dreams

[auntiemeesh]

So, usually I only have the 'about to be eaten by a dinosaur' dream when I've been watching Jurassic Park or something similar. Haven't watched any sort of monster movie since King Kong, whenever that was. And yet, I woke up in the middle of the night, sweaty and panicked, because I'd just had a doozy of an 'about to be eaten by a dinosaur' nightmare. I mean, I went through at least three or four permutations of the theme before finally waking up, and then it took a good long time to get back to sleep again. My brain isn't very rational in the middle of the night, it seems, so I was half afraid that, really, there *are* dinos running around the Great Northern Woods, and that possibly several of them might at that very moment be in my backyard, possibly with their heads right up at the glass of my window, separated from my bed by the width of a window blind and a less than six inches of cold air.

Luckily, as I lay in bed this morning, groaning and trying to convince myself that I needed to get up for work, L called and said we had lots of kids call off today and I could come in an hour late if I wanted. Needless to say, I wanted.

So, a question. What sort of nightmares do you have?

Comments

[shirebound]

My most recurrent nightmares have to do with the panic of having more to accomplish than there is time to do it. (Stuff like, my plane leaves in 10 minutes and I haven't packed yet.)

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

That sounds stressful!

[whtmtnwmn.livejournal.com]

I mostly have nightmares involving my ex-husband (he played very cruel mind games). Otherwise, I'm either stuck in an alternate reality (like in a combination of the college and my high school and a private school I attended for a short while), and don't know where I'm supposed to be. Or, I'm being shot or stabbed to death...I get that one a lot--I wake up just as I'm dying. Funny thing about that is, I'm not afraid of death because I've already died so many times in my dreams!

Hope the beasties stay away and let you sleep!
=D

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

I know we've talked about our nightmares before, but every time I hear yours I'm glad I've got dinos romping around in my brain instead of what you've got!

(((whtmtnwmn)))

[dreamflower]

I used to have frequent flying dreams--they would always start out pleasantly, and I would really feel like I was truly physically flying--and then they would go wrong. Either I would keep on flying up and up, and would be trying to frantically get down, or I would be soaring and then suddenly falling. I rarely have those any more, they seem to have been cured by menopause.

Also, I have a snake phobia and a mild roach phobia that give me some extremely uncomfortable dreams from time to time.

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

I used to have flying dreams pretty often, but the worst that would ever happen was that sometimes I'd try but be unable to actually really lift my feet off the ground. More frustrating than frightening.

I also went through a spiders and snakes nightmare phase which I didn't enjoy at all, and I'm truly grateful that those particular dreams haven't cropped up in a good ten years, lol.

[ctegan.livejournal.com]

I have all sorts of nightmares. for example .. Whenever I contemplate flying, I have dreams of planes falling out of the sky in balls of fire with people screaming.

My most vivid nightmares were as a child of course. Demons in my closet, in the dresser and outside my window would sneak into my room to get me. I've had nightmares with floating heads that try to talk to me or that feeling of running but you can't get away. Sometimes my eyes aren't completely closed when I sleep so the real world & the dream world collide, and it's very confusing when I first wake up. The most terrifying of all my nightmares was a recurring one from 2nd grade to senior year in high school. It's a themed dream so it changes, and it started out as a disturbing dream but not really a nightmare. It got progressively worse from there but changed into something really tame in my senior year at high school, and I haven't dreamed it since. (if you're interested, it's a nuclear war/end of the world nightmare)

I've had the Godzilla dream! *g* That's what I call it anyway, and now that I'm older I don't consider that one a nightmare anymore. It's a recurring dream that ends once I realize I've dreamed it before, and it always happens the same way. It's starts out terrifying. I'm hiding with family, friends and some people I don't know. Then we're being chased through the streets of some city that's almost been demolished. Others are running around screaming and trying to find a place to hide. There are loud noises .. Boom! Boom! and it feels like an earthquake. Then we see a tunnel, and the dream starts to feel familiar. We race for the tunnel to hide, my heart is racing, and then there's Godzilla peeking in. I realize that not only did we pick a fantastic place to hide ('cause he can't get to us where we are, even though he knows we're there) but also that I've had this dream before. Then it ends. ;)

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

It would be nice if my dino dreams were as predictable as your Godzilla dream, but they're different each time and I never seem to realize that they're not real.

I did manage to insert Wash's "oh god, oh god, we're all gonna die," line into the dream somehow, and I had to stop, in the middle of running from the dino to ponder why that statement seemed so very familiar, lol.

[ctegan.livejournal.com]

It would be nice if my dino dreams were as predictable as your Godzilla dream, but they're different each time and I never seem to realize that they're not real.

Well, Godzilla's a fairly predictable creature, I guess. Present Godzilla with a city, and Godzilla will run amok. ;) Plus, dinos existed; Godzilla never did, and that has a lot to do with the fear factor, I think. I bet a Godzilla dream wouldn't be as scary for you as dinosaurs running around trying to eat you.

I hope your dreams are dino-free for awhile at least!

I did manage to insert Wash's "oh god, oh god, we're all gonna die," line into the dream somehow, and I had to stop, in the middle of running from the dino to ponder why that statement seemed so very familiar, lol.

LOL! That is fantastic! (the line, not the scary dream, of course) Hopefully, your mind does that again; it might trigger you to import Mal & the gang, guns at the ready, into your dream, and it could very well change the dream's dynamic.

I hope you have a restful night tonight! *hugs*

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

it might trigger you to import Mal & the gang, guns at the ready, into your dream, and it could very well change the dream's dynamic.

That would be a fun dream. Let Mal and gang take care of that pesky old dinosaur, and then tool around the 'verse for a little while in Serenity, trying not to get killed by those pesky Blue Sun Corp people. :D

[westwindschild.livejournal.com]

I noticed that new Fed Ex commercial aired during Lost last night - it must have got to you!

One of my recurring nightmares is variations of one of our sisters attempting to kill me or of someone else trying to kill her. For the past year I have had frequent dreamtime encounters with deceased family members - these encounters usually start out fine, but as I realize that this or that person is really not still alive, they become walking talking decomposed corpses, and it just continues to get worse from there.
All time worst nightmare, I was in the mind of a serial killer and had to live through his worst deeds - couldn't shake that one for months.

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

Hm, I had forgotten about that FedEx commercial, although it seems hardly scary enough to inspire nightmares, lol.

Wow, it sounds like you've had some really awful nightmares! I had a couple of family related bad dreams over the summer, mainly feeling as though everyone in the family had turned their backs on me, or hated me or were being mean to me (and little brother did try to possibly kill me in one of them) but none as bad as you describe.

((((westwindschild))))

[westwindschild.livejournal.com]

*hugs back*

Yes, with such dreams to look forward to, it's no wonder I have insomnia!

[ani-no-mouse.livejournal.com]

Hey! I never tried to do that! Not even once.

[westwindschild.livejournal.com]

Nope, you never did! Don't know where my dream-brain comes up with these crazy ideas; I just wish it would come up with some happy dreams now and then.

[pipspebble.livejournal.com]

Yeow, all of those dreams make mine pale in comparison! Used to be that whenever I was really stressed I'd have nightmares about being in a tornado - actually more like seeing one coming from far off, knowing it was going to hit and waking myself up just before it hit. Then a couple of years ago I dreamt that there was a funnel heading toward us from the west and the lads and I were crouched just beneath the windows looking out to the west so I could see what was coming and then it just passed right over our heads and everything was fine. Haven't dreamt of a tornado since. That was right after my hysterectomy, so it may be that there is something to dreamflower02's theory that it's all about the hormones. Isn't it always about the hormones? ;-)

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

I get tornado dreams fairly often, but they don't get classified as nightmares because I never wake up from them in a panicked state. They're the sort of dream that I'm usually a bit scared while in them, but the tornado almost always passes by without waking me. The other one I have like that is the 'falling elevator' dream. Only, the elevator doesn't just fall, it usually rotates around so that everything gets turned upside down, or at least shaken around a great deal, but again, I usually get to the bottom unharmed, without waking up. Weird things, dreams.

[pipspebble.livejournal.com]

That sounds scary, too. Wonder if that's a defense mechanism we have for dealing with stress in the real world?

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

Well, I know my falling elevator dreams started in college, and I think my brain was just trying to prepare me for what seemed an inevitability. Those elevators in my dorm were always breaking down and trapping people inside, although they never dropped uncontrollably. I still get the dreams sometimes, but I always seem to survive the plunge, so the dreams don't give me that awful adrenaline crash that I get from the dino dreams.

[lil-banik-slave.livejournal.com]

I wouldn't play "Resident Evil" if I were you.

To my knowledge I have never had a serious waking up sweaty nightmare, however I have "jumped" awake a few times but not remembered why?

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

I almost never had honest to goodness nightmares until after I was out of school, living on my own on the naked edge of poverty and despair. Even then, they didn't happen often and they still don't. They're no fun when they do pop up, but I'll take the dino ones any day compared to some of the things the folks around here dream about

*looks up at flist and wishes them all good dreams from now on*

[topaztook.livejournal.com]

I don't really have nightmares per se. I have occasional "bad dreams" where I am back in high school or college and not knowing where I am supposed to be, or being late or at the wrong place at the wrong time or something. When I was a kid, my bad dreams usually involved falling -- like off of a bridge -- into water. Frequently, though, I would be eaten by a fish and take over its body, so that didn't turn out *too* bad.

On Godzilla: I work with many guys, one of whom was recently talking about how some scientists found mastodon DNA and were thinking about cloning one. I had to step in and say, "This is a Bad Idea. Didn't you see Jurassic Park?"

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

I still have those 'back in high school' dreams. Usually I've just moved to a new area or back home and for some reason this means that I have to enroll in high school, although I know, even in the dream, that I've already finished this.

I also have college dreams still, where it's finals time and I suddenly realize I never attended a single class and don't know where the test is being given or at what time, and wonder if it's too late to prevent myself from failing. I always get so frustrated with myself in those dreams.

sweet dreams

[lyda-pearl.livejournal.com]

I always dream about eating pie and donuts, of skipping through daisy splotched fields of grass on sunny days, of feeling loved and having hot sex. I dream about winning major awards and seeing old dogs in doggie heaven.

No seriously, I have the lost at college dream, the being eaten alive by lions dream, the can't pick my feet up to run dream, the being hunted by nazis dream: stalked and stabbed and shot and stalked some more. I dream about being in love with someone who doesn't want me, I dream about family members dying, I dream about the car flying off the road on a missed turn above a great cliff.

More often than scary dreams I have extremely sad dreams that leave me unsettled all day.

WWC, if you dream about me killing you, rest assured, ain't gonna happen. And I apologize if I've been haunting your sleep.

LP

Re: sweet dreams

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

More often than scary dreams I have extremely sad dreams that leave me unsettled all day.

Those kinds of dreams are way worse than the scary ones that leave you after a few minutes.

*hugs you and chases the bad sad dreams away*

Re: sweet dreams

[westwindschild.livejournal.com]

I am duly reassured - however, Ani_no_mouse penetrated my not-so-clever attempt at discretion and identified herself as my nocturnal nemesis. I have no fears that she would ever perpetrate such a dastardly deed in real life. Dreams are weird things. I get a lot of those really sad dreams too. I'm sure I have happy dreams sometimes too, but they must not pack enough emotional wallop for me to remember them after I wake up.
I hope you will have happy dreams tonight!

Re: sweet dreams

[ani-no-mouse.livejournal.com]

Nevermind.

Re: sweet dreams

[westwindschild.livejournal.com]

Sorry.
I can't control the dreams. My nightmares appear to be particularly murderous, but I am truly not aware of any reason for them.

[eve11]

vague dreams where I think I am awake, and I am looking around the darkened bedroom and someone is there and going to get me. Ack I hate those. Because sometimes I "wake up" more than once before I get to the point where I'm actually awake. Ugh.

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

That would totally freak me out! I *do* sometimes dream that I've gotten up, turned off the alarm, taken a shower, etc, only to find out I'm still in bed, still listening to some obnoxious morning show, still trying to find enough willpower to leave my nice warm bed at o'dark hundred to go get ready for work, and I find that unpleasant enough.

[griffins-mom.livejournal.com]

I have lots more of the "bad dream" variety, than the "waking up in a panic" nightmares. During the years when I was trying to finish my dissertation after getting sick, I had lots of dreams about high school/college/grad school all jumbled up together. One bizarre recurrent dream featured my most psychoanalytic professor from grad school teaching calculus in high school - and I hadn't done any of the work, and kept begging him to not fail me. He was also the head of the program when I started grad school, so he really was an authority figure. Oddly enough, I had very few dreams with my dissertation chair. Those would have been really scary.

I also have the disjointed dreams where I'm in a whole bunch of different locations and scenarios, feeling threatened in all of them, and I'll think I've managed to escape, only to discover that I'm in worse trouble than I was before. I have all the usual dream problems: I can't run, or speak, and just generally am in danger and unable to do anything to help myself. So now I'm going to go away and think of lots of happy thoughts so I don't have any of these dreams tonight.

Sweet dreams to you, too.

[ani-no-mouse.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, and for the past few months I've been having "Oh no, I forgot to finish my dissertation!" dreams. They are quite upsetting, but not quite in a "I'm about to be eaten by a dinosaur" way. :)

[ani-no-mouse.livejournal.com]

Cousins in coffins, occasionally. But fortunately those are pretty rare. I had one last night, but it was in response to a disturbing e-mail message - I don't just normally imagine people dead.

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

Hopefully you won't have any more 'cousins in coffins' dreams. That would be the kind of dream that would linger with me for days and days afterwards.

[ani-no-mouse.livejournal.com]

I don't expect to. I've had several since M died, and this latest one after I first heard from A that "King Suicide" was troubling him. But I think I feel pretty reassured that he is going to be okay. It did contribute to my "life sucky" mood the past few days, though.

[melilot-hill.livejournal.com]

For years I've had nightmares about people (or things) coming in through the window. When I was still living with my parents it were some sort of animals that don't exist or aliens (of some kind). I once got so scared I jumped out of the bed and slid over the carpet to the light switch and ended up with a bloody knee and foot *snort*
When I moved out (to a flat) I had nightmares about somebody sticking a screwdriver through the window and then stepping through himself, like it was water. When we moved to the house we live in now the nightmare changed to somebody putting a ladder against the house and climb in through the window. But the last months I hardly had that dream anymore, when I used to have it (almost) every night. Guess I'm getting over whatever was causing it LOL. And I'm glad, because it always woke me up and sometimes even made me sleepwalk.

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

That would be enough to freak me out for a long time after I woke up. If I can be afraid that there might really be dinos in my yard at night, imagine how worked up I would be if I dreamed that scary *people* were coming in through the windows. I'd never sleep again!

[wishkey.livejournal.com]

Bad thing happening to people I love. People doing bad things to me. I think I'd rather had the Jurassic Park dreams.

[auntiemeesh.livejournal.com]

After reading through all the comments here, I've decided that I'm more than happy to keep my dino dreams and not have the truly sad and heart-hurting dreams that some of my flist have.

I hope your dreams will be better in the future!

((((whiskey))))