Dreams are one of the strangest elements of our lives, teleporting us to another world without our conscious awareness. While theories explain dreams as a manifestation of our unconscious desires or unresolved crises, none fully unravel the mystery they hold.
For instance, at times we have dreams that prove to be a prediction of future events coming in our lives; and there are no traces of them back to our unconscious level.
Regardless of the reasons behind dreams, I just know that I wish to have a sound sleep without any dreams. The wish stems from the fact that most of my dreams are distressing causing anxiety and unrest to me.
Frequently, I wake up with a racing heart and breathlessness because of a nightmare. Other times, I awaken feeling exhausted as if I had not taken any rest- my dreams replay moments of my present scenario and surroundings with a lack of control.
For instance, I may dream being late to wake up my children for school, or I am trying to complete grocery items for the meal I have to cook that day and in the meanwhile things are going chaotic. After such dreams, fatigue follows me for several hours.
Occasionally, while dreaming, I realize that the distressful situation I am experiencing is a dream. I put efforts to wake myself up. However, instead of waking up in reality I just wake up within the dream and still experience the helplessness. It is like having dreams within dreams, which is more tiresome to my mind and body.
Certain themes are recurrent in my dreams:
I often see myself trapped in an upper floor of a building. I want to escape it but there is no way to go downstairs. Either the stairs are broken between the floors or they are just bringing back to the same spot I am at. It creates a feeling of helplessness and anxiety.
Another similar kind of theme in my dreams is that I am being chased by some noxious guys. In an attempt to escape the situation I keep on running in the alleyways, but I cannot find any sanctuary. The alleyways, roads and houses that I see in those dreams are often belonging to my childhood-the places that I am aware of in reality.
***One recurrent theme of my dreams is riding a bike or driving a car on weird kind of routes from where a fall or losing the way is inevitable. ***
Sometimes there are broken bridges with a water stream underneath. At other times, I find myself choosing a wrong pathway out of the two available; and then there is no way to return back. At some other times, I see me riding on a perpendicularly straight hill; and within the dream I wonder how I may reach the top.
Another recurrent theme of my dreams is related to academics. I often find me searching for a way to attend lectures in the university for the subjects I couldn’t clear earlier. Due to home responsibilities and university being very far away there are hurdles for me to complete my graduation. I walk on strange streets and roads exploring the routes of transport. Moreover, I experience the worries about how I would manage the related aspects of my life.
This dream is distressing to the extent that hours after waking up I keep on asking myself if I have completed my graduation and acquired the certificate for it.
I don’t remember the last time I had a pleasant dream that made me wake up with a smile. Instead, whenever I have a dream I wake up with a feeling of unrest. That’s why I long for having a dreamless sleep. How about you? Do you have a recurrent theme in your dreams that is distressful?
This post is my participation for 36th prompt of #memoirmonday initiative by @ericvancewalton
Image is taken by me using my mobile camera
