Recurring Dreams or Nightmares?

[Joewisc]

This is an interesting topic and I'd like to weigh in. In virtually all my dreams, I am traveling, which I take as a metaphor for life: We are all on a journey to a destination unknown. However, in my dreams I often wind up in places where I formerly lived, such as New York City (where I was born and raised) and later in Phoenix, AZ, which I spent 20 years of my adult life before moving to Wisconsin.

During my "travels," the conveyances change. Sometimes I'm in an airport waiting to board a plane, other times I am actually on the plane. Otherwise, I am in a car, on a bike or merely walking. But I always seem to be going somewhere, usually alone but sometimes accompanied by people I've known, family members, public figures or strangers that look vaguely familiar; a composite of sorts.

As a backslidden Christian still hoping to become a "prodigal Son" someday to find my way home to the fold, I interpret these dreams as an indication that I'm still being tugged in a heavenly direction. Not to be presumptuous, but I have hope of an afterlife. Francis Thompson wrote a poem, "The Hound of Heaven." which ends with Christ summoning us to clasp His hand and come with Him. It always sticks in my mind.

Hope I didn't break any rules by talking "religion." Feel free, moderator, to chastise me for getting off-topic.

 

[jspick]

As a kid and growing up into adult hood I had a reaccuring dream of being chased up a tree by a bear or wolves. After I told my mother who really disliked me from birth, (she is major screwed up), and my father-in-law who was a big *** towards me,( also very screwed up-he is dead now-and no I have no regrets) to kiss off and I moved over 1000 miles away did the dreams stop.

I did have dreams occasionally of expanding real big and then shrinking to a dot and back to big again. Then a friend told me that was my subconsious reliving being born. Never had those dreams again.

John

 

[TACC1]

Have two kinds:
A long involved social setting, school, work, public place,
where I am looking for someone, but never locate them.
Interesting but pleasant.
Lately, I have dreams about walking or running to some place.
Frustrating, since I can't do either activity when awake.
Weird what your mind will come up with when turned loose.
TACC1

 

[willy]

I see dead people in my dreams.
And they don't have ears.
Wonder what that means?

 

[straightshooter1]

I actually have a recurring dream I didn't mention on my earlier posts.

I am outside, it is a nice day and, anytime I want, I can just lightly jump up, and fly. Not fast, but sort of like one does when snorkling or scuba diving. Just reach out and pull my hands back in the air and move. I can dive, climb, skim the ground, rise to the tops of the trees.

Very cool, very fun.

Once in a while, in those dreams (which I've had for at least 50 years), someone is giving me some sort of trouble and I just jump, and fly off.

Most of the time, though, it's just a nice dream, lots of fun and I actually am a bit annoyed when I wake up and realize it was not real.

I don't have any idea if the dream means anything or nothing at all, but I haven't had one in a few months and hope tonight is the night.

Remember, no one ever accused me of being normal.

Bob

 

[snowman]

Bob,

I used to have that one, too; though no one was ever giving me trouble. I agree that that one is a very pleasant dream indeed.

Andy

 

[straightshooter1]

No kidding. Same dream as mine?

Wow! Who'd have thought there were two such Bat-Poop crazies on a Forum like this-and at the same time!?

Bob

 

[snowman]

Mine didn't feature diving and skimming the ground. Obviously your flying skills are more advanced.

Andy

 

[LoboGunLeather]

Two tours in Vietnam followed by 24 years as a cop, I can get some pretty interesting dreams from time to time.

My favorite is converging with thousands of others in the hills surrounding Washington, DC, late at night, with torches and pitchforks, wagons full of boiling tar and feathers. After running off every elected and appointed official in town we all sit around picking their replacements at random from telephone directories.

A very happy dream. Good government prevails in the US for the first time in a hundred years or more.

Maybe we dream as a means of maintaining our sanity?

 

[The Last Standing Knight]

Every once in awhile I will dream I am in the field and after I wake up it takes a few minutes to realize I am in my own bed and way to old to be in the boonies.

I was never in combat, but I am a Marine vet from the Reagan years. Quite regualrly, I have very vivid dreams about being in combat with my old unit and buddies in a major US city fighting against something that I can never make out. I was told this was due to stress at work. I wake up and remember them clear as day...and sometimes in a cold sweat.

 

[The Tourist]

I have similar issues. I have a dream that reoccurs. With minor changes it's the same dream. I search a local shopping mall for an old girl friend, and usually find her, only to spend a few seconds with her only to wake up. I'll tell you what I'm doing about it.

I once told my doctor that I sometimes wake up laughing, hearing joke in dream that I've never heard "in the world." I asked him how that can happen, since I only take things into a dream I know.

His response was that you remember every nuance in life, whether focused on these snippets or not. Your mind tries to problem solve.

I looked into lucid dreaming, and I'm trying this approach now.

I intend to find this old girl friend, sit her down and ask her why I keep meeting her in dreams. You might find that silly, but I've already approached her and said, "This is a lucid dream." So I'm close.

I already *know* the answer. She's going to be one who tells me. After 30 years, why her and why a shopping mall?

Just knowing this conclusion gives me a certain peace.

 

[DeadAye]

No kidding. Same dream as mine?

Wow! Who'd have thought there were two such Bat-Poop crazies on a Forum like this-and at the same time!?

Bob

Make that 3 (at least - I'd wager that there are MANY more ).
I usually fly along and have a great time - Other times I take off and there are wires above - LOTS of wires - and I can't really soar

OTOH - I wonder if there are others like me.... I LIKE nightmares.
Heck, I used to pay good money to see horror movies. A nightmare is like a free horror movie that you get to be in
Anyone else?

 

[DeathGrip]

OTOH - I wonder if there are others like me.... I LIKE nightmares.
Heck, I used to pay good money to see horror movies. A nightmare is like a free horror movie that you get to be in
Anyone else?

I have crazy dreams, not really nightmares. It really ticks me when I wake up and miss the end of one. Kinda like when the dish goes out at the best part of a movie.

 

[straightshooter1]

You know, in looking through these posts, it's pretty clear that a lot of us on this Forum-

just aren't right.

Bob

 

[Buford57]

Never mind the dream. It's when that stuff happens in real life that it gets dicey.


35 years ago I was working for a small town PD. Shift ended at 2 am and then I took call out for the rest of the night. For one entire week I was called out about an hour into sleep for an alarm at the same location. It always checked out and I went back to bed, but by the end of the week I was having the same dream when the phone rang: I was searching a large wooden warehouse alone at night. As I shone my light around the building someone inside fired at me and I returned fire. This was the point at which I would wake to the dispatcher's call.

Later that year I moved across the country to a much larger department. I took several months to learn the city and one night, assigned to a new patrol area I found an open door on a warehouse that was right out of the dream. I think I'm still unpuckering from that search, but I never had the dream again.

My interpretation: I had a job-based fear - hot burglary, no backup: can I handle it? The real warehouse "looked like" the one in my dream because that's what I thought of when I saw it. Once I faced the fear, it was gone. Frankly, that's been my experience with most of life's fears - once faced, they are gone.

So guys, go to work in your shorts, drive 100 mph up hills, jump off the barn roof and flap your arms - well, maybe not.

 

[ACP230]

I have dreams that are not recurring.
However, in the dream, I am convinced they are recurring dreams.

This is confusing and annoying, but it could be worse.

 

[Naples22]

I had a dream, I was in Walmart, the shelves were full of bricks of 22 ammo at $15.99 a brick.....................but it was only a dream

 

[bigolddave]

I retired eight years ago next week. I had been with the same company for thirty-nine years; the first three it was privately owned, with the owner actively working there. These were pretty good years. We were then sold to a mini-conglomerate that was on the NYSE. These were very good years. There were two complete changes of management at the headquarters and both sets were straight arrows. I worked in finance, and had responsibility for tax work, government reports, etc., as well as many other duties. Not once was I asked to do anything the least bit questionable. In 2003 our operation was put up for sale. We were in the machine tool business, and were no longer a good fit for the overall corporation. Shortly after, I was promoted to CFO, responsible for all accounting and IT functions. In September of 2004 we were sold, to a small private company. All the ways I was used to doing things went out the window, and while I was never asked to do anything illegal, there were many times that the new owners wanted done that the old owners would never have dreamt of.

Didn't expect to be so longwinded--at least a couple of times a month, I dream I am back at work, and am told to do something I cannot stomach. With great satisfaction, I tell my boss no, I'm retired as of right now!

 

[rcnixon]

Sometimes I dream about my dad and still wake up screaming, 28 years later.

Jeeze, I'm sorry. Borrow my Pop for your dreams. The only fault he had that i could see was he tended to "helicopter" when i was in Scouts. Other than that, he was calm, level-headed, sober and a pretty funny guy full of great stories about "the old days".

Russ

 

[Xfuzz]

Tornadoes......never have seen one. In my dream one is approaching and I'm on flat land.
Jet planes 747 and such...never been on a bird. In my dreams I'm flyin one.