Dreams

Do you remember your dreams?

I'm not speaking metaphorically or in terms of 'what you want to be when you grow up'.

Instead, I am speaking of those journeys into the psyche that occur nocturnally as we succumb to the effects of being surrounded in the arms of slumber. Those random thoughts and ideas that occur to a mind suddenly freed from the restraints of daily living that bring emotional surges as if the ideas that appear on the technicolor palatte of our dreams is somehow real and vibrant between the hours of our sleeping and wakeful hours.

Though the content of my dreams varies depending upon the circumstances and stresses of my life, there is an undeniable fascination with the nightly tableau of fantasy or jarring reality that plays out in my sleep.

Sometimes I am struggling against unknown assailants and running for my life against the horrors that the unknown represents. Other times, I am a world-wise traveler who is hopping the globe to all of the places that occupy my wish files of vacation destinations I will likely never see while awake.

Then there are the dreams that are pure horror. The nightmares which have no reason or rhyme but bring instead of logic or pleasure, bring terror and fear so strongly that they prevent sleep once I have screamed myself and the other occupants of the room awake. So real is the visual imagery, that sleep flees from the night and I am left to shake in the darkness against the dream that just won't go away.

I dreamed of my late mother last night. I needed the hug she gave me just before I awoke to the unpleasant realization that, for now, she is just beyond my reach.

Why we dream what we dream and just what those dreams mean is left open to interpretation of professionals and amateurs alike. No one can be completely assured as to what is going on in the dreams. And despite the sage advice that you can control your dreams, the fact is, if that were possible, most of us would choose happy and peaceful and restful dreams to counterbalance the reality of the world awake each day.

Since control is not possible, we are left to the rollercoaster of emotional highs and lows that our dreams bring to us. Some people claim to never remember their dreams upon awakening. Some can recall the night's offerings in startling clarity that rivals Hollywood blockbusters for intesity and color commentary.

Either way, we all dream. Even the dog.

Some days, I think I might like to trade for what the dog dreams. I don't recall ever seeing a dog have a nightmare.