When I get stressed out, I don’t usually have any unusual dreams, but sometimes, when I have a big paper due, I’ll dream that I forgot to write it, or that I lost it, or something. I’ll wake up in a panic, then say to myself, “Wait a minute, that paper isn’t even due yet! Besides, I finished it and it’s safely tucked away in my binder!”, then go back to sleep. Once I dreamed that it was my first day of seventh grade again, and I couldn’t find my locker or any of my classrooms. I’d go into a room, and everyone would yell “You’re in the wrong room!”, and snicker as I was leaving. You don’t have to be Sigmund Freud to figure this one out. Of course, this is just external stress. I could write a whole book on the dreams I’ve had during times of great emotional turmoil, but I’ll save it for another time.
An infinite number of rednecks in an infinite number of pickup trucks shooting an infinite number of shotguns at an infinite number of road signs will eventually produce all the world’s great works of literature in Braille.
my dreams are usually entirely separate from my real life. Whenever elements from the real world get into my dreams (even friends), that means I need to step back, take a deep breath and count to ten.
I used to constantly get this horrible dream that it was Christmas time, and I was working in retail. But even worse, I was working in computer retail, so I had to explain advanced concepts like ‘system requirements’ to people who didn’t give a damn about whether the software would work because their little Johnny was whining constantly for the latest game.
No, wait. That was my real life.
Sorry. No, my stress dreams tend to be like NTG’s; I’m wandering blissfully through my life only to walk into class or work and suddenly realize that the project/paper I should have spent the last two weeks writing was now due and I hadn’t even started working on it. What really weirds me out is that I’ve never gotten one of those dreams when I was actually stressing over a project/paper due date.
I don’t know if these dreams are caused by stress or the cause of some of my stress:
Tornadoes: I dream about these frequently. I never seen a tornado in real life, though I’ve probably watched a few too many episodes of “The Wrath of God” on the History channel. I just had one of these dreams a few nights ago when we were in Sacramento visiting my comatose FIL. Every time I looked out the window, a tornado would be forming, so I’d run into my bedroom and hide under my bed believing the tornado would rip the roof off the house but move on or run out of steam before it actually lifted the bed off the floor. I would hear the rushing wind and feel the house shake, then crawl out from under the bed relieved it was over only to look out the window and see yet another one touching down. Totally creepy.
Moving: I lived my entire life in the same house until I was married. Even then, we lived in the house for a month and a half after getting married while we waited for our own house to be finished (my mom had already vacated the premises at the time). So moving was extremely traumatic and I’m still plagued by worries of things I left behind, pieces of jewlry I misplaced that I never found during the move, and so on. So I dream frequently that I’m back in the house searching for those missing things, or that it’s moving day all over again and not a thing has been packed yet. Very frustrating.
Late for work: These dreams are always disorienting. I’m getting ready for work and I check the clock: 8:00, I’m late and I’m not even dressed yet! But then my sister or parents or husband come along and distract me. I check the clock again: 10:00, I’m late and I haven’t called work yet to tell them I’m late! I’m a no call, no show! Then I’m distracted again. I check the clock: 3:00, the day is almost over and I still haven’t called! Try to call but suddenly I can’t remember the number, or someone else answers the phone. When I finally wake up, I panic trying to figure out if I’m really late or not.
Falling: Yeah, everyone has falling dreams, but they still scare the crap out of me. I think part of it is because falling is something I do a lot IRL and it’s always a very stressful event. I wake up from the falling dreams just absolutely positive I’m laying on the floor and it takes a moment or two to convince myself I am indeed in my warm safe bed.
“I hope life isn’t a big joke, because I don’t get it,” Jack Handy
No one’s mentioned a “naked dream” yet. Once I had what I think was the opposite of a stress dream; I was naked in public and I was not embarrassed. It wasn’t arousing, just liberating. I was strolling along the promenade, and people kept giving me clothes and telling me to cover up, but I insisted that I was within my rights. They say naked dreams mean you fear being exposed, so I guess this meant I wanted, or was starting to, express myself openly and honestly.
Remember, I’m pulling for you; we’re all in this together.
—Red Green