This week I was on the phone with one of my Platinum Coaching clients. (I’ll call her Sylvia.)
Sylvia was facing down some old rigid mindsets and patterns. No big deal. We all go through these moments when we step into a bigger version of ourselves.
In the midst of her story, she said that she’d had her dream again. Her recurring nightmare. Always the same one. Always about her college astronomy class. She described it as if she were some kind of freak.
Without stopping to analyze the dream or make it into a big deal I said, “Know what mine is?” And I told her.
I’m a senior in college. It’s the end of the semester. And I’m sitting in Advanced Calculus, and the teacher is handing out the exam. Only problem is that I didn’t go to class the entire semester, and I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing there or how I’m going to make it through the exam.
There are variations on this dream, of course. Sometimes my entire diploma rests on this class. Sometimes I simply obsess about how to explain to the professor that I blew the class off all semester long. Sometimes I’m in high school. (That, in and of itself is the nightmare. Coming all this way only to find out I’m back in high school! Damn!)
Sylvia cracked up. Suddenly she wasn’t a freak anymore. We continued her session with our attention in the present moment.
So, I’m curious.
Does everyone have their own private recurring dream? Kind of a cross between nightmare and just plain weird dream? And mostly laughable once you think about it in broad daylight? (Hey, when I was a waitress, I used to have “waitressing naked” dreams. I’ve met lots of other former waitresses who admit to having the same exact dream!)
Let us know. Sylvia might like to have a good laugh.
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{ 66 comments… read them below or add one }
Yes, yes and three times yes! I have these. In the two year build up to the wedding I would have the same dream… it’s the day of, I’m there, Kris is there, NOTHING is planned. We didn’t have a celebrant, I didn’t have a dress, we never sent the invites, forgot to book the d.j. So it’s just us. And our friends and family. I have similar dreams about work sometimes when things are super stressful. I show up at a hearing and am not prepared, have no witnesses, no opening statement, no evidence…
Curious to hear what other people have as theirs and what the trigger is. I’ve learned that it’s just going to happen… and now almost expect it when I get stressed.
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Nancy – I think I had those very same wedding dreams too! And I would imagine there are LOTS of lawyer dreams out there. Yikes. (When I toured with the ballet company, (playing my songs for their ballet) I had a round of dreams where the curtain went up and there i was in a tu-tu and they wanted me to perform the entire Nutcracker Pas de Deux by myself. It was horrendous.)
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I have recurring dreams about elevators. Mostly I’m inside crashing elevators, or the floor of the elevator bottoms out on me and I’m hanging on for dear life to some handle bar. But sometimes elevators drops me off on the wrong floor. Or, my elevator spins in circles like a clothes dryer. Oh, and yeah, I do avoid riding elevators in my awake time.
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The only re-occurring dream I have is that I am late. Whatever is going on the next day – work, class, phone calls, appointments, paying bills, anything – I get very stressed in my dreams that I am late or miss it completely. I’ll jolt awake in a panic – then, when I can breathe again, I have to laugh because I am NEVER late to anything! I’m usually early
Fortunately, I don’t have this as much as I used to; it used to happen every couple days, now it’s once a week or so.
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Yes! Every 5-10 years or so I have a very vivid and memorable dream that I’ve abandoned my regular life and run off to act in a traveling dinner theater. Really. It’s true.
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I have several:
Like Phylameana, I have elevator dreams. Also, rollercoasters, being overcome by large waves at the beach (but i can always breathe underwater), having enormous wads of chewing gum stuck in my mouth, being late and lost in high school, and moving into a much smaller house with other women.
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Oh yes! Mine is always about being lost. Wandering around a building or an airport or a resort looking for something or someone – sometimes having simply gone back to get something I left but not being able to get there. Elevators suddenly don’t go where i think, turning a corner gets me in the middle of a swimming pool that didn’t used to be there, etc. And I’m always about to miss a plane or a ride or a big important meeting and trying desperately to get back. I often bump into people from different parts of my life on my way that shouldn’t be in that place or with each other at all. They are very very vivid – colors, smells, sounds,you name it.
How funny that others have strange recurring dreams too. I just never thought about it.my husband doesn’t – he barely ever remembers his dreams at all. Can’t wait to see all the others!! Imagine if we connected them all!!
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My first recurring dream started way back at the end of 6th grade. There would be no summer vacation, no advancement into junior high (now middle school). I was going to have to do 6th grade with Mrs. Silverman (whose first name really is Sylvia) over and over and over. I had that dream of and on for over twenty years! Now the dream has transformed to; I’ve registered and payed lots of money for graduate classes and only go to the first class. I have no notes, no papers, no reading done and it’s finals time. Yikes!!!
The other recurring dream, which I’ve been having for over 40 years, is about being in a house with an endless series of rooms. Every room has another room behind it, even mirrored walls and bookcases open up to reveal other rooms. And each and every room is uniquely different from the rest. There is never any stress or anxiety in this dream, more feelings of curiosity, wonder & surprise.
And I too had “waitressing naked” dreams when I was in the restaurant biz.
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I have three:
1. Sitting an exam but not attending lessons or knowing what the paper is about! (I must confess – this happened to me in my Physics exam also in real life – Physics confused the hell out of me – and I spent the time in the real exam working out how many days, hours and seconds I’d been on earth instead! – I got the lowest grade possible!) so may be this dream is a throw back from my real experience!?
2. I’m at school and haven’t got a timetable/schedule (that we British kids used to carry around with us) so I have no idea what class I’m supposed to be going to… I’m usually confused.
3. I’m back working in a bank on the till (I didn’t like this job very much!) – so I’m shocked mostly – then I’m trying to work out WHY I decided to work here again instead of doing what I do in real life for a living!
I’ve not had the waitress naked one – but I’ve had the training naked dream!!
Okay – so that’s 4 not 3!
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I have a couple of recurring themes in dreams.
Uncomfortable dreams:
– I dream I’ve left the house for very mundane things (last time it was shopping for yarn) and left my top at home, so I’m wandering around topless and trying to pretend it’s no big deal.
– I dream I’m driving at night or in the fog, and I can’t see far enough ahead of me to know what to do, where to turn, etc. I’m constantly afraid of what I may be about to run into.
Comfortable recurring dreams:
– I dream I can get down on all fours and run like an animal. It’s light and easy, and I can go SO FAST, like flying low to the ground.
– I dream I suddenly discover that there are rooms in my house (or another house I’m very familiar with) that I didn’t know were there. It’s always a happy, if slightly disconcerting, discovery.
Lots of my dreams tend to have recurring themes, and not just those above. Probably means I should be paying attention and trying to figure out what they mean.
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EVERYBODY has these dreams, yes. Mine have varied in life according to what phase I was in but the most panicked ones seems to have been when I was teaching school – wouldn’t know the students’ names, hadn’t done my lesson plans, or had done them and forgotten them, showed up late, showed up in un underwear, etc.
These dreams usually signify our self-esteem of self-confidence, usually the lack thereof.
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I have the same recurring dream that you have, Christine. Mine usually involves realizing just before graduation that there was a class I had just completely forgotten to go to all semester.
I also have recurring dreams about tornadoes (which I’m terrified of). My favorite was the one where everything went quiet and the tornado started playing a flute and suddenly I wasn’t scared of it anymore.
My other recurring dream is of Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. I always dream that I forgot something important and that I’m going to have to drive back to North Carolina for it. Alternatively, I dream that I can’t find a place to pitch my tent.
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This is fun! I haven’t had mine for quite a while, but it was usually some variation on getting ready to go out on stage (orchestra warming up). I’m back stage and am about to play a violin concerto (the instrument varied somewhat, but violin was the most common) and, omigod, I don’t even know how to PLAY the violin, let alone the piece that I’m supposed to play from memory!!! Talk about freak out – I’d try to tell people and they just would not listen (or could not hear…or I could not talk).
The great thing about waking up from this dream was the realization that it was just a dream. And usually it made me realize that nothing in my life was quite that extremely horrific and terrible to deal with…phew!!!
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5. I also have re-occuring a dream about walking into the women’s Restroom – and the cubicles don’t have doors on!!! Everyone is just sat there!!
(…probably too much information – but this one is very scary!)
I dream a LOT!
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The “unprepared for exam” dream is pretty common, and it’s one I’ve had.
But the one I get now involves rushing for the airport, unsure I’ll have time to make it to my flight, and unsure that I’ve packed the right things. Sometimes I’m at the airport and realize I’ve forgotten my passport. Sometimes I’m lost at the airport and lose precious time not knowing where to go. And this is all SO unlike me – I use a packing checklist and I get to the airport with LOTS of time to spare.
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I have that never-went-to-class dream almost MONTHLY. I hate that dream!
When we were waiting for our daughter to be born, I used to constantly dream that I was strapping her into the baby carrier, and then I’d leave her in the baby carrier on top of the car while I was distracted by something else, and then I’d get in the car and drive off, forgetting the baby carrier with her in it on the top of the car. Sometimes I’d arrive at my destination with her still miraculously in the carrier on the top of the car (but understandably upset); other times, I’d only realize I’d done it after hearing her fall off the car on I-10 going eastbound.
I had that dream ALL THE TIME, and I’d wake up COMPLETELY freaked out.
I’m happy to report that once Alex was born, I never actually did that in real life. She’s 5 now, perfectly healthy, and can strap herself into the back seat on her own.
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Absolutely! I’ve learned over the years that I can use my particular dream theme as a warning to myself that I’m “setteling” instead of really going after what I want. The theme of my dream seems to be safty but … here’s how it goes: I’m at home and either I can’t close the curtains and of course my huge window is facing a busy street or I can’t shut my door tight enough to stay closed. I can just pull it without turning the knob and it opens. No matter how hard I push, the door won’t click shut. AND there’s always “something” outside that I’m trying to keep away from. This dream use to really freak me out but now that I’ve noticed the pattern between my dream and what’s going on in my life at the moment, I’m kinda thankful for the dream because it puts me back on track.
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My recurring dream is that I am supposed to be going somewhere, and the schedule is not flexible because I am catching a train or a plane, and I suddenly realize that I have not packed. So I’m trying to pack, but in my dream I am moving in slow motion, slowly taking out an outfit, folding it, then remembering the next thing, etc. I just can’t make myself move fast enough.
I’m not sure I want to explore the parallel with reality!
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I have two dream themes that periodically recur. One is of going up a hill of some sort — could be by hiking or driving, or crawling in one case. I always have them when I’m facing some big change in my life and unsure whether I’ll “make it.” In the dream, I always do. So it gives me confidence that in waking life, I will succeed.
The other dream theme has to do with art shows or conventions. There’s always a big space with a lot of rooms or booths. I often see amazing art that other people have done — that I always forget upon awakening — and oftentimes I’m needing to get my own booth set up but I’m way behind schedule. I don’t do shows like this anymore in waking life, so it’s interesting that the dream cycle still appears.
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Oh, I have two! One is that my teeth have crumbled or a few have mysteriously fallen out. (It’s especially weird because I have really good teeth; I’ve never even had a cavity!) The second is that I’m out running errands without any shoes. So odd, but I wake up totally freaked out!
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I used to work as a nurse in the operating room and still have dreams where I have to get something needed for a surgery and can’t find it or have no idea what it is and can’t find anyone to ask. I find myself in long halls or outside moving in slow motion unable to get back to where I need to be. When I was going through a traumatic divorce I had many dreams about dark water or destructive moving water. I was told dreaming of water often represents life and I guess my mind was finding life dark and full of unpleasant things.
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Ha! Yes! Christine, I have your exact dream – just substitute Statistics for the Calculus. At least I’ve learned to use the recurring zombie dreams as a lucid dreaming trigger. “What? Zombies AGAIN? Why are they always hassling me? Wait a minute … I’m dreaming.”
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My reaccuring dream is of getting stuck somewhere that I’m familiar with (used to be my place of employment) and I can’t get out. All the exits are gone ,I’m stuck. Now that I’m self employed the location and circumstances chage, but I’m still stuck and can’t get out or go where I want to.
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Ha! I have even more than I realized:
Elaine- I have the same type of toilet dreams.
Jess- I have the teeth-falling-out dreams too.
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Janice in ga, I have the topless dream, too!
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I have recorded my dreams for over thirty years, have been guest lecturer on the subject, and worked as a dream psychotherapist for many years. I have learned from my own mentors (who were students of Jung) and my own work:
1) dreams have a compensatory function most often. A dream of nakedness can indicate the dreamer reveals little of her true self yet it also may indicate the dreamer is exposing herself in public. We have to know the dreamer and some sense of that which would make her more wholesome. They most frequently deal with relationship issues, health, or imminent danger
2) they are to be responded to; not analyzed, with our feelings, intellect, intution, and body. I have been known to paint my dream figures, invite others to tea, or dance them!
3) A nightmare is the greatest gift. It is an indication that we are really off our track, far from our god or goddess self, and possibly in danger. The nightmare comes to help us re-align with our true self.
4) ONLY the dreamer holds the key to dream meaning; not a dream dictionary or the listener. Some symbols such as the cross holds universal meaning yet we must put this symbol in the context of the dreamer’s life and personal shadow before “knowing” the meaning of the dream.
There is a sub-culture in Malaysia called the Senoi where the entire tribe records dreams and spends meditative time each day on these inner images. They are referred to by some such as the late anthropologist, Kilton Stewart, as the most egalitarian and wholesome culture in the world. They have no need of prisons, mental hospitals, or a military.
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For years I had a dream where all my teeth were falling out, and there was nothing I could do. I was helpless, mouth open, teeth falling out. Awful. But then, I had a bike wreck (for real) in which my front tooth got knocked loose and died, and I had to have extensive dental work to keep it looking like not the dead tooth it was. Anyway, after that, never had the dream again.
I do dream, periodically, that I’m showing up for my Shakespeare final in college and I didn’t read any of the plays ~ mostly I’m worried that I am going to disappoint the professor. Hmmmmmmm.
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Christine & Comment-Posters, Thank you so much for for sharing your recurring dreams and relieving me of my self-imposed “freak” status!
After reading all of these posts, I wonder what I am going to dream about tonight…
Sylvia
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I have recurring dreams about school, too. Sometimes I’m in the middle of class and the professor asks to submit a paper, project or test and I had no clue what it was and I was sweating buckets trying to think of what to say! Sometimes I have a recurring dream about being dead and only realizing I was dead, and then saying to myself — Oh bummer, what a waste, I can’t even remember how my life was! I know…crazy.
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I’ve had the same recurring dream since I was a little girl (and I’m now in my early 50′s). The dream is all in shades of black and grey. I am in the center of a room (or on a bed, looking at the ceiling. There are egyptian figures and hieroglyphics on the walls, which slowly begin to spin, and there is music playing in the background. The figures spin more and more quickly and the music gets louder. I am always very scared, and falling……until I awaken. The dream goes in phases, I will have it regularly, (when life is stressful) and then won’t have it for months, or even years.
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If a dream re-occurs it may be that we are not getting the message and making life changes according to the wisdom gleaned. The unconscious may be bringing us a new part of our destiny and it is taking time to assimilate the dream content. Everybody has dreams that repeat, especially test dreams. Consider these dreams in light of our culture.
If we dream of being late (very American or English dream) and we are never late, it may be bringing us the Hawaiian “hang-loose” healing.
I like to argue my dreams both ways when change is needed and I ask a trusted fellow dreamer for his or her objective view point on my behavior.
Dreams are the voice of the creator always leading us onward toward our destiny as “the acorn moves toward the oak.”
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@Elaine,
I had to smile at your dream, as I, too, am a product of the English school system and always had a mortal fear of that very thing happening.
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I ask the dream world for guidance. My concern is requested in a prayer-like fashion. I know people who write notes and place them under their pillow with dream requests for direction and insight. This practice was called incubation by the ancient Greeks and the Asklepian Cult. I have always gotten an answer! Try it!
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I have recurring dreamscapes, such as a road between here and Tennessee that doesn’t exist outside dreamland, a neighborhood in New York, a mall that has changing tenants but the same basic layout, none of these sites exist in the waking world that I am aware of.
I had the school dream last night, but this time I had finished and was getting my diploma. I had an interesting talk with someone once about lucid dreaming, about creating a point of reference during your waking life (such as staring at the back of your hand and telling yourself that you will do this during your dream) so that when you do the activity in your dream you realize you are dreaming and take control of what is going on.
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I have the “having ditched class for a semester, now in the room for the final” dream – I hate having that dream. It’s funny too because I NEVER skipped a class in school!
My other ones are “flying” on my own, no plane – and flying with a pilot who I am sure is going to crash the plane. These are probably control dreams.
And the one I hate the most is the “lost” dream, lost in subway, lost in a winding staircase, alone on the wrong escalator to nowhere……
Recurring but not with great regularity. Sometimes I can sort of figure out in my daily life what went on to make the dream pop up:) Other times, no clue!
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Ha – it’s funny to read everyone else’s dreams!
I have this bizarre recurring dream about a house we sold a few years back. Ever since we sold it, I’ll occasionally have a dream that I’m back in the house doing something (working in the office, painting in the basement, cooking something in the kitchen), only it’s not my house anymore and the new owners come home and find me in their house. And everytime I come up with some excuse for why I’m in the house even though it’s not mine anymore. In my latest installment, I was baking something in the kitchen, and when they came home I snuck out the back door and went around and rang the front doorbell and tried to talk them into letting me use their kitchen, hoping they wouldn’t notice I had already started cooking in there. It’s weird. I’ve lived in three places since then, but the dream always goes back to that house!
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My reccurring dream theme is always about houses and home. They vary somewhat:
1) I am walking through a house and realize it’s falling apart; i.e. I go up to the attic and find that there is a huge hole in the floor and am *this close* to falling through.
2) I am re-visiting a home I used to live in (any of the several I’ve lived in the past) and it has changed completely–either the interior/exterior or its surroundings.
3) I will discover that the home I currently live in has secret rooms–such as an extra kitchen in the basement.
4) a slight variation–I’m living in a complete different and unfamiliar city (again, this varies–could be a “big city” one time or a cottage-style village another time) and trying to find where I am living and can’t remember where my home is.
I’ve never been able to figure out why I have these recurring dreams–I probably should pay more close attention to what is happening in my life at the time when I have them.
Interesting topic!
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Hi Christine,
.
When I was a child, I dreamt about watching planes and that I was looking out of the Statue of Liberty’s eyes. I had this dream every month for about 10 years. I’ve never been able to analzye that one
As a young mom, I always dreamt that I had left my daughter somewhere and didn’t know how to find my way back to her. It was a direct reflection of my anxieteies over motherhood and feeling like I was putting my own inner child in the backseat. Can’t say that I have any recurring dreams these days. That’s fine with me!-Tracy
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I’ve had the forgot to study for an exam or forgot to go to a class the entire semester and won’t graduate.
I’ve also had the chaotic/not ready for the wedding dream and when I was little dreamed of the perfect wedding.
When I was married I would dream that I was driving in a snow storm…kinda like the snow on TV. I was always so scared because I couldn’t see! However, I always kept driving slowly and I never did crash. I’ve always thought that dream meant I didn’t know where I was going but I knew I’d be OK.
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I am the spiritual leader of the Celebration Centre for Spiritual Living in Langley, BC. A re-occuring drean I have has a few variations: I am right in the middle of a powerful talk, one of the best I’ve ever given, when suddenly everyone stands up, turns their chair around and sits down facing the wrong way …. or people start talking to each other and won’t stop, or suddenly I realize I don’t have any clothes on, or I am leading the prayer with my eyes closed and open them and everyone has left!
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1) Finding myself having to take a math exam and not having attended the course all term. A recent variation includes realizing that it is more than mid-term (too late to drop the course) and I am swamped with my regular course work so even though I have some notice, I have no time to learn the course work before the exam.
2) Being naked in public (in last night’s dream, only my lower half was naked so I was aware of a temperature/comfort difference between my top and bottom halves as well as the nakedness embarrassment).
3) One I have not had in years (and hope to never have it again), is the dream that someone is (or sometimes a group of people are) breaking into my home while I’m in it.
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Every night before I go to bed I set the intention to fall asleep quickly, sleep soundly, remember my dreams (or at least the feeling I had while dreaming), and wake refreshed and rested. I’ve had many recurring dreams – the not-prepared-for-exam is a fave and also popular is the teeth-falling-out. I am most interested in the *feeling* I had during the dream and have found that addressing that feeling is a great tool. If I was anxious in the dream I can usually point pretty quickly to what is making me feel anxious in my waking life and I bring more focus to deal with it.
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Both times I was pregnant, and only during my pregnancies, I had many, many dreams involving tornadoes. Sometimes they were scary and sometimes they weren’t, but I always found it interesting that they occurred during a time when we knew our lives would be shaken up a bit.
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i have a vague recollection of having the teeth falling out dream – but a LONG time ago!
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The details proceeding up to it is vague and sometimes different, but I often dream about driving a car and not being able to stop. I realize I’m going to fast and when I step on the brakes, they don’t work. I usually wake up before the crash.
I think it’s my subconscious’s way of telling me to slow down.
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I used to have, as a child, a re-occuring dream of the T-Rex from “Land of the Lost” chasing me through my neighborhood. I think that had something to do with my parents…!
In “Women Who Run With The Wolves” there’s an interesting chapter talking about when women have dreams about intruders or attackers. Those kind of dreams point to important things. At points I’ve had that dream where someone is going to attack in the dark room, and I am paralyzed and can’t make a move or sound as much as I want to. At the time I had the dreams, I wasn’t self-aware enough to try to figure things out.
I am able to ask a question and get my unconscious to answer me in my dreams, although sometimes the language it uses is hard to decipher. However, at one point I actually heard the word “magnesium” over the phone, and my holistic doctor agreed that I needed that supplement at that time.
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I used to have the same dream of not bothering to go to class and then showing up on the day of a big exam. But it changed when I became a teacher….now I dream that I forgot to teach the class (but miraculously my students went every day).
When I was a child I had a recurring dream that someone came to my grandparents door and asked my father if he had any children he didn’t want and he gave me to them. Then, I saw my mom in the grocery store and she pretended she didn’t know me. Finally, I saw her again and she came and got me. She could get me the second time because she had left my father.
I much prefer my forgetting to go to class dreams!
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…I also have the occasional dream about teeth being loose – I’d forgotten about this one!
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Wow! Lots of folks replied to this one! I scrolled down to get to the blank box to write mine and was impressed how long it took me to get here!
First, I have to say that I think Sylvia is soon going to be my favorite person in the world. She’s got so many problems and still going strong!!!!!
My dream involves taking off in a plane and there is usually some danger lurking. I do have a fear of flying so it is not rocket science to figure out why my subconcious keeps bring up airplane rides.
Thanks for the post. These will be fun to read when I have some time!
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I am always being chased, sometimes the person has a gun or other weapon, sometimes my daughter is with me, but I am usually running, dodging and trying to find a place to hide. I read that you can stop, turn around and ask the person in the dream why they are chasing you and they will tell you. So far I can’t seem to remember to do that in my sleep. I am trying to figure out in real life what I am running from. It is still a great mystery.
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