I can’t get back.
So I guess I either have a subconscious fear of exposure or I put too much garlic on my pizza just before bed. Since I can’t afford a psychologist I’ll just have to increase the garlic additions till I develop a tolerance.
I’ve always been interested in dreams; and I find that the more ‘interested’ in them you get, the more of them you seem to remember. I’ve been reading a book on dreams off and on (‘Our dreaming Mind’ by Van de Castle) and it’s almost a surety if I read a chapter before I go to bed I’ll have some memorable dream; often somehow related to what I’ve read.
– as an example; last night I read his chapter on how ‘aggressive’ dreams were seen by analysts as positive; and I dreamed of chasing some people out of the house, yelling at them to get out :=)
– p.s. if you keep a record of your dreams you will remember more of them than if you don’t; in my case a Lot more.
p.s. dream ‘experts’ deny the idea what you eat effects your dreams.
That just makes me want to cry.
I remember a time when I was aware of my dreams to the point I could act within them. I remember having a dream and thinking, “This is a dream, cool,” then watching it differently after that. Another time, I could tell where the dream was headed and I said I didn’t want to go that direction, so I changed it. I don’t remember the details now. I’ve dreamt only once that I was missing clothing, and I thought, “I’ll probably have them again in a minute or two, so no worries.” And I did.
Scientists call that “lucid dreaming.” It’s a skill I’ve wanted to develop, but never quite managed.