Have you ever had a dream that is so vivid, so beautiful and fantastical that you think it is real. So much so that it wakes you up to check your surroundings?
That happened to me early this morning ā¦ all I remember is thinking ā¦ nooooo, go back ā¦ go backkkk!!! Of course I could not
Now I donāt even remember what it was all about just a few details. Iāve have these types of dreams all my life (along with recurring dreams).
I can still remember bits and pieces of most of them. Like the time all the snowbanks were made of mashed potatoes and I had to go around the neighborhood to teach people how to form them into proper peaks, to the time I had to go fishing for pasta and still remember exactly what the pasta looked like - think of a fat or puffy capital A with round legs and a blue checkerboard point
There have been times when Iāve been conscious of the fact that I was waking up during a dream and desperately wanted to stay in the dream to see how it would end.
Iāve also realized a pattern in my dreaming. The vast majority of nights, I go to bed, fall asleep pretty quickly, and donāt dream. If itās a Friday or Saturday night and Mrs. Steve_O and I share a bottle of wine, same thing. Fall asleep quickly and donāt dream. However, if I have just a little bit of alcohol, say one glass of wine or one night cap, before bed, I am just about guaranteed to have really bizarre dreams.
I used to lucid dream - take control of the dream- but havenāt done that for many years. Not sure why it stopped.
But I once wanted to test the idea that eating cheese before bed gives nightmares - and it did. But what I keep wondering is was it the cheese eating that forced the nightmare, or was it the thoughts that I was expecting to have a nightmare after eating cheese.
Itās hard to know.
But Iāve had mad dreams - I woke up in the middle of the night with my wife shouting at me to wake up.
I was in the Tour De France and I had both legs up in the air cycling a bike and the bedsheets went everywhere with my kicking.
The weird thing about this is I donāt even own a bike!
Iāve had dreams where Iāve been disappointed to wake up and find they werenāt real, but theyāve been very rare.
Unless I wake up during a dream, I never remember them. When I do wake up during a dream, itās almost always because it was a very bad dream related to experiences from long ago.
I am lucky ā¦ I never have nightmares so to speak. Mine are always lovely and I donāt want to wake up. Iāve only woken from a dream mad on a couple occasions ā¦ but then realize it didnāt really happen. Last time was I was dreaming that my Joe emptied out the freezer to make room for new food. He threw everything away. I was furious ā¦ but then quickly realized it was a dream. It sure did seem real while it was happening though.
He on the other hand has nightmares frequently. Not the monster kind ā¦ the work kind. He used to be a cook in a very busy restaurant. This dream always involves working the line and nothing is going right and the orders keep coming and everyone is screaming. He usually wakes up breathing heavy and then goes back to sleep.
I have read a few times that vividly real type dreams are from fragmented sleep or lack of sleep. Meaning your REM state is a bit frogged up. Well ā¦ thatās the story of my life. My sleep is always wonky.
It was the most ordinary things, going to work, entering a room, standing at a street corner, always with a lot of people around. I had no pants on and was acutely aware of it. The dreams were never resolved.
Oh, one time I dreamed I was in Philadelphia and in the dream the sky was green. Only thing is, Iāve never been to Philadelphia.
If I am anxious about some event going on in my life, Iāll have a dream that someone or some animal is chasing me. Those can be a little freaky. I wouldnāt consider them nightmares, but Iām always glad to wake up.
I actually had a recurring dream of a spider ā¦ larger than life that would drop down behind me and chase me. It was a tunnel like structure and the spider would be chasing me in a spiral pattern. I would always wake up when I started to panic. Odd and never resolved and no spider trauma that I know of
Those are similar to my bad dreams where Iām being chased or suddenly attacked. Lots of them involve strangers jumping out from behind bushes and stabbing me, but quite a few have to do with animals and insects suddenly turning on me, growing much larger in size and either grabbing me or chasing me. They always end the same ā being jolted awake in sheer panic right as Iām about to be mauled or killed.
Many times, I find myself dreaming of still working and I have been retired now for almost four years. But the best dream I ever had was about two months after my father passed away. He had been my hero all my life. His last days were difficult for him and he looked emaciated and so sad. About two months later, my wife woke me up because she said I was moaning out loud. In my dream, I saw my fatherās face, but it was so bright, clear, and young-looking. He had a full head of wavy light brown hair like he did when he was younger but his eyes!āoh, my, his eyes were so bright and crystal-blue! Brighter than I had ever seen them, but I remembered that feature the most. All he said was, āHi, Son!ā I always knew him to be a genuine Man of God, and I honestly believe that that night Dad had asked Christās permission to come to me in my dream so I could see him as he is now. Oh, my! To this day, and that was over twenty years ago. I still see that wonderful face so clearly in my mind. I would wish everyone to have such a dream, at least once, in their lifetime.
