Saturday, June 09, 2007

Last Night's Dreams

My dreams usually don't make sense. As I've become older, I occasionally have a dream that isn't weird, but that's not the norm.

Last night Scott and I watched the movie The Field (1991) starring Richard Harris, who gives a superb performance. We saw the movie before but forgot that it has some disturbing scenes. It's a good movie so I won't ruin it if you want to see it again or for the first time.

Because of the movie, I went to bed with strange images floating through my brain. I told myself to forget them and have a good night's sleep. Sometimes it works.

These were the dreams I recall from last night.

Dream #1 - My family and some unidentified people were in a large room and were expecting an earthquake at any moment. Emerson was strapped to me with a belt--in front so I could hold on to him. Scott and Spencer were several feet away and others were milling about. We all got down on the floor, for some reason, when the quake began. The floor shook and rolled and we could see buildings move outside a window. Furniture slid back and forth but it wasn't disastrous. There was a break for thirty seconds when everything stopped. Then the quake began again, but this time it was the real deal. The floor buckled and cracked into a few large pieces and seemed to be falling into the floor below. Emerson and I were thrown across the room. I could see a building falling over outside the window. Then the dream ended.

Dream #2 - It was pouring rain and I was driving in what seemed to be slow motion on a divided four-lane highway. Coming in the other direction at top speed was a fire engine with lights flashing and sirens blaring, but it was an extra long engine, like tractor trailers you see on the highway that are basically two trucks. I could clearly read Philadelphia Fire Department on the door. Behind the engine was another extra long fire truck. They were approaching a corner in the highway but I knew that they didn't know about it and weren't going to make the turn. As the fire engine entered the corner it hydroplaned and the back slid out. I watched the driver turn the wheel and try to regain control. The vehicle slid into a road and driveway of another fire station. The fire engine crashed and I saw the driver fall out of his door. The passenger was stuck inside. Then the dream was over and I woke up.

Now I ask you, what good comes from dreams like these? They don't help me with my life. I've long called them anxiety dreams. The last couple days were stressful with a problem we had with our live-in client, but not that stressful and the movie wasn't that disturbing. Not enough to warrant experiencing an earthquake with my family and watching fire trucks crash. Nobody died or was killed and sometimes that happens in my dreams, so it could have been worse.

Emerson will be gone at camp for three weeks this summer, perhaps that's why I wanted him connected to me. Hopefully tonight's dreams will be peaceful and shed insight on my life (ha!).

Do you have 'anxiety dreams'?

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