Monday 19 November 2007

A peek inside my head

I have recurring dreams. Yes, I know, fascinating aren't I? What bothers me though is how mundane they are. And useless. I would love to be able to write about some completely surreal dream I keep having which needs careful thought and insight to decipher. Or to have dreams that inspire me to write brilliant fiction or that give me ideas for inventions or even just new and effective ways of getting that burnt-on brown stuff off the cooker. But my dreams are stubbornly, boringly mundane and pointless and a 5 year old could interpret them. You want examples?

1. I am in a strange building/shopping mall/city street/my old school and I am desparately in need of a toilet. There are lots of toilets but they are all either filthy and revolting (think that scene from "Trainspotting") or bizarrely open to public view with no doors. Interpretation? I shouldn't have had that last cup of tea before going to bed (duh!)

2. I am back at University, the exams are tomorrow and I have mysteriously managed to forget to go to any of the classes all year. Is there anyone alive who HASN'T had this dream? I mean, it is embarassingly unoriginal.

3. Suddenly noticing I am either naked or wearing very little in public. See number 2.

4. I am out trying to go for a run and I can't run. Literally - it is like my ankles have been shackled together and I can't take strides properly and people are looking at me weirdly as I stumble along. Hmmmm. Don't think we need to look too far for the meaning of that one either.

See what I mean? No earth-shattering revelations to be found in any of those. I am boring myself even when I am asleep! My husband on the other hand has spectacular dreams - Hollywood quality epics involving invasion and going on the run to avoid the enemy troops and what have you. How do I get those instead? Someone should invent an iPod-like gizmo that lets you share someone else's dreams. Never mind the iPhone, I'd be first in the queue for one of those.

4 comments:

  1. Sounds eerily similar to my dreams. But I don't have the one about running. I do dream alot about spiders and them falling from a ceiling into my hair. I usually wake up convinced there are spiders crawling in my bed and can't sleep for the rest of the night. I also have the one alot about it being final exams day and yet I didn't attend class once. That one actually happened to me in real life.

    ReplyDelete
  2. You don't want the Hollywood-epic dreams! Honestly, you don't. You wake up feeling as if you haven't had any sleep, for one thing.

    Also, they can be quite stressful at the time (at least if you're like me. I usually haven't a clue that I'm dreaming.) And there's always the possibility that you'll be too involved in the dream to wake up at the proper time...

    (As far as the brown bits are concerned, Lakeland Professional Oven Mate is pretty good. Recommendation from my mother-in-law.)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I dream that I'm about to take a class without any preparation. Which reminds me; must get on.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Re. dream 4 (can't run). I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but the meaning is not entirely clear to me.

    It brings to mind a dream I used to have repeatedly, of being unable to run. It occurred in the dream context of trying to run away from my father; and so I think there's a lot being said about our relationship (as I reflect on it now, I still don't entirely understand...but it's a long time now since I had that dream, so my memories of both the dream and my relationship with my father at the time are pretty hazy).

    ReplyDelete