That is almost exactly what it is like. I saw The Abyss a few times, so that probably figured into it. Swimming underwater is a lot like flying, so I’m not surprised that it comes up sometimes.
The shoe thing sounds a lot like throwing yourself at the ground and missing.
I’ve had the teacher’s version of this dream more than the student’s version. I’m at home and suddenly realize my class starts in 10 minutes and I’m not even dressed yet. I can’t find any of my clothes, I realize I don’t know what topic I’m supposed to cover today, I can’t find my notes, I’ve lost my students’ work I’m supposed to hand back, etc. Sometimes in the dream I’ve slept in until 3 pm and my class was earlier that morning and I freak out that I’m going to be fired.
I’m often naked in my dreams. Sometimes I’m trying to find clothes, sometimes I’m not.
I used to have it all the time. In the last 10 years or so it has been a no-show. I’m 64 now and probably had this dream a gillion times over a 40 year span.
It always followed the same format. I’d realize I was naked and be frantic about it. Then I’d notice that no one seemed to know I was naked. I would think this was cool and start parading around. Then, slowly, I’d start to see that at least some people were getting suspicious about me. Then I’d wake up.
<dispicable me>lightbulb <DM> I sleep in a t shirt, I never really noticed if it was the same one I was sleeping in or not. Due to the variety of ts I own, they could be anything from just barely covering my bum to almost knee length. Maybe this spring when I replace my older sleep ts Ill get all 6XL from casual male [who makes my current favorite sleep t, it is almost to my knees and a nice thick cotton knit.] I suppose I could start sleeping in board shorts again. I have almost exclusively pocket ts and pocket polos, so I can haul my cell phone around the house easily.
And put me down as enjoying flying dreams, I swim in the air and have to be careful about power lines. I don’t like swimming too high, and go along at about walking pace. I find it is rather like scuba diving just not under water.
I like bed spins, I have had inner ear problems all my life, and like the spins as long as they are not paired with nausea [that way lies horking] Falling dreams seem to be linked with bed spins in my experience.
I was a college prof. for a long time. Don’t recall any nightmares from the teacher’s side of the podium. Still have the student ones. It’s gotta be hardwired in somehow. I wonder what the equivalent dream was 40,000 years ago.
You show up for the mammoth hunt and realize you forgot your spear. While everyone else is risking their lives and getting their shots in, all you can do is kind of dance around and hope nobody notices that you came unarmed and unable to make any contribution. You are also nearly naked, but then so is everyone else.
I’ve never dreamed of flying, or breathing underwater. Dreaming that you can fly sounds really cool.
I used to have the ‘naked in public’ dream occasionally. But, when I started taking vacations to nude resorts and experienced it in real life, it was no big deal. I haven’t had the ‘naked in public’ dream since.
However, I have had dreams where I arrive at a nude resort and can’t take my clothes off. I remove them and toss them aside and jump in the pool. When I look down, the clothes are still there. So, I try again with the same results. I’m the only person there with clothes on and it’s just as awkward as being the only naked person in a room full of the clothed.
I haven’t had the flying dream in a long time. It is a neat feeling, though.
I’ve had this one several times as well, including a couple since graduating. It’s not always the day of the final, though there’s always some big exam, project or report due that day or the next. The strange thing is, I can remember the classes involved and it’s never really been anything that I’d actually take. My aerospace engineering degree didn’t really call for much in the way of philosophy and botany courses (though the botany dream led into an interesting one where I went searching for the professor in a series of huge greenhouses full of overgrown tropical plants.)
I’ve never had a “naked in public” dream or a flying dream. I do have the occasional falling dream, but it’s usually a pretty short fall, like down a flight of steps or out a second floor window and I wake up on impact.
I sitting nake in my office. Big Boss is in the back talking to someone. I decide to go get my coat to weat until I can go home and get some clothes.
As I walk to the coat closet, I see a poster on the wall. I remember The Straight Dope column about not being able to read in dreams. I think “If I can read this, it’s not a dream.” I read the Swedish lyrics to Fernando. I proceed to the coat closet, put on my jacket, go back to my desk and sit down.
Then I wake up.
I used to have the naked dream, usually involving school or going to school on Saturday.
Later it evolved into not remembering my locker combination, or dreaming it was the day of the big test, and I forgot to go to classes. Hated those dreams. They finally ended when I got divorced!
I don’t think I’ve ever had a full naked dream, but I have dreams about forgetting a particular article of clothing all the time. Usually it’s shoes or pants. There’s always that moment where my dreamself thinks “Wait, how the hell did I manage to get here without shoes?”
Had it again last night, but instead of sliding down the stairs and lauching myself into a strong air current, I stood at the edge of a tall building and waited for it to come to me and I just let it take me off and I began to fly.
With a strange twist this time.
Let me explain.
I go to sleep to an an oldies satellite station, and as sometimes happens when I fall asleep watching the History Channel, my REM subconcious “puts” me into what they’re talking about and showing in that particular episode. (What do they call that shit anyway??? It’s gotta have a name!)
So back to the dream: As I was flying from one current to the next, and loving being up there, I heard this song in my dream: - YouTube
And that’s what I flew to.
D, a sleep study specialist, tells me I spend a LOT of time in REM sleep and that’s why I insinuate myself into what’s going on in real life, in bed.
I can’t wait to fly again!
Any thoughts?
Q
This happens to me when the clock radio comes on to Morning Edition. It always amazes me that I’m having some dream with a really involved plot that seems like it’s been going on for hours yet it somehow dovetails perfectly with a 2-3 minute story on the radio. I’m with you, Quasi. There’s gotta be a name for this phenomenon.
I have the naked in public dream. Usually, I’ve chosen to be naked, and nobody seems to notice particularly, but I have this uncomfortable “Hmmm, maybe this wasn’t such a good idea” feeling as I try to tough it out.