Dreams

This post is inspired by a conversation my Dad and I had a few weeks ago about dreams. We were talking about the settings of our dreams- his usually take place in an urban setting, while mine are often set in shopping centers or similar indoor centers. We came up with the theory that dreams are based off of where we've spent a lot of time previously. My Dad was a messenger in New York when he was about my age, and he remembers fearing some of the streets. To a child, they are long, looming and filthy, and not pleasant at all. Meanwhile, I was taken out shopping a lot as a little girl and so most of my dreams are in malls or department stores.

Fun fact: I've never once in my whole life had a good dream. All my dreams are either scary, weird, or just plain confusing; not happy at all. They also all recurr OR take place in the same 4 settings. I almost always lucid dream, and upon waking up can recognize where I was in the dream and remember being there before in a different dream. Inside the dream, I can identify that I've been in that place before and actually know my way around the dream setting quite well. It's odd, but at the same time fun when you know where you are and have the free will to go wherever you want.

However, in each dream there are miniscule changes. Sometimes the change is small, like the outfit someone is wearing or the placement of an object. In others, the mood in the landscape in and of itself changes- a place that was once happy can go to being dark and scary in a matter of minutes. In a recent dream of mine, I was in a setting I knew well. I was walking around it, but then I noticed things were not normal because an area that had been well lit in my last dream was now darkened and cluttered, making it hard to manuever through. As I walked through the mess, I had the feeling I was being watched and chased- not a pleasant feeling when you can't move very fast.

What's the weirdest dream you've ever had?

Maddie