I dream all the time and love it~~they are stories in my head. My DH knows not to wake me unless he has too in the morning I am in DreamLand :)

I don't worry about the meaning of dreams or anything, but I just got through telling my daughter about a dream I had last night. I read several blogs of women with multiple children, one has triplets, another quints. I was dreaming that I was taking care of the quints and each of them had a puppy and I was wondering how I was going to let those dogs out in the morning and be able to catch them again, plus get all those diapers changed. Very frustrating dream!

Well, Mary, I won't try to attach any spiritual significance to that! Nor to the irises in the dishwasher. LOL

I have the most bizarre dreams and usually it doesn't bother me. Some of them are freaky, some are scary or sad and others are downright hysterical. I like those best! lol I love when I wake myself up laughing.

I used to resent all my bad dreams, but now I think my life would be kind of boring without them, so I just enjoy them as much as I can. Being terrorized by snakes and sharks, though- those ones I could do without.

Honestly, I don't subscribe to the opinion that dreams are reflections of what is happening in our lives. My life would have to be way more involved and complicated to justify the dreams. I live a cushy life, IMO, and should be dreaming of fields of flowers if that was the case. No flowers here, unless they look like something painted by Dali! lol I think it's more like my imagination has run amok.

LOL at the irises-in-dishwasher & the multiple kids n puppies dreams!

I dream pretty bizarre things myself sometimes. But a couple of years ago when DH's parents came over to Dubai to spend two months with us I dreamt that I'd a biiiiggg tummy and was being helped into the clinic for an ultrasound - turned out there were 9 babies in there, cat babies - I was carrying 9 kittens!! The shock probably didn't register (or it's normal in dreams for humans to carry kittens LOL), and I started thinking - I'll give two kids to my cousin (sister), two more to my brother, and two each to my two very best friends, and I'd keep one, the tiniest girl LOL

I think this dream happened because of the in-laws' need to know when we were planning to have a baby ('It's high time now', 'Those cats are not really your kids, you know'- well I do know!) - I think the subconscious mind has its way of getting active when the conscious mind is at rest.

Other times, I've dreamt of things like being in a swing and it's going really high n really fast n then I realise in absolute horror that there's no bar overhead to hold the swing in place - was symbolic of circumstances in life back then.

But there've been dreams of the imagination-run-amok kind too!

Maybe we should start a daily 'What did you dream of last night' thread :0)

I love to dream, I go back to places I've been an go to new places. It keeps me busy all night long. I've been dreaming some weird ones lately.

I believe that dreams are often set off by something that happened during our recent awake hours and have no real meaning other than to expand on a subject. For me, those dreams are the ones that are often bizarre, like being pregnant with kittens or iris in the dishwasher.

The dreams with no explanation or connection to anything I can identify are so puzzling to me. I have been agonizing for nearly 50 years why about 1 year after my Father's sudden death I dreamed that I murdered him. I cut him up in exact square pieces and stacked them in a closet. I had a very good relationship with my Dad. It was probably better than most daughters have with a parent. He never did anything nasty to me. I have only wonderful memories of him. I would love to hear some psychiatrist's theory about these kinds of dreams. Where do dreams like this come from?

Also, I guess my dream about the kittens might also signify that I WANT to be pregnant :) and the dream incorporated something from what my inlaws said abt the cats not really being my babies ... no idea if I'm making sense ... it's 11:30PM here, I'm off to dream dream dream ;)

I have had some really strange ones that stay with you all day. I try to make sense of them but usually they make no sense. And I laugh and cry in my sleep. DH wakes me up to let me know. DS carries on loud converstions in his. We can hear him through 2 closed doors and he is down the hall.
Clare

Is most of the population equipped with the imagination and creativity needed to do this? I don't think so.

I disagree. I think most people are equipped with what they need, which explains why everyone dreams. It's just that some people can't or don't tap into it until their conscious mind is at rest.

Oh my gosh I am SO relieved to know I am not the only one with completely bizarre dreams. A therapist wouldn't help because I could never explain them anyway. There are places I visit regularly like old houses and such that only exist in my dreams. I have never been to them in the awake world but they are there with everything in exactly the same place as I left it in a prior dream. I may not have dreamed of a particular place for years, then there I am again and the place is still the same ...Weird BTW sometimes it is in color and sometimes in balck and white...explain that!

I lot of what I dream are things I've been seeing on TV or have been thinking about.
When we had to put down our little peke I kept dreaming about her, we got another peke and two years later I finally see him in my dreams most of the time.
The dreams I like best are when I know I'm asleep and I tell people in my dreams that they are not real. I can fly and make up things the way I want.
Sometimes I dream about my father who died 35 years ago. I tell him I thought he died and he always says no, he was just sick and he's fine now.
My DH rarely remembers any dreams.

I think dreams are a fascinating subject. I won't go into all the pros and cons of dream interpretation, but I will tell you about the most vivid dream I have ever had.

This happened many years ago, and I wrote about it in my journal at the time. My DH and I were in Detroit for a NEA Convention. On the first morning, after he left for the meeting. I went back to bed for a while. After breakfast I met a friend at the pool. I had had such a realistic dream after I went back to sleep that I told it to her in detail. In my dream there was a young girl with a deep cut on her arm. She went out a door where a policeman put a tourniquet on it.

When we returned home, our (adult) DD was wearing her arm in a sling. She told us she had gone to visit a friend. The door to the apartment building where the friend lived had glass in the upper half. The person going out ahead of her let the door come back to her and she put her hand up to catch it. Her hand happened to hit a part of the glass, and she was cut badly. As she went on out the door, a police car was parked at the curb. The officer applied a tourniquet and took her to the hospital.

I have read that most realistic dreams we have will happen when we are sleeping in a bed other than our own, as in a motel, or after sleeping, waking and going back to sleep. This was definitely the case when I had this dream.

No one has the last, definitive word on dream interpretation. I do believe some of our dreams have an impact on our lives. Or, our lives have an impact on our dreams.

Sue

This just popped into my head. What about dogs who dream? I know my dog does because when she lies beside me on the sofa in the evening she does all kinds of things in her sleep. She moves her legs like she is chasing something and barks and even howls. She must be dreaming about something to be doing all that.
Clare

They fascinate me. I have had some with absolutely
no known (to me) solution as to what they mean.

Some are so real, and yet some are absolutely crazy.

(I love the Iris in the dishwasher) LOL

When I dream of my DH (deceased), he is always much
younger than he was when he died,more like when
we were married. And, every
single feature, voice sound, etc., is absolutely correct.

I guess that is my own memories trying to come out?

Fascinating - I wish I knew a lot more about dreams.

I don't know what I think of dreams. I've had them come true, the first time the ex cheated on me, was dreamt almost exactly the way I found out. Kinda freaked me out.

Last night I had a really bizzare dream about giant killer rabbits (and no I hadn't seen Night of the Lepus recently-lol). They were in our neighborhood (not here but somewhere else) so I built a rabbit proof house for my family. The rabbits were getting into people's homes by taking the door off the hinges and slipping in and killing the people. They even killed some people in cars. No one seem to know about them but my family. There was other stuff going on too but I can't remember it all.

The night before I had a bizzare dream with people from work in it...can barely remember that one. I always have weird dreams, some are really scary.

Oh, here's an odd thing- sometimes my dreams are very out of focus and in my dream I rationalize it by saying to myself "of course it's fuzzy, you don't have your glasses on, you're sleeping!" lolol

Killer murderous rabbits. Oh, boy. Better watch out for those venomous ducks, Kath!

I hardly ever have nightmares, but I have dreams that are like epics and go on and on.

One of the weirdest dreams I've ever had...at first, I didn't realize it was a dream. I woke up to find a guy who lived down the road from me, standing alongside my bed. He said to me, "That idiot is out there mowing the grass." I didn't have any idea who he was talking about...and I turned slightly in bed...Jody was asleep beside me...and looked at the window and it was pitch black dark. I turned back and he was gone.

Then I woke up and realized it was a dream, but can't figure out why I dreamed about him. I've never given him a second thought. He looks scary...snaggly toothed and very wrinkled...but he always seemed nice and one time I asked him to help me put my gate back on the hinges when it fell off.

They had moved away, and it was a couple months later I saw him walking down the road, and I stopped to see if he needed a ride...he didn't...and told him about the dream. He looked at me like I was trying to hit on him or something. LOL!!! That was the strangest dream, and I remember every detail of it.

Gee, I guess I'm odd. I never have dreams, or at least if I do, I never remember them. I don't like dreams; they have no value or interest to me.

That said, I know some medications can trigger dreams and even nightmares, melatonin and Cymbalta for example.

I like to dream. Often I dream about my deceased parents or a close friend who died. It is like getting another chance to visit them.

I am fascinated by dreams. I dream every night. And when I wake up I can remember what my dreams were. They are very vivid. I would love to know about my dreams. I think sometimes dreams are just triggered by what happens during the day but that some have greater significance. I think your brain tries to work some issues out through dreams. I have sometimes wanted to talk to an expert about my dreams.

I dream all the time.

I dream every night - multiple dreams. They are so vivid and clear. They are more alive and active than my real life! LOL In many ways they are fun - I get to go on journeys I don't in real life. Some of my dreams are obviously connected to recent events or fears. I can't tell you how many times I've had to get on an airplane and things didn't go well (fear of flying) or other things that I am scared of.

I also get what I call "school mares" right before school begins. (I'm a teacher.)

One dream I cannot understand, that happens quite often, is that I cannot walk very well. I hope that one doesn't come true!

My daughter is like me and dreams all the time. My husband says he rarely remembers his dreams. My boys hardly talk about dreams.

I wonder what I'll dream about tonight.....

Sheryl

My dreams are mostly random thoughts jammed together into some sort of incoherent story line, and after I awake, most of them do not make any sense. When my sister and I were children, at one period, we'd discuss our dreams with each other. Mostly, we would try to determine if we had dreamed in color or black-and-white. It seems that many of our dreams were in shades of gray like a photo. Then we experimented seeing if we could influence the color of our dreams. We found that if we went to sleep while making a conscience effort to dream in color, more of our dreams would be in color. It was a wish on our part to have colorful dreams. That was a long time ago. All the recent dreams that I can remember have been in true color. I find it difficult to remember a dream a few minutes after becomming fully awake unless it was an earth shattering dream or nightmare.

I do remember a nightmare that I had many years ago, and its memory has not faded. I was a senior in college and had just finished exam week on Friday. Graduation was the following weekend. My parents were comming to the graduation ceremony and then we were to say our goodbyes as I was taking off immediately to a new job and career to begin the Monday following graduation. I opted to stay in the Dorm for the week between the final exams and graduation. I had planned to relax and tidy up my affairs in an unhurried manner.

And then, the nightmare came early Saturday morning after the close of finals. I dreamed that I had forgotten to attend a minor class for the last half of the semester and had forgotten to show for the finals. My life was in ruins. Although it was minor class, the credits were needed for graduation. I was working my way through college and had taken a NDEA loan so that I could put two semesters together and finish my senior year. At 4am in the morning, I awoke in a cold sweat and could not shake the feeling that the dream was true. I turned on a lamp and checked my class schedule - there was no mention of any class of that name on the schedule, but the nightmare had been so real that I could not shake the idea that somehow I had messed up. It ruined a good nights sleep; I could not fall back into a good sleep, but only dosed and tossed and turned. I began Saturday bleary eyed and I could not shake the thought that somehow, I had blown a class. It was awful.

At other times, my dreams are about solutions to problems that I may have been actively tusseling with, or had been on my unconscience mind. On awaking, most of the time these "solutions" were absurd and laughable, but on a few occasions, the ideas in the dream were helpful and got me to think 'outside of the box'.

I rarely dream...or at least don't recall dreaming on awakening. When I do dream & recall, that recollection quickly slips away anyhow, so I have no interesting dreams to report.

I do however remember during my gum surgery process a number of years ago, that one night I dreamed "green stuff" was oozing out of a tooth at an alarming rate. I was most happy to awake & find that all was well! That's probably the ONLY dream I can still vividly recall.

A couple of days ago, I dreamed I was in my house by the front door. I said , out loud, "Charlotte is here." It woke up both me and DH. We tried to figure out what it meant. I had a friend 30 years ago named Charlotte, but I lost track of her. The only other Charlotte I know is a chyaracter in Sex and The City.

I think for the most part my dreams are very entertaining. I'd love to have some of them interpreted for me - they have to have some connection to our waking lives. I've been retired as a nurse for 4 years, and the last year or two of work was very stressful, and I still, after 4 years, have recurring dreams that are work-related - all somewhat different but with a similar theme: I'm all alone on the floor with 20 patients to take care of - or I've realized halfway through the shift that I haven't seen half my patients - or I've been assigned patients on three different floors. All of them seem to be me stuck in an unrealistic situation, and the funny thing is, I realize in the dream that I AM retired, and don't really have to be there at work at all. Those dreams are very frustrating. One question I have re dreams: why do the details seem to just fade and drift away soon after waking - some dreams are pleasant, and I almost resent becoming awake and losing them.

I dreamed the other night that I was with all these people at a party. I looked down at my legs and they were hairy like a big hairy man's legs. I woke myself up screaming. lol

And I am not a hairy person and I shave quite often. Who knows why we dream what we do?

I've enjoyed all your feedback on dreams.

Gazania, when she was little a relative of mine dreamt that her mother chased her with a knife. Her mother was a lovely person, and they had a close relationship. Like you, it bothered her and puzzled her for a long time. She's mentioned it to me more than once. My theory is that sometimes people are subsituted for other people (or things) in our dreams.

Lisa, I've had a recurring house in my dreams all my adult life. The outside looks like turn-of-the-century industrial: old brick, dark and unattractive, with no design elements. It looks more like a small apartment building than a house. The inside is quite different, with lots of welcoming rooms. For a while it had a moat around the kitchen. I have no idea what that was all about!

Linn (and anyone else dreaming about those who have passed on), consider that you might be having a dream visit. I can tell you that I've had dream visits from three people and two dogs. I've also had plenty of regular dreams about them, but the dream visits are different.

Twice I've signed up for a class on dreams at a local university. And twice the class was cancelled for lack of interest. Darn!

I think I have a recurring dream but I can't remember it when I'm awake. While I'm dreaming, I think, "This has already happened!"

I seldom remember my dreams, but several times a week for the past 40 years my hub awakens me from moaning, calling "help" or "Joe" in a weak voice, often yelling and thrashing. I'm always very relieved when he awakens me. Sometimes I fall right back to sleep, sometimes I'm so rattled I have to get up. Even then, while my heart is still pounding, I can't remember what the dream was.

Only one truly scary thing has ever happened to me in my life. For the most part, I'm happy and well-adjusted, not high-strung. But I have always been forgetful in real life, just as in my dreams.

At one point in my life I had a recurring, very vivid dream about exploring a huge old mansion--not quite a home but something like a 19th century boarding school of some type. Very spooky and Victorian in feel, but I wasn't afraid, just very curious. Although I haven't dreamed that dream in at least 20 years, it is still clear in my mind. I'm a teacher and I also have recurring dreams about appearing in class unprepared (or naked! I don't know what is worse :) or school nightmares about being about to graduate and suddenly realizing I was supposed to be taking a math class in order to graduate that I never attended. It is always a math class. Sometimes I dream about sitting in a classroom and having to take a test, but I've forgotten my pencil and no one will give me one. My final major category of dreams are the kind of running dreams where your legs turn to jelly or feel like lead and you can't get anywhere. Once I dreamed that one leg was suddenly shorter than the other, so I couldn't run. Sheesh, all my dreams seem anxiety-driven, don't they? Classic overperformer!

My dreams quite often include family members that have passed. Majority of the time it is my grandmother who I was very close with. There have been times that I semi awoke from the dream and tried to go back to sleep hoping to continue what I was so enjoying :)

The other occuring dream I have is being back in high school and not being able to remember the combination to my locker, thus making me miss or be late for class and then being scolded by the nuns. 35 years later and I'm still scared of them lol

matti