Dreams

[Phylum of Alexandria]

So I was trying to wake up this morning, but drifted into a short dream.

I was looking at a drawing of a baby, surrounded by a bunch of cartoon eyes. As I focused on the eyes, I realized that it was the menacing eyes of Chong Li, the villain from the movie Bloodsport. The End.

What's interesting is that, thinking about the dream, it's clear that the cartoon eyes were from a drawing I recently did. It was the first thing I've drawn in more than 10 years, actually. It was a satirical take on the Uncle Sam poster, but commenting on how creepy conservatives got during George Dubya's march toward war with Iraq.

I intentionally made my "Uncle Jim" character have a glowering expression, but I didn't consciously think of Chong Li. I'm kind of impressed that my dreaming brain made that connection, because it makes sense to me, even now. 

I'm not quite sure about the baby. I'm hoping my dream brain is not trite enough to symbolize my recently born artistic urge with a baby. That would be lame, dream brain.

 

[Phylum of Alexandria]

Another brief dream association that I thought was pretty cool, but only from a cognitive psych point of view:

Right before waking, I had a fragment of a song playing in my head. It was a woman singing "It's 1977!" over and over on a loop. It comes from "Plastic Bag" from X-Ray Spex. That band's front woman Poly Styrene had a high-pitched shout-singing style that influenced later riot grrl bands like Bikini Kill and Bratmobile.

And in my dream, I thought to myself: "This isn't Poly singing. Is this Bratmobile? No. Close, but not quite."

And then I woke up briefly, and then drifted back to sleep. When I woke up the second time, I had another song looping in my head: "Fainting Spells" by Crystal Castles.

And I realized that that was the voice that had been singing "It's 1977!" in my earlier dream. It's similar to Bratmobile (and in the broad style pioneered by Poly Styrene back in 1977), but even more high-pitched. As I said in my first dream: close, but not quite.

I know that as dreams go this is some minimal minutiae, but I find it pretty neat that my brain could do such categorical sorting without conscious deliberation.

That is all.

[Larry of the Lawn]

I had a dream I had a pet pig named Bug Bite and if i got stuck in an annoying conversation he'd start eating the annoying person's shoes until they fucked off.  

Would pay good money for a pig like that in real life. He looked like a piebald version of Babe.  

[LongRider]

2 hours ago, Larry of the Lawn said:

had a dream I had a pet pig named Bug Bite

Bug Bite, best dream pig name ever!  

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

So if you've been reading the dating thread you know I'm head over heels about someone. What I cannot explain is that for several nights I've had dreams of picking up my phone while in bed only to wake up and it's where it belongs on my desk. 

Edited March 10 by Mr. Chatywin et al.

[Phylum of Alexandria]

3 hours ago, Mr. Chatywin et al. said:

So if you've been reading the dating thread you know I'm head over heels about someone. What I cannot explain is that for several nights I've had dreams of picking up my phone while in bed only to wake up and it's where it belongs on my desk. 

Anticipation loops! I've had similar ones when worrying about a certain time, like a deadline the next day. I would dream that I was studying and drifting asleep, then "waking" to see what time it was, but it's all blurry. Then I realize I'm dreaming, then try to wake. Sometimes it loops over and over before I actually wake.

[DMC]

Always been fascinated by dreams.  Not really in the "what do they mean?" aspect in that I need them to be explained, but more just what the fuck is going on in my subconscious?!?

Think I've mentioned this before here, but still to this day, I have recurring dreams about missing or being late for a major exam/failing to submit a major paper in a course.  And invariably within the dream this causes great anxiety that I can't rectify.  Then I wake up and am like..dude, you're the one administering exams and term papers, and have for a decade. 

Still happens probably at least once a week.  And it's always almost still at my high school.  Even if within the dream I know I'm way too old to still be in high school and this doesn't make any sense!  Like, my subconscious is obsessed with that building. 

Same thing with my childhood home.  My parents sold it in 2007, but I still have frequent dreams in which I live there.  Oftentimes, again, I know my parents sold it, but still.  Most recent one I can remember was my brother and I were renting it somehow and I was commuting from Rochester, NY to Tampa, FL.

Other thing about dreams is the ability to fly.  It's so fucking cool.  I still remember one time where I "figured out" that ability during a dream, woke up, and went back to sleep cuz I was just like "nah, this is so much better than being awake."  Slept for like fourteen hours just flying around and shit.

Relatedly, there's also the "lucid dream" aspect.  I've gotten better at this, when you realize you're dreaming.  Like the thing with flying, this can be really cool.  It also can be useful when you want to get out of a bad dream.  For whatever reason my subconscious wants to make me really anxious or frustrated in a lot of dreams - particularly not being able to figure some simple thing out despite constant efforts.

Eventually I'll be like..hold up, this is stupid.  I know this is a dream.  Wake up.  And I will.  But my subconscious has been fighting back!  Now when I realize I need to wake up, I'll "wake up" only to still be another dream.  And another..and another.  This is where Inception was so genius -- or maybe Inception is why I have this problem?  I dunno, but I've definitely gone through at least like five levels of dreams within a dream sometimes trying to actually wake the fuck up.

[Ormond]

Dreams of missing or failing exams are among the most common for American adults of any age. I'm 72 and retired and still occasionally have them. Dreams of flying are also common.

It's possible these exam dreams occur when something is going on in your life which could be seen as a "test" in a real or metaphorical sense, but also just that this is how general anxiety tends to be expressed in dreams of anyone who spent many years as a student when they were young. 

One of the main functions of dreams seems to be to help one consolidate memories by linking images from whatever happened in the day before to other memories from your past. So we should all have images in our dreams that come from our personal past almost every night.

[DMC]

On 3/11/2024 at 8:25 PM, Ormond said:

Dreams of missing or failing exams are among the most common for American adults of any age. I'm 72 and retired and still occasionally have them. Dreams of flying are also common.

It's possible these exam dreams occur when something is going on in your life which could be seen as a "test" in a real or metaphorical sense, but also just that this is how general anxiety tends to be expressed in dreams of anyone who spent many years as a student when they were young. 

Don't psychoanalyze me old man, I'm not paying the fee!  

[Ormond]

8 hours ago, DMC said:

Don't psychoanalyze me old man, I'm not paying the fee!  

If you think that sentence was personal psychoanalysis you have an odd idea of what goes on in Freudian talk therapy.:)

And don't worry, I am not a clinical psychologist, so I can't legally charge you a fee.

[Underfoot]

Don't worry everyone, last night I dreamed Biden beat Trump in November. It was close but he pulled it off. I think we're gonna be okay. 

[kissdbyfire]

On 3/11/2024 at 9:25 PM, Ormond said:

So we should all have images in our dreams that come from our personal past

Oh I hope not! I don’t remember how this particular dream started, but from the point I do remember I had one of my eyeballs in my hand and I kept trying to pop it back in but it kept popping out! And the weird part is that I wasn’t scared or in pain or anxious or anything. The whole experience felt very matter of fact in the dream. Still, I much prefer my frequent flying dreams…

 

[Ser Arthurs Dawn]

On 1/31/2024 at 7:54 PM, A True Kaniggit said:

Never fall asleep on your back!

That leads to sleep paralysis. 
 

Terrifying. 

Back when my Lyme was untreated, I would get sleep paralysis and night terrors regularly. Almost every night (or day, if I took a nap.) I've only ever had one terrifying incident during an episode. I couldn't move, obviously, could barely open my eyelids, but I had the most horrible feeling of dread that I think I've ever felt. I always feel like someone or something is in the room with me during my episodes, but this time it was more intense. It felt like something was coming for me, and eventually I heard this deep voice roaring in my ears. It was very static-like, and it sounded like the voice was speaking in another language, one I'm not familiar with anyway. As soon as I snapped out of it, I got up and refused to go back to sleep.

Every other episode has been fine, really. I just hate that I always feel like I'm being suffocated.

[Ormond]

On 4/1/2024 at 7:40 PM, kissdbyfire said:

Oh I hope not! I don’t remember how this particular dream started, but from the point I do remember I had one of my eyeballs in my hand and I kept trying to pop it back in but it kept popping out! And the weird part is that I wasn’t scared or in pain or anxious or anything. The whole experience felt very matter of fact in the dream. Still, I much prefer my frequent flying dreams…

 

That we all have images in our dreams from our personal past (and especially from what went on the day before) doesn't mean that every single image is from something that personally happened to you. For modern people, the "personal past" would also include all the images you have from all the movies and TV shows you've seen and books you've read, which might account for a lot of bizarre imagery these days.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

Last night I dreamt that I grew my hair long and that it was very dark… (I’ve always had sandy blond/light brown hair) that I decided to attend a work function in a dress.  Got to the door and decided that was a poor idea then struggled to get back up to a hotel room to change into a suit. 

I don’t ever recall having another dream like that one.

[Tears of Lys]

My most vivid dreams are often those of flying.  But I have to flap my arms at first to escape gravity's pull, (I know) and then when I clear the treetops it's clear sailing.  I remember having to be very careful of power lines.  It is an absolutely wonderful feeling.  The other really cool dream is the one where I'm on cross-country skis and each step glides about 3-4 yards.  But no snow in sight.

But has anyone else experienced "exploding head syndrome"?   It's funny, I know, but it's an actual thing apparently.  It happens in that time when you're just falling asleep, and then "BANG!"  I've had it once in a while for as long as I can remember.  It's harmless, but when it first happens, it's quite disconcerting!   You look around to see what happened and did anyone else hear it.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

On 3/10/2024 at 8:18 PM, Phylum of Alexandria said:

Anticipation loops! I've had similar ones when worrying about a certain time, like a deadline the next day. I would dream that I was studying and drifting asleep, then "waking" to see what time it was, but it's all blurry. Then I realize I'm dreaming, then try to wake. Sometimes it loops over and over before I actually wake.

Idk man, but I've been having the same dream almost every night for weeks more. It's weird waking up thinking you're on the phone for it not to be there. 

[maarsen]

1 hour ago, Tears of Lys said:

My most vivid dreams are often those of flying.  But I have to flap my arms at first to escape gravity's pull, (I know) and then when I clear the treetops it's clear sailing.  I remember having to be very careful of power lines.  It is an absolutely wonderful feeling.  The other really cool dream is the one where I'm on cross-country skis and each step glides about 3-4 yards.  But no snow in sight.

But has anyone else experienced "exploding head syndrome"?   It's funny, I know, but it's an actual thing apparently.  It happens in that time when you're just falling asleep, and then "BANG!"  I've had it once in a while for as long as I can remember.  It's harmless, but when it first happens, it's quite disconcerting!   You look around to see what happened and did anyone else hear it.

I have had this on occasion. I have had it while wide awake too.

[Ser Scot A Ellison]

2 hours ago, Tears of Lys said:

But has anyone else experienced "exploding head syndrome"?   It's funny, I know, but it's an actual thing apparently.  It happens in that time when you're just falling asleep, and then "BANG!"  I've had it once in a while for as long as I can remember.  It's harmless, but when it first happens, it's quite disconcerting!   You look around to see what happened and did anyone else hear it.

Yes.  I’ve experienced that.  I just thought I was weird.  I’ve never mentioned it to anyone.  I didn’t known happened to anyone else… it has happened more frequently as I’ve gotten older.

I never fly in my dreams.  I have dreamt of falling off a building at least once… I knew I was going to die… then I woke up.  It was… disconcerting.

Edited April 6 by Ser Scot A Ellison