Floating Leaf (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
floatingleaf) wrote2012-09-22 11:33 pm
floatingleaf) wrote2012-09-22 11:33 pm
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I will finish this meme some day, I swear
So, um, another week rolled by. And nothing really changed - except for the weather. As in, someone "up there" in the heavens must have decided to skip the whole "Indian summer" thing this year and move right into the proper cold season. After some nasty, freezing torrential rains, the sun is back, but accompanied by a sharp, chilly breeze, eerily reminiscent of November.:/ And, obviously, the heating isn't on yet - so I'm sitting here with my little space heater for company, wearing thick fleece and guzzling hot tea by the bucket. This is, of course, a little bit of a shock to the system after the blazing hot summer that felt like it would never end. Not that I necessarily want it back... but some sort of a more gradual transition would be nice, you know?... *sigh*
For some reason, several different people on my flist have been talking about their dreams lately... and, incidentally, dreams are the next topic in my almost-forgotten, never-ending 30 day meme (which will probably take me something like 30 years to finish, judging by the frequency of relevant entries so far). So let's try to tackle that for a change...;)
I always found the subject of dreams fascinating. It's a whole another life that your brain is living while you're asleep - or a number of different lives, as it were. Some are just variations on what happens in the waking world; others are obviously inspired by books/movies/other cultural material absorbed throughout your life; yet others seem to come from somewhere beyond. I wish I had the time or means to explore my dreams more closely; in recent years, I hardly even remember them on an average morning. They are no longer as complex or vivid as they tended to be when I was younger. But I do recall a number of recurring motifs, which might be worth reflecting upon (just for the purpose of gratuitous navel-gazing, if nothing else).
1) The most prevalent theme in my dreams seems to be solitude. As in, vast landscapes - or cityscapes, or buildings - completely bereft of human life. And despite what you might think, those are not usually bad dreams. In fact, they are often the happiest ones. It's as though I have the entire world to myself, to wander and explore at leisure, and there's nowhere I cannot go, because there's no-one to stop me.:P And so I walk endless corridors, or glide over rolling hills and meadows, and revel in the exhilarating sense of peace. Yes, that is how I usually feel when I am all by myself - an exhilarating sense of peace. Very telling, I suppose.
2) Nature seems to be another big theme - those vast landscapes mentioned above are sometimes breathtakingly beautiful, and just gazing at them can be a nearly mystical experience (I haven't had a dream like this for years, though - I miss them). There are lush forests, sparkling seas, exotic gardens... and sometimes also ancient buildings, ruins, or even entire cities that look like a product of some mysterious civilization (they are usually unpopulated). Every once in a while, those empty panoramas do evoke a feeling of desolation - but usually it's just quiet wonder. It's like I'm on a quest for something, but I have all the time in the world to find it. Hmmm...
3) Sometimes I do feel lost - like I'm walking around in circles, not having a clue where I'm supposed to go. Or - even worse - knowing exactly what place I'm looking for, but seeing it simply cannot be found. Classic example: the missing door number. This is a recurring dream, so I remember it quite well. I am in the apartment building we used to live in for most of my childhood/early youth, and I don't see our door number (which was 7). There is 6, and right next to it, there is 8. And then, when I turn back to leave the building, the staircase below me disappears (again, I haven't had that dream for years - so I guess my issues with feeling out of place in the world aren't that severe anymore... LOL).
4) Falling from great heights - that used to be a very frequent theme during my teenage years, and I think I read somewhere that children often dream of falling when their bodies are going through periods of rapid growth. So maybe that was the reason - though I am rather inclined to think that my teenage anxieties played an even bigger part in this. I have a strong fear of heights, and those dreams of falling were sometimes so scary that I woke up with a jump, my stomach cramped up painfully in sheer terror. Strangely enough, though, I also frequently dreamt of flying, and in those flying dreams I wasn't scared to go up into the air. In fact, I quite enjoyed the experience (I usually didn't fly very high, though, so perhaps I had a threshhold of tolerance... LOL).
5) Obsessive reliving of emotionally stressful situations, like arguments or misunderstandings with friends and family. Of course, in my dreams every little disagreement was blown entirely out of proportion, often causing me to wake up in tears. Luckily, those dreams have also become extremely rare in recent years, which must be a good thing.:P
6) Dreams of getting ready to go somewhere (school, work, vacation, whatever) and realizing I am going to be late - and feeling all upset and stomach-crampy about it. No surprise, no mystery - just my common real life issues, magnified (and yes, I still have those when I know I really SHOULD get somewhere on time).
7) Dreams of buses, streetcars and trains - waiting for them, missing them, riding them endlessly into unfamiliar cities (or familiar ones that look totally different in the dream than how I remember them), getting lost, losing sense of time, drifting, feeling like I'm never going to get anywhere. Which, again, ties into the general theme of "out-of-placeness" and "not-belonging" that seems to define my life. Huh.
I could go on. There are other types of dreams that seem to be repetitive - like those huge, complicated, plotty ones about strange intrigues involving some exotic ancient kingdoms or futuristic civilizations - but, sadly, I can never remember enough of those to make any sense of them after I wake up. There are also dreams about jewellery - yes, shiny pretty things like precious stones that I keep finding somewhere around the house and thinking, wow, I never knew I had something quite this nice (*LOL*). And, of course, occasional erotic dreams about people I love - or used to love (however long ago that was). Or just "love" dreams, very tender and filled with longing (it is always a bit astonishing to wake up from such a dream about someone I am supposedly "over" - but yes, it happens). Or the few strange ones where I seemed to be a gay man, trying to pick someone up. But let's just attribute that to the excessive consumption of online slash fanfic, OK?...:D
Speaking of which... this post was a nice interlude, but I need to go back to my regularly scheduled reading.:D
For some reason, several different people on my flist have been talking about their dreams lately... and, incidentally, dreams are the next topic in my almost-forgotten, never-ending 30 day meme (which will probably take me something like 30 years to finish, judging by the frequency of relevant entries so far). So let's try to tackle that for a change...;)
I always found the subject of dreams fascinating. It's a whole another life that your brain is living while you're asleep - or a number of different lives, as it were. Some are just variations on what happens in the waking world; others are obviously inspired by books/movies/other cultural material absorbed throughout your life; yet others seem to come from somewhere beyond. I wish I had the time or means to explore my dreams more closely; in recent years, I hardly even remember them on an average morning. They are no longer as complex or vivid as they tended to be when I was younger. But I do recall a number of recurring motifs, which might be worth reflecting upon (just for the purpose of gratuitous navel-gazing, if nothing else).
1) The most prevalent theme in my dreams seems to be solitude. As in, vast landscapes - or cityscapes, or buildings - completely bereft of human life. And despite what you might think, those are not usually bad dreams. In fact, they are often the happiest ones. It's as though I have the entire world to myself, to wander and explore at leisure, and there's nowhere I cannot go, because there's no-one to stop me.:P And so I walk endless corridors, or glide over rolling hills and meadows, and revel in the exhilarating sense of peace. Yes, that is how I usually feel when I am all by myself - an exhilarating sense of peace. Very telling, I suppose.
2) Nature seems to be another big theme - those vast landscapes mentioned above are sometimes breathtakingly beautiful, and just gazing at them can be a nearly mystical experience (I haven't had a dream like this for years, though - I miss them). There are lush forests, sparkling seas, exotic gardens... and sometimes also ancient buildings, ruins, or even entire cities that look like a product of some mysterious civilization (they are usually unpopulated). Every once in a while, those empty panoramas do evoke a feeling of desolation - but usually it's just quiet wonder. It's like I'm on a quest for something, but I have all the time in the world to find it. Hmmm...
3) Sometimes I do feel lost - like I'm walking around in circles, not having a clue where I'm supposed to go. Or - even worse - knowing exactly what place I'm looking for, but seeing it simply cannot be found. Classic example: the missing door number. This is a recurring dream, so I remember it quite well. I am in the apartment building we used to live in for most of my childhood/early youth, and I don't see our door number (which was 7). There is 6, and right next to it, there is 8. And then, when I turn back to leave the building, the staircase below me disappears (again, I haven't had that dream for years - so I guess my issues with feeling out of place in the world aren't that severe anymore... LOL).
4) Falling from great heights - that used to be a very frequent theme during my teenage years, and I think I read somewhere that children often dream of falling when their bodies are going through periods of rapid growth. So maybe that was the reason - though I am rather inclined to think that my teenage anxieties played an even bigger part in this. I have a strong fear of heights, and those dreams of falling were sometimes so scary that I woke up with a jump, my stomach cramped up painfully in sheer terror. Strangely enough, though, I also frequently dreamt of flying, and in those flying dreams I wasn't scared to go up into the air. In fact, I quite enjoyed the experience (I usually didn't fly very high, though, so perhaps I had a threshhold of tolerance... LOL).
5) Obsessive reliving of emotionally stressful situations, like arguments or misunderstandings with friends and family. Of course, in my dreams every little disagreement was blown entirely out of proportion, often causing me to wake up in tears. Luckily, those dreams have also become extremely rare in recent years, which must be a good thing.:P
6) Dreams of getting ready to go somewhere (school, work, vacation, whatever) and realizing I am going to be late - and feeling all upset and stomach-crampy about it. No surprise, no mystery - just my common real life issues, magnified (and yes, I still have those when I know I really SHOULD get somewhere on time).
7) Dreams of buses, streetcars and trains - waiting for them, missing them, riding them endlessly into unfamiliar cities (or familiar ones that look totally different in the dream than how I remember them), getting lost, losing sense of time, drifting, feeling like I'm never going to get anywhere. Which, again, ties into the general theme of "out-of-placeness" and "not-belonging" that seems to define my life. Huh.
I could go on. There are other types of dreams that seem to be repetitive - like those huge, complicated, plotty ones about strange intrigues involving some exotic ancient kingdoms or futuristic civilizations - but, sadly, I can never remember enough of those to make any sense of them after I wake up. There are also dreams about jewellery - yes, shiny pretty things like precious stones that I keep finding somewhere around the house and thinking, wow, I never knew I had something quite this nice (*LOL*). And, of course, occasional erotic dreams about people I love - or used to love (however long ago that was). Or just "love" dreams, very tender and filled with longing (it is always a bit astonishing to wake up from such a dream about someone I am supposedly "over" - but yes, it happens). Or the few strange ones where I seemed to be a gay man, trying to pick someone up. But let's just attribute that to the excessive consumption of online slash fanfic, OK?...:D
Speaking of which... this post was a nice interlude, but I need to go back to my regularly scheduled reading.:D