Dreams and memories
Artist: Ralph I Steeds
Have you ever had a memory surface, and for the briefest of moments you could swear it was a real memory, or snippet from some book or movie you’d just enjoyed? Once the moment is over, though, you realize the memory was actually from a dream. This happens to me all the time. Sometimes, my dreams are about people at work and everyday sort of things. When they are that ordinary it takes a little time to realize that the events I so clearly remember never actually happened, I had only dreamed it. The memories/dreams that bother me the most are those where I’ve had a fight with my husband but only in my dream. I wake up very angry with him, and there’s nothing I can do about it. After all, in the real world he had done nothing wrong.
Most of my dreams tend toward the fantastical, though. These are the dream memories I think are a part of a book or movie. I tend to come to the realization that it was only a dream with a slight sense of loss. The fact that it was only a usually means I will never be able to revisit that world or find out what happens. Of course, if I had the luxury of sitting down and writing out my dreams the moment I wake up, I could maybe learn more about the world my subconscious has created.
For a long time now, I’ve been hoping to have another one of those dreams that would be interesting enough to perform a writing experiment. I’ve tried to write up my dreams before in order to develop a story (for snippets you need only look through this blog’s previous posts) but I have a terrible time translating them to paper. This is usually because I’ve left too long before I put pen to paper, but mostly because I try to force the dream to follow a linear narrative. I want to try and write up my next dream the way I remember it with the twists and turns and changes in identity that is so common in dreams.
I’m curious if anyone else has had this or a similar experience. I’d love to hear from you to reassure myself I’m not alone in this!
