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| A dream, from Wikipedia |
LUCY BURDETTE: The night following our last REDS AND READERS happy hour in which we discussed our early reading influences, including Nancy Drew, I had such a vivid dream in which I had written an updated Nancy Drew. I was at the book launch event, but I hadn’t prepared a thing and couldn’t remember much about the book. Reds, do you have dreams like this? What are they like?
HALLIE EPHRON: It’s an updated I-have-to-take-an-exam-but-I-haven’t-studied OR I-can’t-find-the-classroom OR… dream 😫
DEBORAH CROMBIE: Mine is turning up for a college or high school class and realizing I haven't written the paper/studied for the test. Go figure…
HANK: AND that I cannot find the room where the test is behind held, and WHY didn’t I study?
RHYS BOWEN: the dream I have is being in a play, waiting backstage and not remembering my lines ! I hunt frantically for the script but can’t find it. Sometimes I step out and deliver lines perfectly, other times I stumble through the scene not knowing what to say next.
JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: That's my anxiety dream as well, Rhys. My youngest, Ginger, sent me a text yesterday complaining she had had an anxiety dream about Christmas: it was the night before, and no presents were wrapped, no stockings were hung, and no one had gotten anything for her new boyfriend.
She plaintively concluded, I thought only parents had dreams about messing up Christmas!
JENN MCKINLAY: Ha! My anxiety dream is that I’m ironing a white blouse when I realize I’m two hours late for my first day as a librarian. I’m then torn between finishing the ironing (the shirt is very wrinkled) or running out the door as is!
JULIA: I'm laughing at Jenn's - when was the last time any of us ironed a shirt?
JENN: Right? It's ridiculous!!!
RHYS: I also have the college class or exam dream and the Christmas one. I dream it’s Christmas Day, stores are closed and we have people coming for whom I don’t have a present Luckily I took dream psychology in college and these are all too many things on my plate dreams. We all need to slow down.
And I have never, ever dreamed about ironing. My subconscious knows it wouldn’t happen!
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: Ironing, no. But for years, I did have dreams about when the show is about to start and I don't know the lines or the steps or the words to the songs. But recently, I was in the midst of that very stressful dream, and I stopped mid-dream and said to myself, this is a dream, and of course you know the songs and the steps, and even if you don’t, you can manage just fine. And I’ve never had it again.
I am also always dreaming that I find new and gorgeous rooms in my house, filled with beautiful voluptuous things, and I wonder—oh how did I forget about these? I love these rooms.
JULIA: Hank, I have that same dream and I also love it. How exciting to find new rooms you didn’t know you had! What I wonder is: do people who haven't done theater have those “I’m going on and I don’t know my lines” dreams? And why, when I spent 21 years in formal education, have I never had a dream where I’m unprepared for class or know nothing about a test?
Another one you hear of constantly in TV and movies is the alleged “appearing nude in public” dream, and not only have I never had one of these, I’ve asked friends and family, and no one I know has every had that dream. Is it just made up?
Reds, tell us about your dreams and nightmares!
I'm impressed/amazed that you actually remember what you dream. When I wake up, I have absolutely no recollection of what I've dreamed about . . . .
ReplyDeleteI've had the class dream and the being in a play and not knowing my part dreams, too.
ReplyDeleteI've had a similar dream to yours, Lucy. I've dreamed that I found a previous unknown Trixie Belden book, but before I can really focus on it (title, cover, etc.), I wake up. Not the same as having written it, obviously, but they seem similar to me.
Wouldn't that be cool to find the real, undiscovered Trixie Belden??
DeleteIt would!
DeletePat D: I just had a dream where I’m not sure if I passed my finals and I’m preparing my parents that I might be 3 hours short of college graduation. At the same time I’m trying to decide what school to enroll in if I need those hours. I’ve had this one twice recently.
ReplyDeleteWho needs that at this point?? Hopefully you can sort out what pressure you might be feeling!
DeleteI don't have the going on stage dream, but yes to the highly unclothed variety. Not nude, but way underdressed (think underwear) or inappropriate, like pajamas to some formal event.
ReplyDeleteI most regularly have dreams about traveling and flying. At the airport with my passport back home. Flying to China completely unprepared. The worst are when I'm in the pilot's seat in the air and I know full well I don't know HOW TO FLY a plane.
In other out-of-control dreams, I'm driving but it's dark and the lights don't work and I can't see very well (like, where are my glasses?!) and my foot can't quite reach the brake. Very scary.
Very scary Edith, I've had that no brakes dream too!
DeleteEdith I had an actual experience with brakes. I was driving my '61 blue VW Bug back in the early '70s and when I came to an intersection and tried to stop but my brakes didn't work! I don't remember exactly what I did but I must have continued through and eventually I didn't accelerate the car and it slowed down and stopped.
DeleteI used to have the driving one, Edith. Not any more!
DeleteWhen I was teaching full time, more than once I dreamed I was lining my class up to bring them in and I was wearing my bathrobe and slippers. Another related bad dream was not finding my role book or lesson plans and forgetting what the lessons were. These were jarring, but not scary like Edith's. The example shared above would scare me awake.
ReplyDeleteYou would want to wake up from Edith's dream!
DeleteI was a teacher for a number of years and my recurring dream was going to school without clothes on to teach my grade four class! As far as ironing goes, when my daughter was a toddler, I only ironed when she was asleep because I was afraid she would pull on the cord of the iron and injure or burn herself. My sister came to stay with us for a holiday and she was used to ironing everything! While I was out one day she asked my daughter where my iron and ironing board were. My daughter gave her a very strange look. Finally my sister took one of my daughter’s Richard Scarry books and pointed out an ironing board and iron. My daughter just shook her head because she had never seen one! I sure heard about it when I got home!!!
ReplyDeletethat is hysterical Dorothy! I love pointing at the Richard Scarry book!!
DeleteDreams are so interesting and they can be terrifying or terrific. I have had the "unprepared for the exam" dream. The "I can't find the room or the building" dream is another. I have had the "the stairs are missing or broken and have to climb up or down them dream" like a scene from one of the Indiana Jones movies (terrifying.)
ReplyDeleteThe night my mother died, I had fallen asleep and an ambulance took her to the hospital in the early morning hours. I never saw her again. For years, I dreamed that I discovered her alive somewhere, in an institution. Last year, Rhys made my dream into a book. Seriously gang, it's a plot point that I saw coming. Shivers.
Speaking of books, I dream that I am in a story with book characters. Lots of books. I also find myself in situations from movies. And, I have vivid dreams that would make Freud blush. Yep ah do!
Unfortunately, news stories can invade my dreams, too. I know specifically what happened on October 7 and I have hardly slept through the night since then.
Weird about Rhy's book--had you discussed that with her ahead of time? I'm really sorry about the October 7 dreams--bad enough to be reading and watching.
DeleteI have never told ANYONE about those dreams about my mother. There never was a person in my family so nefarious as to arrange such a diabolical scheme. It would have seemed disloyal to put that notion out there. I think it was a wish on my part to see her again.
DeleteWhich book of mine, Judy? I try not to write anything too scary
DeleteRhys, your books are not scary, but there are tense moments, especially for Molly Murphy who is a very daring young woman!
DeleteIt was last year's Molly Murphy book. My dream was that my mother had not died but was alive and ill, living in an institution. Spoiler alert! ⚠️ Remember the misdirected letter. I do not want to expose that part of your plot to those who have not read the book yet. Spoiler alert ! ⚠️
I've dreamed several times that I didn't graduate from high school and I have to go back and take a class to get my diploma. Funny as I have a college degree.
ReplyDeleteSo interesting Paula--something doesn't feel finished!
DeleteI have had the I have a final but I never attended the class or can’t find the room/building dream many, many times. Lately, though, I have made it into the classroom which feels like progress (to me, at least). I haven’t had the going out in public not fully clothed dream in a long time, but definitely have had it. I sometimes dream about real events (certain elections raise my anxiety level), but also incorporate mystery TV shows and/or mystery books into my dreams. In those I am the one pursuing the bad guy or in danger. The best dreams are when my late parents appear. It’s usually a very normal, mundane dream, but they’re there and I get to talk with them. — Pat S
ReplyDeleteI love when one of my parents or my beloved aunt appears in a dream, Pat. It's always a good dream and leaves me with a warm feeling even after I awake. They never speak, though.
DeleteI agree with both of you, though this hasn't happened in a while...
DeleteThis is Kim. Me, too, Pat. I love talking to my parents in dreams. They are just there, maybe in their 40s and being their everyday selves, and I wake up so happy to have visited with them. I can’t make those dreams happen, though. Wish I could.
DeleteLike Edith, most of my dreams involve travel problems at the airport. Wrong boarding gate, forgot my passport etc.
ReplyDeleteMaybe I will have different dreams about my upcoming flight to Vancouver on April 8, the day of the solar eclipse. The airlines just changed my departure time to an hour later in the evening. What could go wrong on that day?
We all have fingers crossed for an easy flight Grace!
DeleteI have all the dreams mentioned minus the one about forgetting my lines or ironing anything.
ReplyDeleteHowever I do have two dreams that dominate.
1. I show up buck naked for a public event.
2. I desperately have to go potty and can’t find a toilet, or if I do find one, it is either out of order or smack in the middle of the mall food court with no door.
Obviously I have issues — maybe a whole subscription?
Ann, I haven’t heard that issues/subscription joke before! I like it! — Pat S
DeleteVery funny Ann. I've had the potty dream and try to nudge myself awake and get to the real bathroom!
DeleteOMG, the potty dream. I HATE that one.
DeleteAs a former teacher, I suppose it is inevitable that my dreams are about teaching. Sometimes I am in my old high school and sometimes in the school where I last taught for almost 20 years. In all the dreams I have been brought back as a sub and I really don't want to mess up. But I cannot find the classroom or I need a quick stop at the bathroom and they are either clogged with people or I just can't find one. I know the kids are coming and I also know my plan book is absolutely blank. Will I be able to just wing it?
ReplyDeleteWhat could wrong Judy??
DeleteNever had any of the traditional anxiety dreams. Not that I remember. But I did once dream I bought tires from my son's taekwondo instructor at a McDonald's drive-through. Still trying to figure out what that one means.
ReplyDeletethat's a good one Liz LOL
DeleteI have the can’t find a toilet dream in various forms all the time. Eventually I wake up and go to the bathroom; problem solved. I have AV equipment nightmares every now and again because in a previous job I was often called into classrooms from my position in the school media center to help troubleshoot when something wouldn’t work. It has been 12 years.
ReplyDeleteWeird how long these dreams can linger!
DeleteI think I shared my most memorable dream once before, but here it is: I was working as a 911 dispatcher and pregnant with my son when I dreamed that I came into rollcall and the supervisors told us that Portland Police had annexed the whole United States. There was a map on the wall of the US divided into police districts. We were going to be taking calls and sending units everywhere!
ReplyDeleteMy mom once had a dream that she had written a hymn. She knew it was a dream so she figured if she just kept singing the hymn to herself, she would be able to remember it when she woke up. When she did wake up, she was singing, "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord." She was a bit disappointed that she hadn't come up with something original.
Gillian, that wasn't a dream about the police, that was a nightmare! You clearly took your responsibility as a dispatcher seriously.
Deletewow Gillian, that was a nightmare! I love your mom's dream about the hymn...
DeleteYes to the anxiety dreams. A recurring one is I park the car, go do something and then can't find the car after. I know where I parked it, but it's not there, or the street is not there, or the parking garage has extra floors and I search all of them and no car anywhere. Ditto with buildings--I go to a classroom or office and can't find my way out or back to the ground floor or the entrance I came in, etc. But good dreams, yes, especially when my brother shows up--he never speaks, just smiles at me and is there. Or my maternal grandmother--her presence like a hug. Dreams of my mom are sometimes painful, she appears as if nothing happened, but I know that she's dead and can't stay--that sooner or later she will be gone again.
ReplyDeleteThat comment is Flora.
DeleteI do not want the parking garage dream Flora!
DeleteJust in reading these comments quickly, it seems like many of the dreams we remember are not the good dreams. I dream all the time, and I can remember them, although most are ephemeral, but the happy ones are more fleeting. Sometimes I remember feeling wonderful about a certain person, and then, when I see them, I remember. But generally, I don’t remember my happy dreams. that’s weird.
ReplyDeleteWell, maybe that’s not quite true. I have vivid memories of those wonderful new house, new room, new drawers dreams, so… maybe it works both ways.
DeleteNot enough time for a full comment. Dream that repeats endlessly. I am trapped in a parking garage looking and looking for a spot to land.
ReplyDeleteHmmm, I hadn't thought about happy dreams. I think a couple of times I remember waking up feeling happy but most often I have a scary or frustrating dream. And yes I have dreamed that I am at an event and don't have clothes on. It is so weird because I've always been a very modest dresser.
ReplyDeleteMy husband also does the same thing Hank, where he stops mid-dream and says this is ridiculous and wakes up.
Oh, that is so interesting!
DeleteI’m stunned that so many people have dreams similar to mine! I thought I was the only one. I’ve had the “can’t remember where I parked”, “can’t find the room in a hotel”, “show up unprepared to teach”, “didn’t write the paper”, The one that freaks me out is being the last person to finish a test because everyone else has finished and are making noise.
ReplyDeleteI hope you were almost done with that test Marcia!
DeleteI read somewhere if you tell someone about your dream right away, you will remember it. So if I have an interesting dream I try to tell my husband about it first thing. I have also read that some people dream in color and some in black and white. My dreams always are in color, anyone else?
ReplyDeleteThat is so interesting, Terry. I vividly remember dreams, the who, the what we did, as soon as I wake up, especially if I wake up from the dream. But, I do not know if I dream in color or black and white.
DeleteTerri, my mom was superstitious about many things, including dreams. One is that if you tell someone your dream before eating something, it will come true. So if I have had a disturbing dream that I just have to tell someone about, I make sure to eat a bite of something first. (The reverse is also true: if I have a wonderful dream, I immediately tell my husband BEFORE I eat anything.) The other dream superstition she used to say was “Friday night’s dream on Saturday told will always come true, no matter how old.” I try to avoid discussing dreams on Saturdays, just in case….. ;;-). — Pat S
DeleteWow those are some fascinating superstitions!
DeleteWow, Pat, I never heard those things about dreams, thanks for sharing!
DeleteTerri, my dreams have always, no matter how vivid, been in black and white.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a lot younger, and maybe less confident? I used to have a recurring dream where I was naked, and a more disturbing one where I was forced to use mass, open loo facilities where no one else seemed to be perturbed about the lack of privacy. Haven't had either of those in decades, thank goodness. I'm pretty sure they were triggered, originally, by high school gym class.
Now I hardly ever remember dreams. And if they take a nightmare turn I have learned, a la Hank, to wake myself up and "change the subject". Thanks for that important tool, Hank!
I have most of the classic anxiety dreams mentioned above, usually about taking a test or giving a presentation. Didn’t prepare, can’t find the room, in my underwear, etc. Worst dream ever when I was pregnant: Baby is born, I’m carrying it around, doorbell rings. I stick the baby in a drawer for safekeeping, closing the drawer, deal with interruption, and go on with my life. About a month later, I remember the baby in the drawer. The terror is extreme. I run to the dresser in a horrible panic and just as I start to open the drawer I wake up. I’d say I was worried about my mothering skills during pregnancy, wouldn’t you?
ReplyDeletePregnancy nightmares about babies are very common, Kim. I dreamed I gave birth to a frog, and it was so disappointing not meeting my baby!
DeleteThat's so horrible Kim! And Edith! When I was pregnant, I dreamed that I had had a girl and she was roller skating in the basement.
DeleteSometimes I remember my dreams. During pandemic lockdown, I had a dream about going out in public and everyone was Not wearing masks. I was not wearing a mask either. So I think I was dreaming about life BEFORE the pandemic.
ReplyDeleteThere was a dream where I woke up and started writing down the scene immediately. The dream was about my characters in my WIP. Yes, I am still writing a novel.
And sometimes I have dreams about going to a mystery conference at a unknown location - the hotel did not look familiar at all. The registration was on the mezzaine and there were tables of books for sale by the authors when I turned right and walked to the tables. There were also bookshelves set up. It looked more like the bookshelves and tables at B&N. No idea why.
Diana
Ah dreams... the stuff hilarious and ridiculous stories are made of. I've had all kinds of dreams. Hell last night, I kept having mini-dreams that I would wake up from, realize I was awake, fall back to sleep and then have another one I'd then wake up from again. So sometime after lunch, I'll likely be nodding off because sleep stunk last night.
ReplyDeleteMy dream life is as abysmal as my waking life that's for sure. Even in my dreams, I don't get the girl. Which is rather annoying. I mean how many people dream about the Swedish Bikini Team but they are all in business suits talking about macro economics? Even in my dreams, I can't catch a break. LOL!
Even my nightmares are absurdly goofy. Ever dream about being stuck in what seems like the video game screen for Donkey Kong, except you are trying to go up the screen against Nazi zombies firing rotten apples from their machine guns? I don't know what I ate that night but I hope I never eat it again.
One positive dream was dreaming up a whole character and their backstory for that mythical book that I'll never write.
But then you have dreams that when you wake up, you can't remember them but they were so haunting that you keep trying all day to remember what the dream was.
I know they say you dream a lot when you sleep but wouldn't it be nice if you could pick the kind of dreams you have instead of having to rely on some kind of ethereal version of the Google "I Feel Lucky" search engine button?
Jay, this is both hilarious and thoughtful. You need to work this up into a whole essay!
DeleteYes it would be great to pick our own dreams, but the nightmares would be very lonely!
DeleteI'm big on the finding new rooms dream. The rooms are wonderful and I always wonder why I never discovered them before. I recently dreamed an entire short story. It was for an anthology that I had decided not to submit to because the time was too short. The dream was like taking dictation. It was a fair departure from my normal writing, fit the theme, and I'm waiting to see if it's accepted. What a hoot - if it is, perhaps I've discovered a new plotting device.
ReplyDeleteI don't remember a lot of my dreams. They seem to disappear the second my feet hit the floor. Even the ones that wake me and I'm sure I'll remember. When I was in college, we read Freud's Interpretation of Dreams - our psy prof instructed us to meditate before we went to sleep, and have an open notebook and pen on the nightstand. The concept that eventually, you would semi-wake after each dream and scribble down the salient points. I tried it for the semester. Sure enough, I scribbled lots of stuff in that notebook--Never could read a word!
That was my experience the time I tried to "lucid dream" and write things down. The results were either 1) unreadable or 2) my husband yelled "Turn off the light!"
DeleteDoes anyone have dreams where you fly to get away from a dangerous situation?
ReplyDeleteI used to but not for a long time.
I used to fly all the time. Not just to escape but to move from place to place. Now I don’t dream that any more. Pity as I enjoyed it
DeleteOh, I loved my flying dreams, rare as they are. I always remember the rules of flying, and I clearly remember explaining them to someone in the dream.. You can’t carry anything for one thing. And you have to jump off of something, you can’t just jump up from the ground. It seems like it’s a Fabulous dream, and it’s fun in the midst of it, but I don’t think it’s supposed to be a positive dream. Does anybody know?
DeleteI’m amazed by how there are similar stress dreams for different people. I wonder what that means…hmmm.
ReplyDeleteAnd what were stress dreams like in previous eras? Did Victoria ladies dream they were arriving for a call with no gloves on?
Delete🎶 Happy Birthday to you 🎶
Delete
ReplyDeleteWhen I was an adolescent I was on a swim team. One night I dreamed the solution to winning more races. I woke up and found this note I'd written on the pad by my bed: "Swim faster."
Libby, this made me laugh out loud. You've cracked the code!
DeleteI read in an interview about Arthur Miller, that he had the same thing happened… He had a great idea in the night and wrote it down. In the morning he woke, and looked at the note. It said “write play. “
DeleteAnd apparently, Billy Wilder tells the same story. He had a great idea for a movie, and when he woke up eager to see what he had written, he had written “boy meets girl.”
I frequently have had dreams of walking barefooted on a regular street, but a rough surface which is very uncomfortable and I don’t know why I am not wearing shoes. Also, riding in various types of transportation in a train or even a plane in the middle of a city street.
ReplyDeleteOnce, I was in a car on a major street and there was an enormous squirrel (about three ft tall) hanging on to the back of the car, never figured that one out.
In another dream, I was at a beach writing a poem in the sand and as I was writing it waves were coming in and washing it away. I still remember some of the words which were suggesting a direction I should follow, unfortunately, I never figured out the part that had already disappeared.
I’ve also had dreams in which something that I’m trying to figure out how to deal with is answered in the context of the dreams. When I’ve awakened, I have actually followed through with the dream solution to resolve the situation.
The head of an organization I worked for was retiring and there was a party for her. She was a rather intimidating and formal person and not given to social interaction.
In the dream I went over to her and thanked her for all she had done for the organization and listed specific positive things in which she had made a difference.
In real time I did speak to her and did tell her what I had told her in the dream.
And did it work, Anon?
Deletethat's great when dreams help with a real life problem. I definitely want to see the 3 foot squirrel!
DeleteOur church was doing "Messiah" in front of a very large audience. The soprano was ill, and I was to step in for her (I'm an alto). I didn't know any of her solos, and the orchestra was leading into the first one. The conductor said, "Never mind--just read the music," and handed me the huge score. It was the Sears catalog, and it was opened to men's underwear. I've never wanted to analyze that one. Lenita
ReplyDeleteLenita, that's both horrifying and hysterical!!
DeleteI don’t have a recurring dream, but my best friends when I was in 5th/6th grade were identical twins. They told me they sometimes had the exact same dream! It had happened more than once!
ReplyDeleteFascinating!
DeleteGlad you are safe from the pregnancy dream Kathy, that would be a record for sure!
ReplyDeleteI had a dream recently in which I discovered that my friend was pregnant and I was so sad and so very jealous -- and trying to hide it. It was a relief to wake up and realize the dream was not true. It then took me a moment to remember that my friend is two years older (i.e., 67) and that neither of us is likely to get pregnant any time soon! (Selden)
ReplyDelete