Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Nocturnal recurrences

Tried to make the title of this post alluring, as the post itself...

I had one of my most common recurring dreams last night. No, it's not the underwear dream. I guess since I pretty much run around the house in my underwear all the time, and even take the trash out to the dumpster in my underwear, that isn't so much a dream anymore as it is reality.

No, last night I dreamed that it was Christmas Eve and I hadn't bought anyone anything. It was only a couple of hours until the first family gathering, and I didn't have time to buy gifts.

I've had this dream or something very similar to it several times. It has become my most common recurring dream. I don't remember having it until the last year or so.

It isn't always exactly the same. Sometimes I go try to buy something at the last minute and all the stores are closed. Sometimes I have a day or two before Christmas. I go to the store but can't find anything good. I wander around on the verge of panicking, feeling sadness and angst. And end up buying gifts for my family that I know they don't want.

The odd thing is, my family always goes overboard for Christmas. It comes from my Mom. It's her favorite holiday and she always buys too much. And by too much, I mean just enough (if you're reading this, Mom.) I've even had ex-girlfriends say half-jokingly that they missed dating me around Christmas, because Mom would go overboard with them, too.

My sister and I inherited her love of Christmas and tendency to buy lots of presents. And while I love going shopping on Christmas Eve simply for the atmosphere of it all, I've never waited until the last minute to start, or been in danger of not having my gifts bought.

I wonder what the dream means. I have it year round, not just near the holidays, so I don't think there's a literal interpretation. And while it's not exactly the same everytime, it always makes me feel unprepared, anxious, and upset.

This morning, I woke up with a headache and realized I had a migraine that apparently started while I was asleep. Surely a dream couldn't cause a migraine? I also woke up with a scrape on the back on one of my fingers. What am I doing at night? Maybe I should set up a video camera. No, I don't already have one set up!

What recurring dream do you have?

"Said that she go back to school and try things once again. But you know it didn't take too long till she lost her way..."

23 comments:

  1. The dream I am having frequently is of a woman my assistant wants to set me up with coming over, and helping me do my laundry. No, that is not a euphemism for doing the dirty deed. :)

    The dream starts out with me getting my laundry downstairs. I get a phone call, and it's from (let's call her) L. Now L has been to my house a bunch of different times for parties, but never really just come over to hang out with me. So she asks what I'm up to, and I tell her I am doing my laundry. She asks if she can come over and help. Then she is at my house. We go downstairs, she sits on the dryer, and we chat while I put a load in the washer. Then we decide to go back upstairs and watch a movie while we wait for the laundry to be done. That's about it. We finish both the laundry and the movie, and she goes home.

    I've had this dream a lot lately, and it is usually exactly the same every time. Weird.


    Maybe your dream just means you worry about getting stuff handled in enough time.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I used to have a dream once or twice a month about being chased....I could never tell who was chasing me but the fear was overwhelming. I would wake up screaming sometimes....really creepy. It's been months since I've had the dream so hopefully it's gone....lol

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dreaming about not having enough or searching and not having an adequate representation of you for the most important family gathering...not much interpretation going into that one. It means you want to give the best but have an anxiety over whether you will ever be complete. While the answer is you are good enough just the way you are, you're subconscious isn't convinced. Stupid subconscious.

    Yes, anxiety in a dream can tighten muscles in the back and neck and cause migraines.

    Thank you Psych 221.


    My recurring dream is also a searching dream. I wonder how many of us have those?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Sounds to me like you feel like you're dropping the ball somewhere else in your life. Relationships? Work? WRITING!?

    I always have a dreem that I'm up on a very narrow bridge millions of miles above the ocean. The only way to get down is to cross it... but it's increadibly narrow and the obsticals are difficult to get over without falling.

    I've never fallen. But I've never crossed it either.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Yeah, Bone inspired my lunch and my blog yesterday... he deserves an award! :D

    ReplyDelete
  6. I used to have the being chased or trapped dream all the time, but that has subsided... I think because I'm happier with my life now.

    I really don't have any dreams that are worth me remebering...'cuz I don't remember them. =o)

    My last really odd dream was that DH & I were trying to go out of town together and had planned to leave Darly with MIL, but to give her a break we were going to leave her at our Church's pre-school... Hello? She's 8! and the Church is on the other side of town from MIL's house and they don't take 8y/o's anyway...but for some odd reason I didn't bother to find this out until the day we were leaving.
    I woke up before the issue was resolved and we didn't leave her. I was just too freaked out by how weird that was and it took me a few hours to calm down enough to go back to sleep.

    Yeah, I'm weird and disturbed.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Big Man: I think you should ask L if she wants to come over and do the laundry sometime. Be sure to say it with a wink.

    I'll check out your post. Actually, I notice you've been blogging a lot more lately, so I'm gonna link you.

    RedNeckGirl: Being chased seems to be a fairly common dream. Some would say it's a fear or something you're running from in your conscious life manifesting itself in the form of someone chasing you.

    Dorothy: Thanks for the input. I never made it past Psych 101, but I am occasionally fascinated by dreams and their interpretations.

    TheBlonde: Ooo, I like that idea. Writing. Yes. I feel like my writing has not been up to par for most of the past month or so.

    Bridge dreams are one of the most common, as you probably know.

    Renee: Dreams are funny in how they ignore logic. Like the other night, I dreamed a hamburger was eating me!

    ReplyDelete
  8. i dream..last night a guy confess that he do anything..it just for me. Ahh hope he is the one that i waiting for..

    ReplyDelete
  9. Maybe it was a GIRL hamburger. ;) LOL!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Dorothy is right. You are having a stress dream. I have similar dreams, but mine are usually about school and a test I haven't studied for.

    And yep, dreams can cause all kinds of hurts. Once, I dreamt I got stabbed in the arm, and I woke up and my arm hurt like the dickens!

    Love, Andrea ;) Did you meet your deadlines today?

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hmmm, I would consult my dream book, but it's upstairs...and I'm lazy at the moment. I will look though. Maybe you're anxious about the potential of disappointing people!?!?

    Sadly I rarely have dreams that remember. I know that if I'm dreaming when my alarm goes off...I'm really tired. I mean, who wants to be woken out of REM sleep???

    I am shocked and slightly disappointed that you don't already have a camera set up in your bedroom. hee hee!

    Anyway hafta go get ready to see Jimmy....Buffett that is. I did mention I was going to see Jimmy Buffett didn't I? I thought I did. Well if I didn't, I'm going to see Jimmy Buffett tonight. Mwah!!!

    ReplyDelete
  12. i wish i dreamed. i hardly ever do or remember them. :(

    ReplyDelete
  13. Amirah: I hope so.

    Renee: Her tongue was a pickle.

    What are we even talking about?

    Carmen: No. Emily Valentine came over last night. Yada yada yada, I'm really tired today :)

    Carnealian: Yeah, I had to take down the camera. After the incident.

    I am jealous. But enjoy the show! I mean, how could you not ;-)

    Ms. Sizzle: Aww, that's almost sad. I go thru phases. Right now I'm in a remembering them vividly phase. Sometimes I don't remember them at all.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I have two recurring dreams. One that I'm flying/floating. And I start to fly high. Then, when I try to go back down to the ground, I find myself flying higher. The second is that I'm in a flood and my kids are with me. We get caught in the flood, and I can't save them both. Only one. That one makes we wake up crying.

    ReplyDelete
  15. My teeth loosen and fall out. What the heck could that mean???? Haven't had it in ages and it's not exactly the same every time but that is pretty much the gist of it.

    hugs,
    circe

    ReplyDelete
  16. Ouch, Lass.
    :(

    ReplyDelete
  17. I don't think I'll be asking L over anytime soon. But if I asked her in that way I know how it'd end up. :)

    Just take a gander at it if you have time, and I really appreciate it.

    I just figured out how to do the links in the sidebar, and already have you and Alison on there. Thanks for the add sir.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Oh man, I have dreams like that. Usually it's something along the lines where I suddenly realize that I have a test for a class that I haven't gone to all semester and I'm lost and I'm trying to get to the class. There was one time (well, I think I've had this dream more than once) where I'm in the grocery store, trying to find specific items and then realizing that I have that test to take and I'm going to be late for this test and then there's this LONG line at the checkout.

    I think my dream (and yours) means that I somehow don't feel prepared/organized in life...I won't go into details over what aspect of my life that I don't feel like I'm prepared in, but maybe that's what your dream is. Somewhere you don't feel prepared or organized in your life.

    Just a thought.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I dont have any recurring dreams (that I can remember anyway...) but whoa - let me tell you, some of my pregnancy dreams, off the charts ! Sex, violence and so much more....

    ReplyDelete
  20. I commented here, but it must not have taken!

    In every job I've had, I have had "panic dreams" about stuff being behind or not getting done or other disasters such as forgetting to wear pants--they seem to be pretty common and here it seems you have one about your family. I have also had a few of them--living a ways from them and only seeing them 1-2 times a year.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Lass: I've had flying or floating dreams, too. And it seems I can feel my stomach doing flips in the dream.

    Circe: I used to have those, too. Seems like I haven't had that dream in a few years, either.

    Big Man: Oh, come on. It'll at least make a great blog entry :)

    Chickadee: I often dream I'm late for something, too. I feel organized. Maybe I'm not prepared in some aspect of life.

    M: Sounds like a movie. Sex, Violence, & Pregnant Dreams.

    Sage: Yeah, when I dream I'm late, it's usually for work. Perhaps the Christmas dream has replaced the underwear dream for me? Interesting thought.

    ReplyDelete
  22. I have the "too late" dream all the time; usually it's my body's way of telling me that I really need to get up and get ready for whatever. The chasing dream, eek, I've been having that one since I was little. I've had the teeth falling out dream, too, but I forget what that one means, except that I need to find a dentist who accepts charity cases.

    My maddeningly recurring dream, though, is the one where I find myself re-married to my psycho ex and I have to find out what happened and how to find my *real* husband again and make the situation right. This one usually involves trickery and violence as I seek to escape that awful situation again.

    ReplyDelete
  23. Scone: Ugh. The psycho ex dream sounds quite stressful. I wonder what it means.

    Thanks for stopping by :)

    ReplyDelete