Last Night's Dream
Literally last night's dream
I got it into my head that I needed to buy a slate-blue-cloth-bound set of "classic" books. The first one was The Prince by Machiavelli, and I both questioned and was defensive of my sudden desire to own that particular book, which I didn't actually want to read but felt obligated to because it was in the set (I pointed out to myself that reading it might help me understand a type of person I have difficulty understanding). I never did know what the other books in the set were, and what, other than the beautiful binding and the impulse to be grown up with matching books on my shelf, made me so want to buy them. Maybe the approach of Christmas and the associated inventory-taking of things I might want people to give me?
Most uncomfortably on-the-nose message from my subconscious
I was in the back of a van, lurching down the road as vans do (I have significant real-life childhood experience riding in the back of a van, and the sensation was completely accurate). After a while I decided to look into the front to see who might be driving and where we might be going. Imagine my alarm at finding the driver's seat, and even the passenger's seat, completely empty! Thanks, subconscious, for pointing out my tendency to drift through life without taking ownership of my direction, but you didn't need to be quite that embarrassingly obvious.
Most gruesome and alarming dream
Twice now, that I can remember, I've dreamed of stabbing someone (never anyone I know in real life, and never anyone with very defined characteristics). There wasn't a terribly well developed backstory that I can remember either time, just that it was understood to be somewhat justified on some level. I do not recommend dreaming of stabbing. The physical sensation is exactly as you might imagine: a medium amount of resistance and the feeling of pushing onward through flesh. Of course there's also the alarming sensation on waking up and realizing you're capable of imagining such an act.
Most frequent scenario
Backstory: years ago in real life I spent three years studying in France and Spain, the first two being in France and the third in Spain. These dreams only started after the Spain year, when I was really too old to be living with 18-year-olds and subjected to the associated supervision; I spent most of my time on the group trips that year trying to get and stay as far as possible from the rest of the group.
Since then, although I haven't had so many lately, I routinely dream of traveling with a group, or living in some kind of group situation, generally with very little space or privacy. There's been much variation in the locations, settings, specifics, and people involved; but there's always an element of trying, usually unsuccessfully, to find or carve out a space for myself.
Most troublesome (and also troublingly transparent) repeat scenario
This is a twist on the group living situation, but with an added annoyance. In these dreams I'm living with a group of 6-8 people, usually a mix of actual family members and and hazy, undefined dream characters. There's not usually much backstory, and the action really starts with me suddenly realizing I've been doing ALL the cooking and housework for the group. I then start to yell at everyone around me about how unfair this is. The weirdest and most interesting detail is that very frequently my mom--who spent real years doing cooking and housework I benefited from--is the biggest offender in terms of sitting back and letting me do all the work without ever raising a finger. The impression is one of everyone having just drifted into the situation without realizing it; at the same time, no one is ever impressed by my meltdown or shows any level of outrage on my behalf, any regret at having allowed me to do everything for them, or any inclination to change the status quo. They usually seem to see my tantrum as unreasonable and excessive.
Most beautiful dream image
There have probably been more beautiful images that have been lost to my waking mind, but the one that sticks out in my memory is the Indian temple with the elaborately carved ceiling featuring monkeys. A very lengthy and detailed dream involving an old Spanish (?) city I was walking around in is a runner up.
Most fun repeat scenario
One of my favorite recurring scenarios is one in which I'm either shopping in a flea market/thrift store or have been presented with a closet full of very random and interesting clothing items. These dreams are always extremely visually detailed, although unfortunately most of the details are gone by the time I wake up and the only thing remaining is a hazy impression of color and pattern. And obviously the few flying dreams I've had are high on the pleasurable dreams list. Unfortunately there have been few enough that it's not really a "repeat scenario".
Recurring stressful scenarios
Boringly true to real life, but I regularly dream--usually in conjunction with a group living situation--that I need to get ready for an event but am in terrible shape appearance wise, don't have the equipment/supplies necessary to solve the appearance problems, am late (of course), and can't find a private place to get ready. Interestingly, I rarely have dreams about unsuccessfully searching for a bathroom; apparently my desperate and unmet needs all center around my appearance.
And then of course there are the school dreams, which I still have even all these years out of school. It's nearing the end of the semester and I realize I've been enrolled in one or more (usually more) classes that I've only been to a few times before drifting into truancy and then complete failure to study or do any assignments. The fact that I have this dream sometimes gives me a warm sensation of Belonging to the Great Brother-/Sisterhood of Humanity, as if we're All in this Together, all having stressful end-of-semester dreams at the same time (because I know everyone has these).
For our next subject I propose A Hated Chore, to be taken in any sense or direction you want. I realize this doesn't go with the season of holiday cheer we're embarking on, but far be it from me to enforce positivity.
Also, let's lengthen our periods until after Christmas to give us more breathing room: Last Night's Dream through this week, and A Hated Chore for the weeks of 12/16-12/29.
And I suggest also blurring the end-of-week line: let's declare Sunday both a part of the preceding week and the beginning of the new one, a day on which either subject can be posted (and once again, no one cares if you post a previous subject after the fact either).
I got it into my head that I needed to buy a slate-blue-cloth-bound set of "classic" books. The first one was The Prince by Machiavelli, and I both questioned and was defensive of my sudden desire to own that particular book, which I didn't actually want to read but felt obligated to because it was in the set (I pointed out to myself that reading it might help me understand a type of person I have difficulty understanding). I never did know what the other books in the set were, and what, other than the beautiful binding and the impulse to be grown up with matching books on my shelf, made me so want to buy them. Maybe the approach of Christmas and the associated inventory-taking of things I might want people to give me?
Most uncomfortably on-the-nose message from my subconscious
I was in the back of a van, lurching down the road as vans do (I have significant real-life childhood experience riding in the back of a van, and the sensation was completely accurate). After a while I decided to look into the front to see who might be driving and where we might be going. Imagine my alarm at finding the driver's seat, and even the passenger's seat, completely empty! Thanks, subconscious, for pointing out my tendency to drift through life without taking ownership of my direction, but you didn't need to be quite that embarrassingly obvious.
Most gruesome and alarming dream
Twice now, that I can remember, I've dreamed of stabbing someone (never anyone I know in real life, and never anyone with very defined characteristics). There wasn't a terribly well developed backstory that I can remember either time, just that it was understood to be somewhat justified on some level. I do not recommend dreaming of stabbing. The physical sensation is exactly as you might imagine: a medium amount of resistance and the feeling of pushing onward through flesh. Of course there's also the alarming sensation on waking up and realizing you're capable of imagining such an act.
Most frequent scenario
Backstory: years ago in real life I spent three years studying in France and Spain, the first two being in France and the third in Spain. These dreams only started after the Spain year, when I was really too old to be living with 18-year-olds and subjected to the associated supervision; I spent most of my time on the group trips that year trying to get and stay as far as possible from the rest of the group.
Since then, although I haven't had so many lately, I routinely dream of traveling with a group, or living in some kind of group situation, generally with very little space or privacy. There's been much variation in the locations, settings, specifics, and people involved; but there's always an element of trying, usually unsuccessfully, to find or carve out a space for myself.
Most troublesome (and also troublingly transparent) repeat scenario
This is a twist on the group living situation, but with an added annoyance. In these dreams I'm living with a group of 6-8 people, usually a mix of actual family members and and hazy, undefined dream characters. There's not usually much backstory, and the action really starts with me suddenly realizing I've been doing ALL the cooking and housework for the group. I then start to yell at everyone around me about how unfair this is. The weirdest and most interesting detail is that very frequently my mom--who spent real years doing cooking and housework I benefited from--is the biggest offender in terms of sitting back and letting me do all the work without ever raising a finger. The impression is one of everyone having just drifted into the situation without realizing it; at the same time, no one is ever impressed by my meltdown or shows any level of outrage on my behalf, any regret at having allowed me to do everything for them, or any inclination to change the status quo. They usually seem to see my tantrum as unreasonable and excessive.
Most beautiful dream image
There have probably been more beautiful images that have been lost to my waking mind, but the one that sticks out in my memory is the Indian temple with the elaborately carved ceiling featuring monkeys. A very lengthy and detailed dream involving an old Spanish (?) city I was walking around in is a runner up.
Most fun repeat scenario
One of my favorite recurring scenarios is one in which I'm either shopping in a flea market/thrift store or have been presented with a closet full of very random and interesting clothing items. These dreams are always extremely visually detailed, although unfortunately most of the details are gone by the time I wake up and the only thing remaining is a hazy impression of color and pattern. And obviously the few flying dreams I've had are high on the pleasurable dreams list. Unfortunately there have been few enough that it's not really a "repeat scenario".
Recurring stressful scenarios
Boringly true to real life, but I regularly dream--usually in conjunction with a group living situation--that I need to get ready for an event but am in terrible shape appearance wise, don't have the equipment/supplies necessary to solve the appearance problems, am late (of course), and can't find a private place to get ready. Interestingly, I rarely have dreams about unsuccessfully searching for a bathroom; apparently my desperate and unmet needs all center around my appearance.
And then of course there are the school dreams, which I still have even all these years out of school. It's nearing the end of the semester and I realize I've been enrolled in one or more (usually more) classes that I've only been to a few times before drifting into truancy and then complete failure to study or do any assignments. The fact that I have this dream sometimes gives me a warm sensation of Belonging to the Great Brother-/Sisterhood of Humanity, as if we're All in this Together, all having stressful end-of-semester dreams at the same time (because I know everyone has these).
For our next subject I propose A Hated Chore, to be taken in any sense or direction you want. I realize this doesn't go with the season of holiday cheer we're embarking on, but far be it from me to enforce positivity.
Also, let's lengthen our periods until after Christmas to give us more breathing room: Last Night's Dream through this week, and A Hated Chore for the weeks of 12/16-12/29.
And I suggest also blurring the end-of-week line: let's declare Sunday both a part of the preceding week and the beginning of the new one, a day on which either subject can be posted (and once again, no one cares if you post a previous subject after the fact either).
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