This morning I dreamed that a polar bear was prowling around outside my house and then inside it, and all I could do was hide and hope it didn't try too hard to find me.
I think this is reflective of my general state of anxiety.
Big scary monsters
Mon, 25 Oct 2004
- Posted at 10:00
- Permalink to entry #471
- Trackback URL for entry #471
- Filed under General
Stephen says:
With me, it's usually Nazis, and I'm a Resistance member.
Laurabelle says:
Unfortunately, that's a lot more realistic than polar bears. Polar bears are very dangerous, but the nearest one is several thousand miles from me.
I don't have nightmares very often, but when I do, they are usually much less straightforward than polar bears. Six years ago I woke up crying from a dream that I was alone in Germany, had offended a man somehow, and didn't know the words for That was scary, but the really disturbing dreams are about Jeff.
Stephen says:
See, now I feel kind of like an idiot. I didn't even think about your dream being scarey for you.
You see, I don't have nightmares (not since I was 3). Even when my dreams feature monsters chasing me, I don't feel fear in any real sense of the word; it's more like a game.
As odd as that may seem to you that I don't get nightmares, it's just as odd to me that most people DO have nightmares.
I've had a lot of thoughts lately on the nature of consciousness and the so-called subconscious mind, and hope to post on it one day soon. Pertaining to dreams: I've noticed that people are capable of influencing their dreams in a big way simply by wanting to badly enough. In my own case, I see my subconscious mind as just as much me as my conscious mind, so why would I want to give myself grief with nightmares?
I did once have an episode of sleep paralysis (or "Old Hag Syndrome"). Very, very scarey.
Laurabelle says:
Like you, Jeff doesn't understand being scared by dreams. Neither did I, until a few years ago, when I started having what I consider nightmares.
It's hard to describe them; they're about fear, anxiety, etc. rather than about actual violence or injury.
Maggie says:
Thanks for the link! It turns out I had sleep paralysis once too. I had no idea it was a documented phenomenon. At the time, I figured it was just a glitch in the system, because I knew about sleep inhibiting motion.. and I was half-asleep at the time. Fortunately it only lasted about a minute, or maybe less. And I certainly didn't imagine "demons or evil forces". I mainly just felt as though I were in a coffin, and the thought occurred to me that I might be dead. So.. which is worse? ;-P So yes... I'm hoping that that never happens again.