Dreaming Dreams
Kate over at DatingGod had an entry the other day which mentioned a dream she had about a tidal wave . Very apparently this came from a feeling of life being this overwhelming force that is coming crashing down on her and threatens to drown her. I hope she has better dreams coming, but I did think it was interesting that people in her comments spoke about also having tidal wave dreams. Until I had read hers, I had never even heard of a tidal wave dream.
What I have had was the more common, ever present Actors Nightmare. Where you're to go out on the stage in front of an audience and everyone else knows what's going on but you. My wife and I have had several variations on that one---the actor's nightmare, the director's nightmare, the tech director's/set and or lighting designer's nightmare, the writer's nightmare, even the make up and costumer's nightmare. All have the same component, you are responsible and expected and depended on for some crucial role in a collaborative affair (the play) and you have no idea what you are doing. So you wing it to the best of your ability, usually with disastrous results.
The cousin of the actor's nightmare then would seem to be the unprepared student nightmare---where you show up for class on exam day not having attended a single class all semester, or something of that nature. I haven't taught in over a year, but recently I had an unprepared teacher's nightmare. I showed up to school thinking I was there on the last week of summer break getting ready to start my lesson plan, only to learn from another teacher that met me in the hall that I was in fact there on the last week of the semester and my class was waiting in my room for the final exam that I had not even begun to prepare. When I finally worked up the nerve to go in, the class was not over joyed to hear there would be no final (which would probably have been the actual case in real life), but they were furious and got up in a kind of revolt, telling me that I was a sham and didn't know what I was doing and that they had paid good money to get an education and I had ripped them off!
I have also recently had a dream on the other end of the spectrum. These are dreams that I have fairly frequently, probably my only other reoccurring dream. In these dreams I re-visit some place that I am far away from but have had very good experience at in the past in my life. Places like college, or Virginia Beach or Australia. In these dreams I go back to those places all these years later, sometimes in a vacation and sometimes as a move, and it's everything you could hope for. It's exquisite. The people are wonderful and glad to see you, moving through the places feels magical, and even the colors seem so rich and vivid.
Oddly, the trouble is that it's so wonderful that when you wake, you feel like you've been yanked away prematurely. Like a gift that was given has been stolen back by the giver. And it usually means a rotten, out of sorts feeling to start the day.
Honestly, as strange as it sounds, I'd almost rather have the nightmares. If I had to choose. As long as they're not too horrifyingly graphic, the feeling of relief when you wake and realize it was just a dream is fairly cleansing. And kind of preferable.
What I have had was the more common, ever present Actors Nightmare. Where you're to go out on the stage in front of an audience and everyone else knows what's going on but you. My wife and I have had several variations on that one---the actor's nightmare, the director's nightmare, the tech director's/set and or lighting designer's nightmare, the writer's nightmare, even the make up and costumer's nightmare. All have the same component, you are responsible and expected and depended on for some crucial role in a collaborative affair (the play) and you have no idea what you are doing. So you wing it to the best of your ability, usually with disastrous results.
The cousin of the actor's nightmare then would seem to be the unprepared student nightmare---where you show up for class on exam day not having attended a single class all semester, or something of that nature. I haven't taught in over a year, but recently I had an unprepared teacher's nightmare. I showed up to school thinking I was there on the last week of summer break getting ready to start my lesson plan, only to learn from another teacher that met me in the hall that I was in fact there on the last week of the semester and my class was waiting in my room for the final exam that I had not even begun to prepare. When I finally worked up the nerve to go in, the class was not over joyed to hear there would be no final (which would probably have been the actual case in real life), but they were furious and got up in a kind of revolt, telling me that I was a sham and didn't know what I was doing and that they had paid good money to get an education and I had ripped them off!
I have also recently had a dream on the other end of the spectrum. These are dreams that I have fairly frequently, probably my only other reoccurring dream. In these dreams I re-visit some place that I am far away from but have had very good experience at in the past in my life. Places like college, or Virginia Beach or Australia. In these dreams I go back to those places all these years later, sometimes in a vacation and sometimes as a move, and it's everything you could hope for. It's exquisite. The people are wonderful and glad to see you, moving through the places feels magical, and even the colors seem so rich and vivid.
Oddly, the trouble is that it's so wonderful that when you wake, you feel like you've been yanked away prematurely. Like a gift that was given has been stolen back by the giver. And it usually means a rotten, out of sorts feeling to start the day.
Honestly, as strange as it sounds, I'd almost rather have the nightmares. If I had to choose. As long as they're not too horrifyingly graphic, the feeling of relief when you wake and realize it was just a dream is fairly cleansing. And kind of preferable.
posted by Will at 8:15 PM
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