Dream a Little Dream of Me

Do I have strange dreams? I know they're odd, but sometimes I wonder if everyone dreams as unusually as I do.

Just yesterday morning, I dreamt that I was at a square table. My father sat to my right, one of my brothers sat across from me, and my mother was to my left. I was trying to form a picture of Humpty Dumpty out of very thinly sliced Munchie cheese* on my plate. I also had a sheet of little, black cut-outs to use for the eyes, mouth, arms and legs, etc. As I constructed, the others began dishing up dinner, including on my plate. The cheese began melting (not to mention obscured by the other food), and I became very disturbed. I showed my father the book in which I had found the instructions (accompanied with four rather old-timey children's book illustrations) and the cut-outs, and he grunted, "Very nice," but seemed quite insincere. My brother said, "So what?", which, in the dream, didn't surprise me. (It wouldn't surprise me in real life, either.) My mother seemed to ignore me. Unfortunately, the alarm clock woke me before the dream could progress.

I'm fairly certain I can interpret this dream as me being disappointed that my efforts are not appreciated. I'm leaning toward this occurring at work, even though my immediate family was in the dream. I can't pinpoint any particular example, though. Maybe it was my subconscious reminding me that it was Monday, the day of our weekly staff meeting, in which I am habitually ignored. Do I even want to consider Boss in the place of my mother? I do wonder, if that's the case, then which of the other two people would Ob be: my brother or my father? No, let's not go there. It's the words and feelings that are important, not the bodies. Maybe all three of them represented Boss.

Wow -- just had a thought. Artistic things, such as constructing a fairy tale character out of cheese, are not easy for me. That is why I was so disappointed in the dream that my efforts were "melted" and disregarded. Particularly galling was knowing that I was over halfway through my endeavor when it was interrupted. This definitely happened to me at work, just this past Wednesday. (See my 9/20/06 entry.) I feel that this interpretation is right. (So much for not pinpointing any particular example.)

A couple of weeks ago, I dreamt I was at a wooded, interstate rest area. Across a grassy area from where I parked was another parking lot. In that section of the lot, a couple had just abandoned their 13-year-old son. I was going to offer him a lift, when I saw a bear cub emerge from the stuff in my trunk and begin gnawing at the rubber gasket that lines the trunk enclosure. That's a dream I really wanted to continue, but the dratted alarm clock woke me up again.

There's a woman at work who has studied dream interpretation, so I consider her my resident "expert". She says that dreams mean different things to different people, so I have to think about what they mean until I'm satisfied I found an explanation that fits. I don't have her notes handy, but I do remember that she said both the age of the boy and the bear being a cub indicate something in development, and the species of animal and the fact it was chewing on something could mean potential danger or risk. She avoided using any obvious words like "emotional baggage" to represent what I had brought in the car with me. (Yet I have room to fit a 13-year-old in addition to all that?) I told her I definitely know that I do not feel abandoned by my own parents, so she asked if I felt as if I had abandoned myself. (Wow, that's deep!) This dream definitely will take some thought.

I remember best the dreams I'm having just before the alarm clock goes off in the morning. (I usually don't have time to write them down right away, so I keep them in my head until I get to work then e-mail them to myself, so I won't forget them.) I tend to integrate images or thoughts from real life only for a day or two after experiencing them. (The interstate dream was a rarity, as it was two weeks after I had stopped at similar rest areas. Plus, the Humpty Dumpty dream was five days after the event it probably represented. Maybe I'm holding on to things longer -- but 13 years?) Often, I dream that I am back in my former house in New Jersey (or, once, at my church). I am almost always in my dreams, viewing everything through my own eyes, although I could be portraying someone else. (I once was Hercule Poirot's sidekick, but I couldn't figure out if I was Captain Hastings or myself.) It is not unusual for the other characters in my dreams to be one person even though they look like someone else. The theme music in my dream tends to stick with me most of the morning. (Yes, it's quite annoying.) All of my dreams are in color.

Another rarity -- in fact, it had never happened before this year -- was a recurring theme. (Otherwise, all my dreams are unique.) It isn't the same dream over and over, just the context. Three times in the past year, I have dreamt that I was in public and couldn't find a place to go to the bathroom. The first two times, I actually had to go when I woke up. The last time, I didn't. This is enough to worry me. I've decided that, if I have this kind of dream two more times, I might go to see a counselor.

Does anyone else have dreams as weird as mine, or do you all dream about flying or going toward the light, or what have you? Do your family members or friends appear in the dreams? Familiar places? Repeating dreams? Music? Color?

* I'm not sure of the spelling. Nothing like it was listed on cheese.com. (Ain't it great to live in a world where you can go to a webpage dedicated to cheese? I almost feel as giddy as Pinky.) The mind boggles at what bra cheese is. I don't entirely trust the webmaster's expertise, though. S/he misspelled Muenster. (Without the "e" is the name of a TV family.)