The Dream Analyst

[CMH]

Re: The Dream Analyst

This thread is a very interesting read. I hope it winds up being one of the "long-termers".

So, here's my contribution. I know you said older dreams are harder, but, this one is one that I've had recurring for years, the most recent time probably about 4 months ago or so.

It's usually extremely similar each time. I always wake up in a room, sometimes my bedroom (and it's the bedroom of whatever place I'm living at the time, so it's been in different apartments over the years, now it's in my current house's bedroom), sometimes my bedroom from my childhood home. Anyway, in the dream, something wakes me up, and I feel like there's a ghost in the room. I can't see it or anything, but I can feel like there's something there. In the dream, I then proceed to almost, for lack of a better word, taunt the ghost. I'll start off talking quietly, saying things like "If you're here, then turn on the tv". And then the tv comes on. So my voice gets a little louder, and I'll say "Fine, if you're really here, close the door", and then the door closes. This goes on for a few more times, and then the last time I'm screaming as loud as I can for the ghost to do whatever. At that point, I try to scream again, but this time, I feel like there's a ton of weight on my chest. I'm trying to scream, but I can't. I'm trying to sit up, but I can't… And then this is when I usually wake up in real life.

Honestly, it's terrifying. I often wake up with the sweats, incredibly relieved that it was just a dream. But (and as juvenile as it sounds), I usually will turn over and just grab on to my wife as tight as I can. And she knows now, and she'll say "You had another ghost dream, didn't you." I've wondered many times over the years what it could mean, and have tried googling a lot as well, looking for any type of interpretation that would make sense.

Thanks for starting this thread up – I haven't shared that dream / story with very many people at all.

Wow. I have a question before I start looking deeper into a few things you mentioned in this dream: when did you first start having this dream?


Sent from my mobile device.

[CMH]

Re: The Dream Analyst

Thanks. Not really close as there was over 10 years of age difference and a couple states b/t us. I really felt bad for his mother though, as we've visited more than a few times. I also regret not be able to make the funeral.


I need funerals for closure. Otherwise, I expect that person could just call me up one day, as if we haven't seen or spoke with each other for a while.

It does seem to me that this is exactly the source of this dream.

Lots of things you wished (being at the funeral, being closer to the cousin, knowing the cousin better) and you're experiencing those thoughts when you're asleep.


Sent from my mobile device.

[tribefanisu2003]

Re: The Dream Analyst

Wow. I have a question before I start looking deeper into a few things you mentioned in this dream: when did you first start having this dream?


Sent from my mobile device.

Hmm, that's a good question. It's been going on for many years. I would guess it probably started when I was around 14 or 15 years old maybe? So it's been about 18 or 19 years now.

I don't have the dream incredibly frequently, and never really have. I'd venture to guess that I probably have it 2, maybe 3 times a year or so. But man, it's a hard hitter when it does come along.

[Cutter15]

Re: The Dream Analyst

Some of the main dreams I remember are those in which I'm in some kind of altercation where I either; a) need to fight/defend myself and am unable to land a single punch, or b) have to run away from something but I can't figure out how to properly work my legs so I'm left with a slow-motion stumble while the aggressor gets closer before I wake up. Weird.

[CMH]

Re: The Dream Analyst

Hmm, that's a good question. It's been going on for many years. I would guess it probably started when I was around 14 or 15 years old maybe? So it's been about 18 or 19 years now.

I don't have the dream incredibly frequently, and never really have. I'd venture to guess that I probably have it 2, maybe 3 times a year or so. But man, it's a hard hitter when it does come along.

This is a really tough one, but I'm going to take a shot at it. Like you repeated, recurring dreams are tough because it's really difficult to know what someone could have been going through at 14-years-of-age and to then both identify with that feeling and connect it to a situation years later.

I don't expect you to provide any answers from your personal life to what I'm going to ask or say, but I do think it's a good opportunity for you to sit down and think it over.

Ghosts are supernatural beings, mostly it's an unknown, and whether anyone believes in them or not, it's more likely a lot of us are unsure how to respond to the question: "Do you believe in ghosts?" What I mean is, you (not you, but anyone in general) could have had an experience that might feel like a ghost story, but a part of you will always wonder if you were simply hallucinating or dreaming or confused. It's hard for anyone to really say, "that definitely happened, I am 100% positive of it." There's always some doubt.

Knowing that, the ghost in your dream could be an extension of doubt. You are constantly asking this ghost or doubt to prove its existence because you are not convinced it can be real. However, in time through your dream, you begin to realize this doubt is real and the pressure (either the ghost's doing or hyperventilation from fear) on your chest is the realization that there is a truth you do not know how to confront or handle.

Seeing that this has lived with you since a young age, it's not easy for me (you know, not being a trained psychologist or anything) to tell you you might be holding back a deep secret or fear of something you witnessed. I don't want to provide that type of input because I'm in no position to do so and I wouldn't know the first thing how you should do to combat that if you suddenly did open up that vault.

All I'm willing to suggest is you think over what I said and see if there's any truth to the possibility. Maybe you already know what could be troubling you; maybe you sense there was always something there. But, if you do find that, please don't talk to me or anyone else here about it because I don't think either of us is qualified (unless someone here is) to walk you through that.

I want to be careful with that. I think your dream is interesting and to me it seems like it holds a lot of weight. Helping you become aware of that is all I can hope to offer.

[tribefanisu2003]

Re: The Dream Analyst

This is a really tough one, but I'm going to take a shot at it. Like you repeated, recurring dreams are tough because it's really difficult to know what someone could have been going through at 14-years-of-age and to then both identify with that feeling and connect it to a situation years later.

I don't expect you to provide any answers from your personal life to what I'm going to ask or say, but I do think it's a good opportunity for you to sit down and think it over.

Ghosts are supernatural beings, mostly it's an unknown, and whether anyone believes in them or not, it's more likely a lot of us are unsure how to respond to the question: "Do you believe in ghosts?" What I mean is, you (not you, but anyone in general) could have had an experience that might feel like a ghost story, but a part of you will always wonder if you were simply hallucinating or dreaming or confused. It's hard for anyone to really say, "that definitely happened, I am 100% positive of it." There's always some doubt.

Knowing that, the ghost in your dream could be an extension of doubt. You are constantly asking this ghost or doubt to prove its existence because you are not convinced it can be real. However, in time through your dream, you begin to realize this doubt is real and the pressure (either the ghost's doing or hyperventilation from fear) on your chest is the realization that there is a truth you do not know how to confront or handle.

Seeing that this has lived with you since a young age, it's not easy for me (you know, not being a trained psychologist or anything) to tell you you might be holding back a deep secret or fear of something you witnessed. I don't want to provide that type of input because I'm in no position to do so and I wouldn't know the first thing how you should do to combat that if you suddenly did open up that vault.

All I'm willing to suggest is you think over what I said and see if there's any truth to the possibility. Maybe you already know what could be troubling you; maybe you sense there was always something there. But, if you do find that, please don't talk to me or anyone else here about it because I don't think either of us is qualified (unless someone here is) to walk you through that.

I want to be careful with that. I think your dream is interesting and to me it seems like it holds a lot of weight. Helping you become aware of that is all I can hope to offer.

I certainly appreciate the input. Generally speaking I'm a very happy person, easy-going, generally pretty care free, so nothing jumps out at me off hand that would be a large doubt, or anything along those lines as you suggest, but it's certainly worth, as you stated, giving it some thought.

I've always kind of attributed it to the fact that, while I always tell myself (as many people do, I believe) that "there's no such thing as ghosts", that perhaps there is a part of me that subconsciously believes that they do exist, and the dream is representative of that conscious (no such thing) vs. subconscious (yes there is!) struggle. But, that's just me trying to rationalize it more than anything – obviously I have no sort of psychology background or anything like that either.

Thanks again for taking the time in this thread, though, and to put thought into these dreams everyone is discussing. It really is interesting stuff!

[slickdtc]

Re: The Dream Analyst

Some of the main dreams I remember are those in which I'm in some kind of altercation where I either; a) need to fight/defend myself and am unable to land a single punch, or b) have to run away from something but I can't figure out how to properly work my legs so I'm left with a slow-motion stumble while the aggressor gets closer before I wake up. Weird.

I often have dreams where I'm driving on something like a highway, but I'm usually in some random vehicle that isn't a car but more a go-kart or something. Sometimes not even that, it can be any random object that makes no sense. Definitely something that doesn't belong on that type of road with other normal cars.

I definitely have an anxiety about driving/being driven. I hate going to places I've never been to (though once I've done it its fine) because of the unfamiliarity with the drive, I always look up front on drives when I'm the passenger like I need to see as if I'm driving, and I get super nervous about driving a car I haven't before. For example, my friend needed me to drive him to work but he couldn't himself (can't drive in that state). I almost declined and looked like an *** because I was nervous about driving his newer, nicer car.

It's stupid. But those anxieties/fears are probably why those types of dreams occur more often then others.

[ASB37]

Re: The Dream Analyst

CMH, since you said before it was harder to analyze older dreams and the one I posed earlier in the thread was one of those, I thought I'd share one I recently had to see if I could grab your input.

So by way of backstory, during my undergrad I interned for a councilman in one of the bigger cities here in NJ. He recently became mayor and I haven't really spoken to him or anyway associated with him since my summer internship which was around 3-4 years ago. Last night I had a dream that I was attending some type of gala or event and he met he there and was talking to me and then he led me inside. I can't really remember what else happened or the content of our convo just remember it feeling like we were old friends or work associates who were catching up. I thought it was strange since we barely had any interactions during my internship.

Thoughts?

[Sinner]

Re: The Dream Analyst

I have one and I've always wondered what it meant if anything, I was dreaming I was laying in bed then all of a sudden my eyes started bugging me. At work I get little things in my eyes and just in general mostly wild eye lashes so in the dream this wasn't anything weird.

I walked to the bathroom fully expecting a wild eye lash but when I looked in the mirror my eyes were a very dark red...almost black. I was obviously surprised and even went as far as to touch them.

When I did that I noticed my eyes were hard but then what was covering my eyes started running down my face a very bright red like blood. At that point I woke up. Actually in saying that my eyes were almost like scabs turning back into blood.

Also one that would probably be more simple just the other night I was dreaming of a girl I used to date back in 1998....came out of no where. Haven't thought of her at all since, we broke up on good terms because she had to move away.


Just read over this thread and have to agree that there is some very interesting things in here. Thanks CMH for making this thread. Dreams along with supernatural...ghost/hauntings always have peaked my interest

[cavsfan2]

Re: The Dream Analyst

I had a dream the other night that I was at the academic planning day for college for my freshman year of college (which is actually coming up in a few weeks). Basically it's where you take a placement exam and meet with guidance counselors to decide what level you will be in each course.

Anyway I get into this thing and for whatever reason these people are speaking some foreign language which I'm pretty sure was Japanese. Theyre asking me question after question and obviously I can't respond because I don't know what they're saying. After a while they all start looking at each other and start shaking their heads. Eventually they tell me that there's been a mistake and tell me to leave.

I'm pretty sure this means one of two things: 1) I have a self confidence problem in thinking I won't be smart enough and 2) this is pretty much a product of my doubts about the major I've chosen (business) and if it's something that I actually want to do.

[BurghFan]

Re: The Dream Analyst

I had a dream last night that was a recurring theme of dream that I have from time to time. In these dreams I have a large cut on one of my hands or fingers like I somehow ripped a chunk of skin out. I never know how it happened as the wound is just there, but it doesn't bleed though sometimes there is a loose flap of skin on one of its edges or it seems like the upper layer of skin has completely separated from the deeper layers all around the wound.

Another recurring dream that I had the other night. I have tickets to a Pirates game that I've had for a long time (sometimes a whole year) but on the day of the game I'm either trying to find the tickets, trying to find someone to go with, or trying to figure out how I'm going to get to the game.

[CMH]

Re: The Dream Analyst

CMH, since you said before it was harder to analyze older dreams and the one I posed earlier in the thread was one of those, I thought I'd share one I recently had to see if I could grab your input.

So by way of backstory, during my undergrad I interned for a councilman in one of the bigger cities here in NJ. He recently became mayor and I haven't really spoken to him or anyway associated with him since my summer internship which was around 3-4 years ago. Last night I had a dream that I was attending some type of gala or event and he met he there and was talking to me and then he led me inside. I can't really remember what else happened or the content of our convo just remember it feeling like we were old friends or work associates who were catching up. I thought it was strange since we barely had any interactions during my internship.

Thoughts?

I think if he was recently elected mayor then that election was on your mind. Don't really think there's much more to it. I don't even think this is the type of thing where you wish you had interacted with him more.

But it's a dream where you do the kind of thing you wouldn't have had the opportunity to do in real life. Your dream self took advantage of it. Hopefully you get the chance to run into him in the future and you take your dream's advice.

[Heroesandvillains]

Re: The Dream Analyst

This is an excellent thread, CMH.

Your responses are also impressive as they're incredibly well thought out and at the same time respectful.

Thanks for doing this.

[CMH]

Re: The Dream Analyst

This is an excellent thread, CMH.

Your responses are also impressive as they're incredibly well thought out and at the same time respectful.

Thanks for doing this.

Thanks. I'm trying. I don't think I know the answers but I think it's important to have someone offer insight that might help you understand your dream. Glad people are taking the time to share.

I know I'm behind on a few. I am getting to them.


Sent from my mobile device.

[UK0wnag3]

Re: The Dream Analyst

One dream I'll always remember was when I was younger (probably four or five years old) and it involved going round my grandparents house for Sunday lunch, something I didn't really like doing. My mother sat down and started to read a newspaper, before reading aloud a headline that a giraffe had escaped from the local zoo, and was still on the loose. It then cut to me lying in bed trying to sleep. I looked towards the curtains and I saw the shadow of a giraffe behind the curtains, like it was outside my window, and it started making weird noises (I have no idea what noise a giraffe makes).

That's pretty much it. I was weird as a kid, I guess.