# Dreams, compulsions or desires you can't explain even to yourself **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 28, 2014, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dreams-compulsions-or-desires-you-cant-explain-even-to-yourself/679949 "2014-01-28T14:34:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2014, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dreams-compulsions-or-desires-you-cant-explain-even-to-yourself/679949/21 "2014-02-01T06:01:24Z")
> [@Zyanthia](#): > > Its really weird, but any time I get up some place high, I get the urge to jump. Luckily I know it’s stupid, but that doesn’t stop me wanting to. > > I’ve jumped off roof tops, out of trees, swings, but thankfully never off cliffs yet. I have flying dreams, and in a fair number of them I get down stairs by jumping off landings or after going down a few steps because I am in a hurry or don’t feel like walking down the rest of the steps. I have occasionally gotten the urge to jump down stairs like that but thankfully I haven’t done it, I would seriously break myself! Though I really would love to be able to ‘swim’ in the air like in my flying dreams. I do walk, run and dance in my dreams - I will start to go somewhere and forget my crutches or my chair and then need to go back and get them, or realize that I have lost them and it doesn’t matter because I am walking fine. [It is always jarring to wake up and not be able to walk or dance.] ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2014, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dreams-compulsions-or-desires-you-cant-explain-even-to-yourself/679949/22 "2014-02-01T13:46:20Z")
For many years I’ve had a longing to live in a cold and desolate environment. Like a small community in northern Siberia. I am actually envious our own Boogly got to live in Kotzebue, Alaska for six years. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Nylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/77aa72/32.png) [@Mr.Nylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Nylock)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2014, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dreams-compulsions-or-desires-you-cant-explain-even-to-yourself/679949/23 "2014-02-01T14:25:41Z")
> [@GreenElf](#): > > Not too many people out there want a mechaincal watch, but if that’s what you want, spoil yourself. 😛 That’s true, most people want mechanical watches. I want a mechaincal watch because they are much more rare. If you look on ebay for example, there are thousands of mechanical watches for sale, but only like half a dozen mechaincal watches. It’s kind of like buying a bicicle. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2014, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dreams-compulsions-or-desires-you-cant-explain-even-to-yourself/679949/24 "2014-02-01T14:29:27Z")
I’ve always wanted to live out in a sand desert. There’s something romantic about all that open, desolate space. But ever since I read about valley fever, the appeal of the fantasy has waned. ---
**Author:** ![Ken001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/43a26b/32.png) [@Ken001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ken001)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2014, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dreams-compulsions-or-desires-you-cant-explain-even-to-yourself/679949/25 "2014-02-01T16:35:57Z")
I have to admit to being slightly obsessive/compulsive. If I get an idea in my head about something I want, then I obsessively research the best choice and the optimum price, bearing in mind that I like to touch and feel stuff before buying. Talking to knowledgeable sales people can often reveal useful information plus its just nice to deal with people. From this you can conclude that online shopping is a useful but low priority. 😃 Lately its been Stihl chainsaws. My brother and I share three but typically one of us has the machine the other needs. So I purchased one, used not running, basically a punt on my part. I’ve spent the last week fiddling with it, cleaning, polishing and generally having a good time. The machine fires and almost runs so its a success so far. Hopefully this will satiate this current obsession until something else comes along. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2014, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dreams-compulsions-or-desires-you-cant-explain-even-to-yourself/679949/26 "2014-02-01T17:09:06Z")
I have this inexplicable urge to go see really horrible, uninhabited islands, like the northern parts of the Canadian archipelago, or Bouvet Island or some place like that. I just have this fascination with the idea that there is still land on this planet where no one lives and no one will ever live or ever want to. How strange it would be to stand there. I guess it isn’t that far from Crafter\_Man’s thing, but I don’t want to live there, I just want to see it. And an ISLAND, specifically. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2014, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dreams-compulsions-or-desires-you-cant-explain-even-to-yourself/679949/27 "2014-02-01T17:48:24Z")
> [@InternetLegend](#): > > I’m forever catching myself thinking of keeping a few backyard chickens - despite the fact that I a) wouldn’t be able to kill a chicken once it quit laying eggs, b) don’t have the time, energy, or inclination to maintain a coop, and, perhaps most importantly, c) have such a strong aversion to birds that I can’t stand to touch one. > > I used to have the same urge to get a spinning wheel and loom, although I was never delusional enough to even consider keeping sheep. That’s so strange - I have those same compulsions, although without the bird-phobia. I want chickens. Chickens to peck around and do that funny little bobbing walk. I don’t eat eggs, except for in baked goods, and I could never kill a chicken, so I’ve resisted so far. But I have a farm, and if I wanted to set up a coop down in the barn, I could. Hard to have them up in the yard though, with the big dogs. StG ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [February 1, 2014, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dreams-compulsions-or-desires-you-cant-explain-even-to-yourself/679949/28 "2014-02-01T19:15:23Z")
I have an odd fascination with the idea of traveling large chunks of the earth by land (road or rail). Especially by public transport. I get extreme satisfaction from looking at a globe and being able to visualize the long routes I’ve covered- like SF to NYC by rail, Lusaka to Cape Town by busses, and Beijing to the southern tip of India (except for on tiny stretch outside of Kathmandu, which I WILL cover some day). I am fascinated that our transport systems are so odd and patchwork, but with enough time and patience, there is really no corner so remote that you can’t get there from any other random place on the same continent. The Darien Gap makes me feel unsettled and angry. ---
**Author:** ![No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ea5d25/32.png) [@No\_umlaut\_for\_U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/No_umlaut_for_U)\ **Post date:** [February 2, 2014, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dreams-compulsions-or-desires-you-cant-explain-even-to-yourself/679949/29 "2014-02-02T22:32:56Z")
Oh yeah to the chickens here! I’ve done the research on breeds and know what I want to raise, and have located coop plans. I’m anxiously awaiting an ordinance change which will allow us to keep 'em. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2014, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dreams-compulsions-or-desires-you-cant-explain-even-to-yourself/679949/30 "2014-02-03T02:57:49Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I have this inexplicable urge to go see really horrible, uninhabited islands, like the northern parts of the Canadian archipelago, or Bouvet Island or some place like that. I just have this fascination with the idea that there is still land on this planet where no one lives and no one will ever live or ever want to. How strange it would be to stand there. I guess it isn’t that far from Crafter\_Man’s thing, but I don’t want to live there, I just want to see it. And an ISLAND, specifically. I like the idea of once-inhabited, but later abandoned islands. I spent some time lingering over the Wikipedia entry for [Stroma, Scotland](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stroma,_Scotland). ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2014, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dreams-compulsions-or-desires-you-cant-explain-even-to-yourself/679949/31 "2014-02-03T05:20:17Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > For many years I’ve had a longing to live in a cold and desolate environment. Like a small community in northern Siberia. I am actually envious our own Boogly got to live in Kotzebue, Alaska for six years. Somewhat similar here. As a kid, I thought it would be a perfect life to live in the middle of Alaska and work as a freelance writer. As an adult, I feel like that’s a little impractical, but every single move in my entire life has been a little further north than the move before it (admittedly, sometimes by only a few miles). When people come visit me from out of town, they ask what to do in Seattle and I immediately start telling them about the mountains to the east, the peninsula west and Chuckanut Drive to the north. But they want to go south into the city. Seriously, why would anyone want to go see a _city_? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2014, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dreams-compulsions-or-desires-you-cant-explain-even-to-yourself/679949/32 "2014-02-03T09:21:17Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#): > > I have a strong compulsion to live in New York City for a year or two. I’ve never been there and can’t really even explain it, but I JUST WANT TO. So bad. I spend a lot of time researching it, thinking about it, and planning it. I know all the downsides to it, so don’t bother. I still want to. New York City is a great place to live . . . if you’re young or rich. I lived there for 25 years, but it would be a real hardship for someone my age. Then there’s the problem of moving from an 8-room house to a 1-bedroom apartment. But if you really want it . . . go for it. It’s not like any other place. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2014, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dreams-compulsions-or-desires-you-cant-explain-even-to-yourself/679949/33 "2014-02-03T09:25:46Z")
Sometimes I have a desire to just buy a one-way ticket to some great place and live in the wild. I know there are people who live, for example, in some of the still remote places in Hawaii. Sure, I could do that. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2014, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dreams-compulsions-or-desires-you-cant-explain-even-to-yourself/679949/34 "2014-02-04T16:41:55Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I have this inexplicable urge to go see really horrible, uninhabited islands, like the northern parts of the Canadian archipelago, or Bouvet Island or some place like that. I just have this fascination with the idea that there is still land on this planet where no one lives and no one will ever live or ever want to. How strange it would be to stand there. I guess it isn’t that far from Crafter\_Man’s thing, but I don’t want to live there, I just want to see it. And an ISLAND, specifically. Here’s just the place for you: [Kerguelen Islands - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerguelen_Islands) Also known as as the “Desolation Islands”. I discovered this when I was trying to find the antipodes for where I live, this is the closest land. It was once part of a larger continent that is now underwater. There is a scientific research station there that has 50-100 people. Otherwise nothing but tundra, rock, mountain, and glacier. If I ever visited there I could say that I’m the farthest from home that I could ever get without leaving the Earth. ---
**Author:** ![Moonchild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@Moonchild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonchild)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dreams-compulsions-or-desires-you-cant-explain-even-to-yourself/679949/35 "2014-02-22T03:29:43Z")
> [@GreenElf](#): > > Was it by any chance Bruins blue? Are you a Bruins fan or alumnus? God no. I would never root for the bRuins. Fight on!!! (I actually graduated from the pathetically inferior Cal State Northridge. But have been a USC Trojan fan since the days of Anthony Davis.) ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [February 22, 2014, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dreams-compulsions-or-desires-you-cant-explain-even-to-yourself/679949/36 "2014-02-22T04:30:57Z")
Whenever I look up something on Google Maps, I can’t resist the compulsion to randomly follow highways and back-country roads, just seeing where it takes me, until I reach a major city or some other place I recognize. More often than not, I wind up totally lost in the wilderness and need to “rescue” myself by zooming out. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2014, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dreams-compulsions-or-desires-you-cant-explain-even-to-yourself/679949/37 "2014-02-23T02:32:35Z")
For those chicken-desirers, I feel the need to point out that keeping chickens does not have to involve killing them. Just give them away if that part bothers you. It also doesn’t need to involve eggs. Get some giveaway hens that have stopped laying. See how that works? No advice for people who can’t stand touching birds, though. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2014, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dreams-compulsions-or-desires-you-cant-explain-even-to-yourself/679949/38 "2014-02-23T08:22:38Z")
I also want to be a beekeeper. My wife wishes me well and says she looks forward to my postcards. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2014, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dreams-compulsions-or-desires-you-cant-explain-even-to-yourself/679949/39 "2014-02-23T14:52:11Z")
To be published. A week or two long solo car trip just to prove to myself that I can still be fully self sufficient. A large lottery win. ---
**Author:** ![Yellow\_Kazooie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/ecd19e/32.png) [@Yellow\_Kazooie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yellow_Kazooie)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2014, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dreams-compulsions-or-desires-you-cant-explain-even-to-yourself/679949/40 "2014-02-23T14:54:51Z")
I know this sounds completely stupid but I’ve always wanted to be a professional pothead. With all weed related stuff and a cool bedroom [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dreams-compulsions-or-desires-you-cant-explain-even-to-yourself/679949.md?page=1)