Bad Dreams

Dreams are strange things.  I generally tend to dream a lot, and they are quite vivid, full of images and colours and feelings I can often remember in the morning.  But I hadn’t dreamt for a while until last night, when I had what can only be described as a bad dream – a nightmare.

Should 29 year-olds have nightmares?

I mean, it was scary. Vivid. One of those dreams you don’t know is a dream until you wake up with your heart racing. It started off with one of my worst fears – being unorganised.  By the time I woke up it had included monsters – yep, actual monsters – like some Dr Who episode without the Dr coming to rescue me! 

I know I’ve got a really creative imagination, and I think and work in colours so when I have a proper dream it does tend to be very strong and evoke lots of feelings. But this was not nice.

According to http://www.thecuriousdreamer.com/, what I had was a Toxic Dream:

A Toxic Dream is usually a very realistic, upsetting dream that is most likely to occur when your body’s cleansing system is overloaded during sleep. They are usually terrible nightmares and their purpose is often simply as a signal that you went to bed in a physically toxic state. These dreams can result from a number of factors the day before, including:

• Eating refined carbohydrates (sugar, white flour), processed or junk food, additives or preservatives.
• Eating any foods within 2 hours before going to bed.
• Ingesting drugs or other substances that stress the body.
• Encountering environmental toxins (mold, exhaust fumes, etc.).
• Being stressed (stress hormone by-products load the body’s cleansing system just like external toxins do).
• Being emotionally toxic, such as going to bed angry or hateful (holding on to emotional upset creates a stressful physical state).
• Not getting enough rest (sleep-deprivation robs the body of its critical nighttime cleansing cycle, leaving more toxins in the body).

Now I think I went to bed last night in a good state.  I was happy.  I felt organised and in control (unlike in my dream!), I was looking forward to the weekend.  I ate fairly late at 9pm but didn’t go to bed until midnight so it shouldn’t have been that, and I wasn’t overtired (for a change!).

Many people believe that your dreams give us clues to our unconscious selves – give us an insight into what we truely think or feel.  I couldn’t resist putting my dream into some dream analysis/interpretation websites… this is what they reckon:

According to http://dreammoods.com/ the different aspects of my dream could mean the following:

Christmas

To dream of Christmas, symbolizes family togetherness, reunions, celebration, peace, goodwill, generosity, and human kindness. It is also representative of new beginnings and fresh starts. Consider also your own associations with this holiday.

Present

To see a present in your dream, may be a pun on being “present” and here. You need to life for the moment and not dwell in the past.

Receiving a Present

To dream that you receive a gift, indicates that you are being rewarded and recognized for your generosity and giving nature. You are held in high esteem by those around you.  If someone gives you an inappropriate gift, then it suggests that you are the subject of unwelcomed attention of someone. If you dream that you give someone an inappropriate gift, then it suggests that your true nature will eventually be exposed. Analyze the gift you give or receive for additional significance.

Monsters

To dream that you are chased or followed by a monster, represents aspects of yourself that you find repulsive and ugly. You may possess some fears or some repressed emotions. Try to confront the monster in your dream and figure out who or what aspect of yourself the monster represents.

Running Away

To dream that you are running away from someone, indicates an issue that you are trying to avoid. You are not taking or accepting responsibility for your actions. In particular, if you are running from an attacker or any danger, then it suggests that you are not facing and confronting your fears.

Cathedral

To see the outside of the church in your dream, signifies sacredness and spiritual nourishment. It is representative of your value system and the things you hold sacred.

Window Shopping

To dream that you are window shopping, suggests that you are being excluded from life’s luxuries. You are feeling inadequate or unqualified.  Alternatively, the dream indicates that you are looking for something that is lacking in your life. You feel unsatisfied or unfulfilled with the current direction of your life.

Ok so this is all very strange – none of it seems to match up and obviously this doesn’t consider how the different things in my dream were linked with each other during the ‘story’. 

Whatever caused it and whatever it meant (if anything!) I don’t want another one like it any time soon… please!