Another Episode of Subconscious Theater

[jchrisobrien]

There was a conversation this weekend past about nightmares, what kinds people have and what they might mean.  At the time, I couldn't recall what my nightmares were like.  This was a surefire way of provoking a nightmare.  I might as well have said

I was coming back to "my apartment" and I found the door unlocked.  Inside a party was going on, but I didn't recognize the people who lived there.  I immediately became angry, because I couldn't trust these people.  Would they steal my things or break something?  I found my landlady, but she wouldn't talk to me on the matter.  Any guest I questioned just made small talk or walked away when I questioned them.  Finally I saw a few friends, but they would turn and wander away when I questioned them too.

There are probably some significant bits here:  my assumption that this was my place, when it could have been somewhere else.  My reaction to the guests.  The running theme of being ignored/invisible.    That being said, this was a rather different kind of dream that usual.

A few days later I had one of my more "traditional" nightmares, but with a twist.  I'm back in college, wandering through the paths at Penn State.  I realize I've skipped about half of my classes for the semester, and am liable to flunk them.  I try to remember where the classes meet, and when, but am having a hard time doing so.  In my older dreams I would keep wandering around trying to find them, and the dream scape would change into something else.  That night, I realized that I would just have to cancel my classes, and take them again the next semester, paying more attention to them because I was older now, and couldn't afford to blow shit off.

Images can come and go, and who knows what a cigar is.  But when you can see a change in the patter of a dream, that's something.

Comments

[xenoglaux]

I had a similar college dream the other night.

[silas7.livejournal.com]

have you ever noticed changes in your dreams, about having a similar experience and your reaction changing?

I've also noticed that before I couldn't fight in dreams. Now, I can kill things with an almost frightening ease. Usually, the things are zombies which relieves me a litte bit.

[plankton.livejournal.com]

i too have the school dream all the time. which sucks, because i think it really affects my decision-making process when i think about graduate school.

what i find strange is that i'd really be surprised if -anybody- has actually gone a semester forgetting 1/2 their classes, and then wandered campus in a panic at the last minute. however, it's probably one of the most common nightmares. why is this the method that so many people's subconscious choose to communicate anxiety? why can't the nightmare revolve around forgetting how to do your job at work? if that were the case i'd wake up psyched to go back to school! :)

oh and last night i also dreamt about being attacked by an 80 ft snake. that was rather unpleasant.

[silas7.livejournal.com]

People who go to school after having worked awhile tend to be more focused on their schooling. They have a better idea of what they want to do, and are more likely to be paying for it this time around.

I've known people who've blown off classes that long, but not ones who forgot it. Forgetfulness is one of my flaws. I think it's the whole having to come to terms with something you screwed up on, taking the consequences. Plus, you look pretty foolish by forgetting something that important. That's probably another factor. Maybe the school influence comes from spending more of our life in school than at work. When we hit our fifties, we will probablys start getting work nightmares *shudder*.

Snakes? Why did it have to be snakes?