To sleep, perchance...

The earliest dream I can remember was somewhere around age 4 or 5. A faithful watcher of the Donny & Marie Show, I once dreamt I met Donny Osmond--in person! I couldn't believe he was standing right there in front of me, and as he reached out to shake my hand, in that instant--poof! I woke up. :( My disappointment could hardly be contained.

The phenomenon of dreaming fascinates me, and I have often recalled these night time adventures in great detail. I still have vivid memories of a "giant spider" who haunted me after I watched some scary Disney movie about a predatory octopus. Or the eerie incident where classrooms in my school were collapsing, one by one, into the hollow courtyard below. But the dreams weren't all bad.

There was the heart to heart I shared with Jim Carrey--and felt like I really knew him upon waking. Or the infants I held--with amazement--in my arms, somehow "knowing" they were mine, even during a time in my life when I was convinced I didn't want children. But one of my all time favorites happened when I was a high schooler, just before waking one morning.

I'm walking down the hallway of my school, between classes, nothing special. Suddenly, and for no particular reason, I begin singing the opening lines to Barry Manilow's "Daybreak." Now, even though I was a bit of a Manilow geek, even I was surprised that I seemed to have no trouble whatsoever recalling every word. As the song progressed, other students joined in, also knowing all the words. The event culminated in a highly choreographed, almost "flash mob-esque" finale, set against the double staircase on the second floor--all executed perfectly. And then, when the last notes were over, everyone simply continued on to their next class, books in hand, as though nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

My first thought upon waking was, "That was weird. But kind of cool." As I lay in bed, delaying the inevitable morning routine, my clock radio announced, "Before that we heard Barry Manilow's 'Daybreak'..." And then it all made sense to me. But somehow that made it even cooler--a dream with a soundtrack!

As for recurring dreams, I've only ever had two. In the first, I am searching frantically for a public restroom (this is in the early morning hours, so not too much of a mystery, I suppose...), but always find it too be just a little too public -- as in, rows of toilets with no dividers, or an open-air design, facing a busy freeway. The dilemma is always, how badly do I really need to go?!

The second recurring dream is much more satisfying--I am flying, on my own power. At first, it's usually a bit of a slow start, as I question how this is gravitationally possible. But I always end up just going with it, somehow propelling myself upward, over trees, neighborhoods, cities. And the feeling is pure exhilaration, and a sense of "I knew I could do this."

I have read a little about dream interpretation. But my own "school" goes something like this: generally speaking, a dream is rarely an omen, nor a deep symbolic mystery to be unraveled. Rather, the predominant sensation or emotion one experiences in the dream is simply a reflection of what's already going on in waking life. This applies nearly every time I try it on. Even if the actual circumstances in the dream look nothing like "real" life, chances are the feelings do.

Still, analyzing a dream almost seems irrelevant--just as a former roommate of mine used to muse that naming and identifying stars and galaxies took the wonder and mystery out of night sky gazing. Perhaps. Better to let the dream world be what it is--a temporary escape from the "logical" day to day world where one hour follows the next, somewhat predictably, and the laws of physics--for the most part--apply.

After all, where else can you meet your favorite celebrities, defy gravity, and star in your own music video--all in one night?!

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nocturnal dramas...

you may say I'm a dreamer

and you would be right