Dreaming

‘You’re away with the fairies.’

This surprised me, as I believed I was an ordinary person. Perhaps when I was young I was a bit of a sylph and a little unworldly at times but I thought I’d grown up and left that behind. Continuing to think, I realized not everyone dreams. Maybe she was right.

 

Dreams are a very big part of my life. So far, flying dreams have been hard work. Flapping my arms is exhausting. It would be wonderful to fly effortlessly. Just to float, relax and enjoy the sensation without strain.

 

Today’s prompt, ‘float’, is what I’ll do in preparation for sleep and may be it will happen.

<a href=”https://dailypost.wordpress.com/prompts/float/”>Float</a>

Best Dream:

This is probably a repeat, but I couldn’t find it in my less than tidy file system.

The best dream I remember is one I had at a time of enormous discord in my life. I was lucky enough to have a Jungian psychologist helping me sort out my life, which meant I was having about six dreams a night, interpreted.

Finding myself in a walled city, I woke and bathed in an open- air bath. Above, on the hill, we were observed by three golden yellow watchers, angelic beings holding umbrellas. Gathering my baby, a basket of food and blanket, we went to the large door in the city wall. With a huge key, we opened the door and left, walking down the hill to a boat. We stepped onto the boat and were taken on a railway like journey, as if our future was mapped out for us. We felt safe and optimistic.

Following this dream I was on a high for three weeks.

Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) Daily Post by Krista

‘What is the best dream you’ve ever had? Recount it for us in all its ethereal glory….’

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/sweet-dreams-are-made-of-this/

 

 

Dreaming:

Describe the last nightmare you remember having. What do you think it meant?

As a child I had a recurring nightmare of myself in a burning car. I was terrified, and would run and stand in the cold by my mother sleeping. She’d usually awaken in fright finding someone standing beside the bed, and then return me to bed. She’d ask why I hadn’t woken her, but I didn’t want to do that. Just standing next to someone made it better.

As to the meaning, I really haven’t worked that out. Perhaps it was fear of driving in the car, which was new to me.

When I grew up, being chased was a terrifying dream until I read a book about dreaming. In that, it told me that I had control of my dreams. If you are being chased, turn around and face your pursuer and you find they are no longer chasing you. You can smile and they are no longer terrifying. They usually slope away. So, I no longer have such dreams.

As to why I’d have had such dreams? Probably it was being scared of boogeymen, or just  the unknown.

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/nightmares/

To dream or not to dream, that is the question.

The daily prompt today brought to mind some dreams I had in my twenties. Flying. Have any of you flown in dreams? I’d love to hear from you, if you have. For me it was such a wonderful feeling! It did take some energy and concentration to get into the air, but once there, the feeling of exhilaration and excitement remains with me.

The Jungian psychiatrist I spoke to about these dreams, from my rather inadequate memory, told me they were symbolic of taking charge of my life and that flying has a very positive meaning.

My dream life is such an important part of my life. Fortunately Christopher remembers his dreams too, so we’re able to discuss our dreams at breakfast. Sometimes they are so delicate they become ephemeral, and can be lost in the blink of an eye. Writing down a sentence from a dream can help retain the memory and bring back the full dream. Without dreams, life would become very mundane.

I’d love to add a Chagall painting, but due to copyright, I shall resist the temptation.

To Sleep, Perchance to Dream. By Michelle W.                                                                                 Sleep is one-third of our lives: write a post about it. Do you love naps?                                                  Have trouble falling asleep? Wish you could remember your dreams? Remember something vivid? Snuggle under a blanket, or throw the windows wide open? Meditate on sleep.            (Thanks for the suggestion thunderwhenitrains!)

https://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/sleep/

Silence:

 

Gang Gang Cockatoo
photo: Max Thompson

I work best in silence. My dream life responds to an undisturbed sleep, especially on waking. This is necessary for me to capture and remember; otherwise my thoughts get distracted and disappear. It doesn’t take much! My beloved loves news and listens to the BBC in the night with earphones that work a treat.

He tells me I snore. Well, he doesn’t like to believe it, but he does too. So if I can get to sleep first that is a bonus. Fortunately he doesn’t complain about this. I have found that if he’s snoring I try to imagine the ocean, with the waves representing his snores. This allows me to relax and gradually drift off. Dreams are an essential part of my psyche and allow my imagination free reign. This nocturnal excitement surpasses the passivity of day- time.

My family always said at breakfast, ‘Oh no, not again!’ So I’d get them to tell me theirs, and they loved to share their dreams. Fortunately this is a shared delight these days, discussing our very active dream lives.

Now the children have grown and departed my thoughts are my own. I do notice when the grandchildren come to stay, I treat it as a vacation and don’t attempt to write. I’m lucky enough to have a room where I can write. It is small and intimate with a window looking out to some greenery. My beloved is ensconced in the studio, so our cohabitation happens mostly at meal times and at night, which suits us both.

Music has been put on hold because of Millie, who is gradually adapting. She cries in her loudest voice when music offends her… Our previous pair of spaniels loved music. It must be the highly-strung nature of the poodle/spaniel cross, which brings intelligence but also sensitivities unknown to the placid nature of spaniels.

 

Writing space                                                                                                                                Where do you produce your best writing—at your desk, on your phone, at a noisy café? Tell us how the environment affects your creativity. Ben Huberman

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/writing-space/

 

Our library is our pride and joy: daily prompt

My most precious thing, that fills me with most joy, is my library.

In fact it is our library. Religiously we go to the Hastings Library on the Mornington Peninsula where the friendly staff welcome us. It’s a small library by city standards. Books can be ordered from the bigger libraries, and the books get recycled between four libraries.

When I am not blogging, yes, I do have another life. Gardening, cooking, ironing, allow me to listen to audio books. Chris listens to stories as he paints. We are then able to discuss which ones we think are successful and why the others don’t come up to scratch.

We have discovered many genres previously unexplored. If we don’t like them we just start another. Popular choices are often crime fiction, from the gentle Donna Leon stories set in Venice, to popular Patricia Cornwell and many in between. Books of course are a separate bedtime activity. We read till we can’t keep our eyes open and allow the soporific effect to take us to an exciting dream world that we both fully participate in.

Without books our world would be quite colourless. (sorry, we Australians still like to use ‘u’ in some of our words).

http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_prompt/pride-and-joy/