Sunday, November 15, 2009

Good Morning, Sunshine

One of my favorite memories from my childhood is waking up in the morning. I've never been a morning person (at all!), so my mom would wake me up every morning (she's a saint). My door would open one of three ways:

1) I would hear Rocky pawing at my door knob, and my mom would let him and close the door.
2) My mom would open the door, and Izzie would come running in and leap onto my bed.
3) My mom would let me sleep in (on the weekends only, of course), and I wouldn't open my door until I woke up, which was usually after 11:00 AM.

Rocky would jump onto my bed and knead around until he found a comfy spot to take a nap, which usually was right in front of me (a little spoon!). His second favorite spot was behind me, which I never understood, but he seemed to enjoy it. Ever since we got Rocky, he has purred *constantly* and very loudly. I would fall back asleep listening to his purring. When Izzie would come into my room, she went straight for my face to give me kisses. If I was more awake than usual, I would let her sit on top of my hip (I sleep on my side) and look into the mirror or out of my three windows (I think I had the best view in the house). If I was still really sleepy, Izzie would curl up and lay behind my legs, which generally took up most of the bed. Her second favorite spot was at the foot of the bed. My favorite was the first spot, which kept me warm and made we fall right back asleep.

Ever since I was a little girl, my mom would come into my room to talk about our dreams. When she was growing up, she would go into her parents' room and talk about her dreams with her mom. Since I wasn't prone to getting myself out of bed, my mom had to come into my room, too. She would either sit on my bed (see the illustration below) or sit on the floor (which she did for the most part, as my bed started to become a zoo with all of the pets).

Maybe this will help to show everyone's spots

My mom, brother, and I all dream very vividly. Most people say they don't remember their dreams, but I think it is a simple discipline. All you have to do is talk about them every morning as soon as you wake up. I miss being able to do that now that I live on my own. My mom and I still trade dreams when we talk on the phone several times a week. Not that I want to have children anytime soon, I look forward to doing the same with them.

Although I am no expert in the meaning of dreams (I mean, who is?), I think it is so interesting about what appears in your dreams. How does something get into your dreams? Is your brain sorting out thoughts? Sometimes my dreams have to deal with whatever happened to me that day, but at other times, there is absolutely no relevance to what is going on in my life. For example, last night I dreamt about being a camper at a camp based out of a farm. The camp was a combination of sports and theater (I think, not really sure). We were supposed to meet every morning in a large barn, but I sneaked off to work on a project that was going to be entered in a competition later that day. A camp counselor found me, and instead of getting upset, in a British voice, asked me if I wanted to buy a watch from his girlfriend for $1.50. (Please don't think I am crazy! Besides, this is quite mild for one of my dreams.)

Like most people, there is a general theme to many of my dreams. I am frequently being chased or trying desperately to finish something before a deadline. From The Meaning of Dreams, here is an interpretation of what being chased implies:

"Folklore interpretations say that if you are looking at a chase or participating in it, you will have a comfortable old age. Although this may be comforting, there is a more realistic understanding of this activity in a dream. If you are being chased, maybe you are running away from or trying to escape those things that are frightening and unpleasant (possibly your own habits and negative behaviours). If you are doing the chasing, it may be that you are expressing some aggressive feelings toward others or are pursuing a very difficult goal. On the deepest level, if a stranger is chasing you it may represent your chasing a part of yourself, the unconscious attempts to catch up with the conscious in order for you to become more aware of yourself and your own multidimensional nature."

Yes, I am aware that the website probably isn't the end-all, be-all of dream interpretation but at least it's something. While they are not frequent, my favorite dreams are when I see family members and friends that have passed away. They are always very comforting, never scary, and I feel very relaxed when I wake up. Here is the website's interpretation of seeing deceased relatives:

"At times we dream about deceased relatives or friends simply because we miss them. These dreams may be disturbing but most likely are a form of wish fulfilment or are based on memory through which we relive old experiences. Some people believe that in dreams they meet up with the deceased on the inner planes and engage in "real" interactions with them. It is normal to miss and long for the people that we loved and that have left the physical body. Therefore, it is not surprising that they will pop up in your dreams from time to time."

Do you remember your dreams? What do dream about most often? If you have trouble remembering your dreams, talk about them with someone as soon as you wake up. It may or may not help you figure out what your dreams mean, but it does create lots of memories.

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