incogknito

"...due to delayed recall, if they were recalled at all. More often dreams are, of course, forgotten entirely, perhaps due to their (according to Freud) prohibited character." Quote from here


What do you think it means when you have recurring dreams? The weird thing about my dreams is that only a portion of my dream and some large element of it has been changed or altered in some way. In fact, this morning I was having a stressful dream in which I was asked to retake a test which was actually a puzzle that I had to solve again even though I had already done it correctly once. The professor wanted me to do it again although he saw me do it and state that he believed I cheated. For some reason, in my dream, I knew that he had a crush on me and he just wanted to see me a bit longer. I was completely aggravated and angry with him for doing this to me as the puzzle was rather difficult and I had a partner the first time. However, the recurring part of my dream was actually a location of a store in which I had been in in my dreams before. The outside of the building and what the store was selling had changed dramatically. The other stores surrounding it weren't exactly the same and the town in which it was residing was more run down than it had been in a previous dream. It seems weird to say that because the entire location is completely fictional to begin with, but I know it was the same location.


The length of my dreams has always been of particular interest to myself as I have had them described before as "epics". This seems fitting only because I recall my dreams with a lot of clarity and detail when I wake up. Many times if I just think about it when I wake up I will not forget the dream during the day.

Dreams referenced here
"REM sleep episodes and the dreams that accompany them lengthen progressively across the night, with the first episode being shortest, of approximately 10–12 minutes duration, and the second and third episodes increasing to 15–20 minutes."

A lot of the research I have done on dreams leads me to believe that it's impossible to determine any one thing about them. You can't determine if they are real, prophecies, manifestations of our waking lives, gods talking to us, fantasies, or even the subconscious trying to tell us something. Since most people don't remember their dreams to begin with, it seems unlikely that it could be most of the above factors.

I have taken to recording some of my stranger dreams in a journal to look back at some day and ponder. The thing is that I remember a lot of my dreams to begin with and I can recall them to mind pretty quickly. It's just that I tend to remember the longer dreams. I also generally have 3 repeating elements in my dreams.
1. Running. Most of the time I'm running away from something. If I'm not running away from something I'm running to catch up to some thing or some event. I generally wake up very exhausted after these dreams and I'm usually in bed early when I have these dreams so it's a bit counter productive.
2. Water. Floods, rain, swimming, fish tanks, sinks, oceans, rivers, waterfalls, you name it I've dreamt about it. Something dangerous is happening when there is water around. I don't always realize it right away (unless of course it's a flood) either.
3. Fighting with women. This one doesn't always happen in my dreams but it is common enough that I have to mention it. I feel like I'm almost hostile with the women in my dreams. Not always mind you, but generally. We just have huge arguments and they're the kind where the other person won't listen to a word you're saying. I feel frustrated in my dreams and wake up frustrated. Which can be frustrating. I haven't had one of those in awhile which I think is a GREAT thing, but I do wonder what that means in real life.

I have a real system of belief for my dreams and feel that they hold some deeper meaning that I'm not seeing. I don't often have happy dreams so I feel like they are my subconscious mind telling me that I'm stressed and that there is an element of my life that I need to let go of or work on. My mind is telling me to relax but I'm definitely not listening. I could be way off base, but this is what I've come up with for now.

Does anybody else dream as vividly as I do? Seriously, I dream constantly and consistently. Let me know what you guys think about my latest dream.