What was she smoking?

I don't smoke pot, but sometimes I wonder if my alter ego does. I've always had the most enigmatic dreams, aka, weird dreams.

I've had them all my life so I never think them odd until I repeat them to someone else. Most of the time they appear like a series of commercials, playing so quickly, I scarcely remember them. And then there are the recurring dreams.

Dream #1: I'm in a large, older home. Although it's unfamiliar to me, I know it belongs to me. I'm wandering from room to room and discover a closed door that leads into a huge shed with shelves from floor to ceiling. The shelves are stocked neatly with all manner of things; toys, tools, books, and contraptions I can't identify.

Because I have this strange ability to take on the point of of view of every character and thing in a dream, I know each item has been waiting patiently for me to arrive so they can tell me their stories. I can almost hear them.

I'm anxious to start exploring when someone outside calls me. I walk out to see who it is but when I turn back, the door to the shed is locked--or worse, ceases to exist. I wake up frustrated.

Dream #2: I'm in the Olympics! Stranger still, I'm on the swim team. (In real life, I swim like a rock.) Here I am with all these Olympic class swimmers and the starting bell goes off. We kick off, but instead of swimming I reach the other end of the pool from one tremendous kick alone. I hardly ever win the meet, but I'm always among the top three.

For some reason the judges don't seem to care that I'm not swimming, as long as I reach the marks. The other thing that's strange is that I keep telling everyone I can't swim, but no one believes me. They pat me on the back and tell me to give it all I've got. (It makes me laugh that I've never drowned.)

Dream #3: This one is my only nightmare, and the only one whose meaning I understand. I dream that I'm out checking my animals, but realize to my horror that I have another set of animals in pens farther back that I have not checked in days! I'm frantic as I race back to check on them. Some are dead, others dying of thirst or lack of food. I always wake up with my heart pounding.

What this means: Someone in my menagerie is either sick or about to get sick. This dream has NEVER failed to warn me of impending problems. I check everyone thoroughly--including Greg.

Around here the animals always get fed first. Then Greg. Then me. So the dream isn't so much telling me I've ignored my animals, but that something is amiss.

As I get older, I remember my dreams less and less, but these particular dreams have stayed with me for decades.

Please don't make me feel like a wacko. What weird dream have you had lately? Do you think dreams have meaning?

Comments

Ellie Garratt said…
OMG. You dream in third person like me. I thought I was the only one!

This was last nights dream:

Several women have gone to a local cathedral. Hidden in the bell tower are dozens of large rooms with hundreds of bridal dresses. The MC decides to steal the most beautiful dress there, and they all put on the dresses and sneak out before the clergy catch them.

When she gets home the theft is on the news, and a helicopter is out looking for the thieves. One reporter say, 'As long as they are not stupid enough to wear them in public, they won't get caught.'

Cut to the balcony of a block of friends. Three of the women go out in the stolen dresses and throw their flowers to the street below.

The MC knows it's all over.

Wonder what it means?
Maria Zannini said…
Ellie:
Ref: 3rd person pov

And I thought I was all alone! Thank goodness. People are always telling me that's not possible.

If I could venture a guess on your dream, I'd say all the women who stole the dresses want to get married. The three who show off want to make their intentions public, but the MC doesn't want anyone to know and she's ticked one of her friends could 'out' her.
DRC said…
lol...I love my dreams. I have some really weird ones too. In dream 2 I'd put water as a huge focal point. For me, water always symbolises Emotions. If it's rough, I'm usually angry or annoyed; If something is in the water with me, I'm scared or anxious about something, and likewise if the water is calm, etc.

My last dream was a fantastic futuristic Sci-Fi. We were a country at war, and the goverment wanted to strategically place their soldiers throughout so as to fully cover and protect the streets. To do this they devised a 'Fostering Service' and anyone with a spare room had to house a soldier. But this then caused uproar amoung the people due to Invasion of Privacy and there were riots in the streets. I stood my ground, wanting to serve my country the best way I could (and it had nothing to do with the fact that these soldiers were rather manly and...erm...wearing rather little...lol)
So not only were we a country at war with another, we were also a country in the throughs of cival war.

I enjoyed it... might even turn it into a short story.
Maria Zannini said…
DRC:
Ref: (and it had nothing to do with the fact that these soldiers were rather manly and...erm...wearing rather little...lol)

Oh yeah, DRC. It had nothing to do with their manly bits. LOL!

I need to borrow YOUR dreams. :)
Margo Benson said…
Hoorah - more 3rd person dreamers! My dreams are always so detailed and in colour too.

Lately I'm dreaming archetypes - a minor royal (who I'm no fan of) and a journalist/writer, with whom I either totally agree or totally disagree.
Sarah Ahiers said…
i, too, am a vivid dreamer and my dreams often are fully plotted (i have about a 50% 3rd POV rate)
do you have reoccuring places in your dreams? I do, like a field i've been to in multiple different dreams (and in those dreams i'll even say, "hey, last time i was here it was in this other dream.
Angelina Rain said…
Nice topic about dreams, Maria. I’m glad to see so many 3 person PoV dreamers. I have 3rd dreams sometimes.

I think the swimming dream might symbolize your success. You’re successful but somewhere in your subconscious you don’t think you deserve it. That’s why in the dream you are one of the top 3 swimmers although you don’t actually swim. (I could be completely wrong though.)

I have a lot of strange dreams. Mine actually play out like a movie. The most recent weird dream I’ve had was that I stumbled in on my husband cheating on me. That destroyed me so I grabbed a gun and shot his mistress and him. So I wouldn’t go to jail, I went into hiding, and started running from the law. About ten years later, I changed my appearance and changed my name. I became a model and posed nude for a sculptor, who then sold the sculptures to the city of Chicago. Then I moved back to Chicago and rented an apartment. I learned that my husband is my next door neighbor but he didn’t recognize me. He was married to the mistress but he was hitting on me. I turned him down but kept thinking about how every street corner has a sculpture of a naked me. For the rest of his life he will be faced with images of me and get turned on by me and never even know it. Talk about WEIRD!
I love having crazy intense dreams, esp. when I can remember them all the next day.
Maria Zannini said…
Margo: I wish I dreamed in color. As it stands, it's always in black and white with only one thing in the dream in color. I imagine that's what makes it important though I don't always know what that is.

Sarah: You have to wonder why a particular location. Why does it keep leading you there even when the dream is different. Very cool though.

Angelina: LOL. Your dream sounds like it might be your next book. You won't ever lack for ideas with dreams like those.

KarenG: The older I get, the less I remember. Just another reminder of my age. Thanks, brain. LOL.
Unknown said…
I only dream when I've got a plots line/setting nagging at me.

Sounds to me like there're some stories clammering to get out.
Joanne said…
I do think dreams have some meaning. They seem to be our minds working something out on a subconscious level. But I also think they're not literal, but very symbolic. And fascinating.
Cate Masters said…
I never remember the details, only that they're strange! When I was young, my recurring dream was one of falling. I once hit the ground, but didn't die as everyone says you're supposed to, but can still remember the realistic thud and feeling like the wind was knocked from me.
I do think dreams have meaning, but not always. My sisters dream of my dead parents, and I'm envious they're able to visit with them virtually!
Cathy in AK said…
Like Cate, I usually don't recall details, only that the dreams are weird. Very, very weird :P

My youngest has been trying to have lucid dreams, where she tries to control what's going on. She says it works sometimes. Last night's dream was about running from The Flame of Eternal Suffering and scaled a building :)
Mike Keyton said…
Great post, Maria. I always look forward to going to bed because of the dreams. Apart from the occasional and surprising 'anxiety' dream associated with schools, my dreams are vivid, exciting, and in colour. I thought everyone dreamt in colour so reading these comments has been an education. I suppose, in terms of recurring dreams, those I have tend to be geographical - houses, streets or gardens that I recognise even though they are never quite right.
I think dreams can sometimes be brilliant as a starting point for a story
Maria Zannini said…
Kay: I think it's probably more likely that a dog is kicking me off the bed. LOL.

Joanne: I think that true too. I don't take anything I dream literally, but I'm sure my subconscious is trying to sort something out in its own twisted way. That and the dogs. :)

Cate: It would be nice to commune with our dead relatives through our dreams. I'd like to think we can, anyway.

Cathy: I'm a big fan of lucid dreaming. I used to do it a lot when I was a kid to drive away the 'monsters'. It does work!

Mike: I wish my dreams were in color. Because they're not, I pay extra attention to the one item that is in color.
Dru said…
I don't remember my dreams the next day, but a few days later I get a sense of deja vu.
Shelley Munro said…
Interesting about your nightmare. I've never had a dream like that. I don't tend to have recurring dreams and seldom remember much. Last night I had a nightmare where a killer was after me with a knife. I woke up with my heart pounding. Hubby said I was twitching and groaning like our puppy does when she's dreaming.

Do you dream in color or black and white? I used to wonder about this. Usually there's not much color involved in my dreaming but last night there was red.
Steven W said…
I always remember my dreams, but I consciously do that. I even write them down, though I'm not entirely sure why. Strange habit from when I was a kid I guess. But my favorite dreams are nightmares. I love being scared. I just love it when I wake up in a cold sweat, shaking, my pulse pounding in my ears.
Jackie said…
I am in a hotel room waiting for the Boas &Ritas event to start but had to add the fact that I only seem to "dream" when I eat spicy salsa at night. Weird does not even begin to describe the crazy scenes that causes when sleeping!
Maria Zannini said…
How weird. My email didn't tell me I had other comments.

Dru: Just goes to prove our subconscious is always working even when we're not. :)

Shelly: My dreams are all in grays. But like you, one item will show up in color. I have to assume that item is important somehow, but I'm never sure how.

Steven: Now you're scaring me. LOL. Life is scary enough. I'd rather my dreams not scare me too. But it's great that you write them down. I wish I did--I'm just too lazy.

Jackie: Lucky girl! I hope you have a wonderful time!!
Renee Miller said…
I think it's really curious that Blogger lets me comment on other blogs as myself, but not on my own blog. Blogger is officially on The List.

Anyway, aside from my recurring Clive dreams, which vary in content but always have the same ending ";)", I have this weird dream about the Ropers, remember them from Three's Company? I won't get into details, because the dream is seriously messed up and I don't know that I really want to interpret it, but basically they're cannibals and me and those close to me are cut up in their freezer discussing how to escape. We never do, after all we're body parts in ziploc bags, but yeah, that's essentially the dream. It's very disturbing and I've been having it since I was a child. I don't know why. The people in the freezer vary, depending on who is in my life, but my parents have always been in there and lately the kids. Awful. It sounds so funny, but I wake up crying sometimes. Nuts.

Did you really need proof I was insane? No, I didn't think so.
Maria Zannini said…
Renee: You win. I don't think I've ever dreamt of myself as chopped up body parts. Though, I guess there's always a first time.
Rula Sinara said…
Interesting post, and dreams! I'm a dream believer, and I've had many similiar to yours. Sometimes they're manifestations of stress etc...but I get premonition dreams too. The kind where the dream plays out the next day (things out of my control) almost exactly...down to colors etc... I've really wanted to kick myself for not taking the dream warning, but it can be hard to know if it's a premonition dream or not.
Maria Zannini said…
Rula: I know just what you mean. Greg doesn't believe in dream meanings so he scoffs at mine, but every so often I freak him out when something comes true.
I have weird dreams every night, very vivid too. Yet my hubby says his dreams are only ever vague ideas and never have any colour so I guess there must be a dream gene (both my kids have vivid dreams, sometimes nightmares).
Mostly in my dreams I have some job to do, I might own a business or could be teaching - I'd like to have a dream one night were I just get to rest, that'd be nice.
Wagging Tales - Blog for Writers
Maria Zannini said…
Charmaine: It's like we never get a chance to rest. I thought that was the whole purpose of sleep. Dreams seem to defeat that at times.