Dreams

Everyone dreams and, I'm sure, everyone has dreams on a repeating theme.  I'm also sure they could tell a lot about a person if one knew how to translate one's sub-conscious into conscious thought.

I dream every night and very few of them are what I would term as 'pleasant'.  They all tend to fall into a few recurring themes.  One is high places with sheer drops.  I never intend to go to these high places but between one second and another I move from a secure area to being on the verge of a precipice. 

Another is snakes.  I think this is a pretty common theme.  All of  a sudden everywhere I turn will be snakes.  The snakes do nothing to harm me but I am very frightened of them all the same.

Another is smoking cigarettes.  I've not smoked in over twelve years now but I have regular dreams of sneaking out for a cigarette or being about out of cigarettes and desperately searching for some. 

Another one, and probably the most logical of them all, is searching for a bathroom and every one I go to is clogged up or there are women inside the men's bathroom.  Many things which make me unable to "go".  I suppose that is why when I wake up after one of these dreams I need to "go".

But, it gets me to thinking of our dreams in a general way and what they may mean.  I've heard dreams are caused by our sub-conscious mind solving the dilemmas of our day the conscious mind has not dealt with.  I'm not sure what dilemmas I have that are not resolved so often as these dreams happen every night.

Last night, for instance, I was with my youngest and some person I did not know and we were looking for something.  All of a sudden we were at a high, sheer drop off.  The daughter and stranger were taking turns throwing rocks off the wall and I was getting way the heck back away from it.

Then I was headed for a little store and realizing I had two half empty packs of cigarettes I was putting them all together in one pack.  When we got to the store I went behind it and lit one up.  My daughter was watching me out a large window and came out the back door and was very angry with me for smoking and I was very angry with her for being angry with me.

Then I had left and was walking along a road which suddenly changed to the edge of a high cliff.   I saw a safe way past and was walking along when I was joined by a male and female whom I did not know.  As we continued along we came to an outdoor office.  There was a desk with a rolo-dex etc but no walls or room and all the things in it were ruined by the rain.

Another recurring theme in my dreams is deep water.  Not over my head deep but like chest deep.  Mostly this occurs up on Nat's Creek from my grandparents and where I was born.  Mostly up the July Ratliff fork just below their house.  I'm walking or driving down the creek and the water is about chest deep but does not stop me.

These dreams are all odd but I rarely ever have the kind of nightmare dreams I had at one time.  You know, those dreams that make you get out of bed and turn on every light in the place and sit and watch late night TV or something until you're sure you won't fall asleep and go back to dreaming those.  I had those almost every night for some years.  Some of them I can still remember as vividly as if they had just happened though they have been over fifteen years gone now.

I wonder if dreams really do have some meaning or if they are just random images our minds throw out.  If they do have meaning I'd dearly love to know what mine mean.  But, mostly, I'd dearly love for them to just go away.