What Dreams are Made Of

One way that Scotty and I are very different is in the way we dream. I'm a very vivid dreamer - I have dreams every time I sleep. My mind bounces from subject to subject, sometimes convincing me that I’m a closet genius while other times making me believe I’m utterly insane. Scotty rarely dreams, so when he does have a dream, he's usually a little weirded out by it. 

Just last night I dreamed that I had to kill a batch of Ramen that was coming alive, so I was grabbing handfuls of noodles and shoving them in the garbage disposal to grind them up. And then, just to ensure their demise, I poured bleach into the disposal and let it run for hours. Then I ran out of bleach so I went to Walmart, and I was wearing a really long sweater that dragged on the ground, but it made me look really skinny, so I kept checking out my reflection in the store windows. Then I realized I’d accidentally driven two cars to the store, so I wandered around trying to find someone I knew to see if they could drive one of my cars home. I ran into Jill from my ward, who is a school teacher, and she asked me to participate in a walk out with all the teachers on Sunday at 9:00. I didn't want to join because I didn't know the cause. Then suddenly I was in singing time at church, and I had a new Apple watch, but I had no idea how to use it, and it kept making noise, and every kid in primary was claiming to be an Apple watch expert, so we wasted the entire singing time fiddling with my watch, and none of the kids actually knew a dang thing. Then the Ward Critics went and told the bishop that they didn't approve of me letting the kids use my Apple watch during singing time, so he called me in and told me that if I let the kids use my Apple watch in primary, I need to download a Ninja Turtle game on my watch for them to play.

And that, my friends, is a typical account of my night life. A lot goes on in this brain of mine while I sleep.

Since I dream all the time, I have a lot of recurring dreams:

1. My teeth are falling out

I always dream about losing my teeth. Sometimes they are loose, and I'm trying everything I can to keep them from coming out. Other times they break apart or crumble in my mouth.

2. I'm back in high school

I have pretty standard high school dreams. I can't remember my locker combination or my schedule. It's the end of the semester, and there's a class I've never been to. I'm on stage with the dance team, and I don't know the choreography. I know that I'm old, and I know that I've already graduated, so I can't figured out why I'm there!

3. I'm at my grandma's house

I dream about both my grandmas' houses all the time. Sometimes I own the house. Sometimes the dream just takes place there. My grandmas’ houses are very prominent settings for me - my dreams take place as often in their houses as they do in my own!

4. I can't get anything clean

I always dream that I'm trying to clean something, and I can't ever get it clean. I'm picking up toys, but no matter how many toys I pick up, the work never ends. Everything is getting messy all around me as I try frantically to get things under control. 

5. I'm dating

I start dating someone, and things are going really well, and I really like the person, but all of a sudden I remember that I'm married. In these dreams, I'm truly in love with Scotty, I just somehow forgot about him long enough to accidentally begin another relationship. Then I’m torn and don’t know what to do because I don’t want to lose Scotty, but I’m also really digging the excitement of my new relationship.

6. Scotty and I never got married

This dream I find very fascinating because in this one, Scotty and I never got married. We live together and have kids as we do now; we just never had a wedding - everyone assumes we did. And it's just a funny, little secret that we keep. Sometimes we decide to get married. Sometimes we decide to tell people, like our bishop, “Hey, we never actually got married!” 

7. Running and going nowhere

I have a lot of dreams where I'm trying to run, but I'm not going anywhere. My legs are completely fatigued to the point where I can barely move them, and after all my efforts, I just can't move forward. 

8. I have a new house

In this one, I have a new house, and it always has some great features - like a really big family room, or a terrific yard, or a spare bedroom! Then suddenly I remember that we never sold our old house, and I think of everything we need to do to get it ready to sell. I get completely overwhelmed and realize I can't have the new house because I can't sell the old house. 

9. My step-dad comes back

At least once or twice a month I dream that my mom's ex-husband comes back into our lives. He shows up at my house, or I go over to my mom's house, and he's living there. I tell her over and over that she can't let him come back. I refuse to talk to him or go near him, but I can't get him to go away. 

10. I can't find anywhere private to go to the bathroom

In this dream, I'm trying so hard to go to the bathroom, but anywhere I go, people walk in on me. None of the bathroom doors lock. Sometimes I'm trying to pee in weird places - like in the woods, in a garbage can, or down a drain. I always get caught. 

I'm not a huge believer in dream interpretation (for the most part I think dream analysis is just the barnum effect), but I definitely believe that our joys and our worries manifest themselves in our dreams. Scotty isn't much of a worrier, and he doesn't get stressed very often. So perhaps that contributes to his quiet mind at night. Or maybe he just has really screwy sleep cycles. He may not worry much in his conscious state, but he is always always tired. 

How about you? Are you a dreamer? Do you share any of my recurring dreams?