World, Writing, Wealth discussion

We have this extracurricular movie watching with us cast as protagonists. Some dreams are recurrent, some fresh and new. The genre also varies: from thriller through horror, erotica to romance -:) 'Thank god, it was just a dream', is probably quite a popular morning thought.
Their meaning is another unknown.
Some attribute them some prophetic quality and seek interpretation.
Others actually derive practical value out of them. Thus, Dmitriy Mendeleev - chemist who first published Periodic Table, was believed to have seen it in his dream -:)
What do you think and whether you try to interpret them?

I was once shot in my dreams. Trust me, it felt as though the pain was real. The pain was so intense that I woke up with a jolt and said thank God that was just a dream. I was able to learn then how it feels when a person takes a bullet.

I have dreams, and they seem real. Some of my stories, mainly shorts, come to me in a dream. If they persist, I write them down. The story "HALAB, OH HALAB" appeared in a dream. It can be read on "Longshot Island": http://www.longshotisland.com

This story guided me through several that have also went on the web.

"Halab, oh Halab", I'm sure was developing in my psyche because of a Muslim family we are helping to integrate into German society, and the stories they told us.

I also have dreams of warning. I don't alway understand what they mean until they happen.

Some stories I don't have a clear picture of them until I visualize them through dreams. Then I can write them out.

I believe, if one has dreams that seem real, my advice is to pay attention to them. You have a window into another dimension.

One theory is that dreams can be the subconscious working away trying to tell you something, but it is seldom clear. I don't know whether that is right or not, but I used in my "A Face on Cydonia" to help one character solve a problem that had been eluding everyone - even if it had to come through a nightmare that had her fall out of bed in a sweat :-)

My dreams are strange and weird. Most of them don't even make any sense. I still love them tho, most of the times I wish I could go back to the dreams cause they were really awesome but other times I something think that "thank gods it's just a dream"

Work on lucid dreaming... I use to be able to do it when I was younger but havent tried in a while. It just takes concentration and the right environment...

Its pretty cool to be able to control your dream and know you're in your dream while dreaming it.

http://www.world-of-lucid-dreaming.com/

Write them down, and a pattern will develop. Note what events come after, and keep tract of them. They'll start to make sense. They'll give you insight into your subconscious, desires and needs. Some will give you heads-up on what to expect of things.

It is reputed that Tartini copied down his Devil's Trill sonata after dreaming of the devil playing it, except he said that what he copied down was a fairly pale version. I can believe that. I can recall once dreaming what I felt was tremendously moving music - I woke up, rushed out, grabbed a pencil and some paper and wrote it down as best I could, but when I saw it next morning it was fairly innocuous.

I had the same impression, and painted a picture after the dream. The next morning I took a look at what I did, and you're right, it looked like "Toilet-Flush."

Michael wrote: "Work on lucid dreaming..."

Interesting.. But do you feel like you had a proper sleep afterwards or as if you were half-awake?

I can't remember. But I'd like to try Hemingway's version. I haven't yet. Write drunk and edit sober, sounds like a pleasant way to spend the afternoon.

GR wrote: "I can't remember. But I'd like to try Hemingway's version. I haven't yet. Write drunk and edit sober, sounds like a pleasant way to spend the afternoon."

You are on the proper thread. Sounds like a dream indeed -:)

Michael wrote: "Work on lucid dreaming... I use to be able to do it when I was younger but havent tried in a while. It just takes concentration and the right environment...

Its pretty cool to be able to control ..."

I find this fascinating but it has only happened to me once. I dreamt that a massive UFO was landing in the field behind my house and I shouted to my husband, "Come quickly and look at this!". Then I said to myself, within the dream, that I was dreaming it.

I did dream very vividly at that point in my life and I had good recall too, but I can rarely recall much these days.

I've had three premonitions in dreams (not of major events) - has anyone else?

Kavy Jackson Fullbuster ~So everybody come on~ wrote: "My dreams are strange and weird. Most of them don't even make any sense. I still love them tho, most of the times I wish I could go back to the dreams cause they were really awesome but other times..."

Bizarre as they may seem, they are sending a message to you on a subconscious level and it's fascinating to study dream symbolism. When I was 14 or 15, I had a dream of being in a battle with bullets flying everywhere and I was cowering and terrified. My cousin (just a couple of years older than me) was also in this dream but she was loving it and firing back at the attackers with a big grin on her face. It was so vivid I wrote it down. Years later it dawned on me - my cousin sailed through her teen years with confidence and high self-esteem, but I didn't!

I also had a dream shortly after breaking up with someone and hoping we'd get back together. He was a caretaker in a building, and when I wrote this down it leapt out at me - Take Care. It was a warning that I took notice of and avoided him afterwards!

Any new versions on what dreams are?

Hey Nik,
Not really anything in terms of defining "dreams" but I will share a story form my past that has some supernatural/dream overtones. Years ago I got a call at my then office from a gilr form college with whom I had not spoken in at least five years. After I said Hello she very seriously began inquiring whether I was alright. I said that I was fine and she repeated the same question. She began to frighten me and when I reassured her that I was fine I asked her why she was calling me and asking me this question. She shocked me when she said that she had been having recurring nightmares about me each night for a week. When we hung up I quickly called my Italo American mother who held many superstitions from her childhood. She calmly said that another person having bad dreams about you was a good luck sign for you. Happy to hear that I immediately went up to the corner store and bought an old fashioned number lottery ticket and the next day my number hit for $1,000.00. The thing is that I never played the lottery before.
Now that they have these big lotteries I keep waiting for that same girl to call again....

Cool story with a rewarding ending! Hope she didn't suffer too much, to organize this 1k for you -:)

Nik,
I remembering thinking of that afterwards but from the fact that I never heard from her again I assume she was fine and none the worse for wear...

I think dreams are just the brain getting rid of junk worries or thoughts. More than once I have had a dream where I am off travelling, I am checking in, and yep - not only have I forgot my passport, but I forgot to renew it. Maybe it is a signal I am worried about forgetting things, but I don't usually forget anything important. Maybe where I put down my car keys when I was in a hurry to do something else, like answer the phone.

I sometimes dream of (claustrophobic) mazes.

I've been having a recurrent dream lately where I'm in first year university and failing Maths (really badly, totally unprepared...)

I have no idea what dreams are about, but I suspect it's just the mind sifting stuff, and a necessary activity for the mind's health.

Interesting, Graeme. Were you good at maths or were they a problem then?

Ok.avg at math. First yr uni math was one of my best years, but I didn't take it past 2nd year.

Most people don't unless they want to major in maths or physics.

Correct

Some dreams are so real. I still remember a dream from years ago. I was in a car and went over a cliff. I saw that I was going to die. I woke up with my heart pounding. I've known ever since what it feels like to see your death coming and be helpless to avoid it. Sometimes dreams can give us insight.

Then there are dreams that reflect what we're feeling. I had a dream when I was unhappily married. There was a huge haystack next to my house, ready to topple over and cover it completely.

And there was the one when I graduated from college, and my dad was pressuring me to teach. I was in a house, walking down a long hallway with doors on either side. I tried to escape by entering a room to jump out the window. There was a nest of rattlesnakes below. I returned to the hallway and walked to the end, where I saw a mad doctor operating on an unwilling person.

Probably TMI, but I do think some dreams have meaning.

Hi Scout, I've had some similar experiences, and I think many people do. The mind is sifting, sifting, sifting, and our concerns and needs get thrown back at us in metaphorical imagery.

Sometimes, it's just fluff - sometime's it's highly pertinent.

When the brain is switched off and on idle mode strange processes happen. Some dreams feel real, some happen to be prophetic, others bring to the fore our innermost fears and concerns. And there are sleepwalkers, of course.
Wonder if computers also 'have dreams' while switched off. As it sometimes happens that everything works perfect in the evening, but a machine is all of a sudden a total mess the morning after)

We call that "user error."

Mehreen wrote: "I was once shot in my dreams. Trust me, it felt as though the pain was real. The pain was so intense that I woke up with a jolt and said thank God that was just a dream. I was able to learn then ho..."

Amazing.