I SUPPOSE BY NOW most of you know that I've been through some difficult times. Who hasn't, right? If you've read the synopsis for my soon-to-be-published memoir, you'll have a little better idea of the specifics. I haven't gone into a lot of detail here because I want to keep these posts brief.
The traumas I write about in my memoir, occurred up through the end of the 1990s. Then, I spent the better part of a decade in recovery and I'm doing really well now. Except for one thing--my dreams.
For years I had to deal with a sleep disorder. What I deal with now, is a cake-walk by comparison. I sleep very well every night. However, I still have dreams about the traumas I went through. Sometimes they're very emotional. Often they involve the antagonist of my memoir whom I call "Brock." And by often, I mean like, every other night.
Sometimes I dream about being in a church. I don't want to be there and I'm conflicted and helpless, traveling along some kind of roller coaster-type obstacle course. Other dreams center around my house. People keep walking through it and no matter how much I object to their intrusion, they ignore me and keep coming.
I think dreams are fascinating. How about you? Do you have recurring dreams and have you figured out what they mean? Do you think dreams are our body's way of helping us heal from emotional upheaval?
I believe that dreams may signal that we're still working on--or maybe the better way to put it is healing from--past trauma or other bad experiences.
ReplyDeleteI have recurring dreams where I'm trying to get somewhere, and obstacles keep coming up delaying me. Lately, I've had repeated dreams that I have to drive a long distance and go back to the town I lived in when I was in grad school. I don't want to go.
I haven't figured out the meanings of these dreams, but I think they relate to yearnings and fears.
Grace, I, like Tina, have long had dreams that start out nice but end of with me trying to get somewhere and everything stops working, phones, transportation, recognizable routes.
ReplyDeleteI finally learned from somewhere that you can recognize you are in a dream and can wake yourself up if it's not going well and it works.
Then I have dreams that are going well I want to see play out but as soon as I recognize it's a dream, I start waking up, usually wishing not to. That frustrates me.
I suppose dreams are really just our deep subconsciousness trying to figure something out our conscience mind has wondered about but can't.
After a disturbing occurrence in my childhood, I began to have nightmares and would wake up crying and my Mother would comfort me with, "Nothing you dream can hurt you." I still try to remember that good advice if I have a scary dream.
Dreams ~ sometimes good, sometimes bad, a lot of in between, figuring things out, fears, ideas, sometimes God speaks through dreams. Had two good ones about my husband the other night. I woke up smiling.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry you are still being haunted by your past. We can't do anything about our dreams, we are 'in' them and go with the flow. Although, there have been times when I have cried out and the dreams change to something else.
Hope your week is a good one.
Love and hugs ~ FlowerLady
I love reading books about dreams and how to interpret them. Our brains are pretty amazing. I guess we can't really control what we think about when we sleep but I think looking at our dreams is a good tool to use to figure out what is embedded in our sub-conscious.
ReplyDeleteI have tons of dreams about water, mostly overflowing and encroaching upon me. I also dream that I am driving and all of a sudden I am blind but I can't stop the car. I assume these dreams are about lack of control. I actually feel I am very much in control..too much. I could lighten up a little. Maybe that is what my dreams tell me.
I think dreams are a self-healing and self-revealing mechanism. (That sounds so mechanical...the word "mechanism.")
ReplyDeleteI have had significant recurring dreams involving homes/houses. Some of these houses I live in. For some of them, I am a simply the steward.
Seldom are my house dreams about a home where I've lived in 3-D life.
There have been different homes in my dreams. One though recurs often.
The home is a large mansion and finally, after years of dreaming about it, I have been able to go upstairs and discover new territory in the house. For a long time I was stuck in the dreary part of the home, in a wet, damp basement...always cleaning toilets and wondering what was upstairs.
I also have a recurring dream that I can fly and float. In my dreams, I have taught a few others how to do the same. We always have to be alone on a hill and from that hill we float-fly together. The folks I teach are always amazed at how easy it is to float-fly.
Sometimes, especially if I'm going through a hard time, I ask for dreams.
I do have nightmares from time-to-time.
I'm glad to read that your sleep has improved greatly Grace. *thumbsup*
(And now I think of a Proverb I put to tune. I used to sing it to my son when he was young as he drifted off to sleep. Pr. 3:24)
I absolutely have recurring dreams and I have figured a few out but some still elude me...I think they are reminders of things maybe unfinished...but they are fascinating.
ReplyDeleteGrace,
ReplyDeleteThese days, I just sleep. Dead sleep. I find that I'm processing so much in my writing, that the subconscious just goes to rest while I sleep.
When I'm working on my new novel, I try to let my subconscious run free--the elements of my dreamstate become inspiration for parts of my book. I try to capture these fleeting ideas ... in this way, I think my mind is healing itself.
Laura