Dreams, Why Do They Affect Us So Much?

What do dreams really mean and why do they affect us so much sometimes? I had a dream last night that caused me to wake up feeling “woolly headed” and emotionally drained, like it had actually sucked the life out of me. You’re probably thinking that I had a nightmare, but that was not the case, it was just a very real, very intense dream, which I could actually vividly recall when I woke up this morning.

The feeling that this dream left me with remained with me for the entire day and I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

So why am I sharing this with you? Good question, simply because I have to wonder just how many people experience dreams like this. I am going to share the dream with you in a minute so you can see how ordinary yet bizarre that it was, but I would love to hear feedback from anyone who experiences this often, like I do.

Anyway, as for the dream, I can only fill you with the highlights because, as in most dreams the “story line” is never parallel with reality entirely…..

I was both involved with and watching a live theatrical performance by two men and two women, which was a comedy. One of the women, a young girl, was of a larger body type and was saying to me that she couldn’t make the costume changes in front of the guys. However, half way through the show, I noticed that she was changing like everyone else in the same room and she had stripped down to her undies and was about put on her costume and was no longer embarrassed. I assumed it was because she was so involved with the pace and momentum of the show that she no longer cared. The best part about it was nor did anyone else. So is this telling me that I shouldn’t be so self-conscious about my own body, that people who really matter, simply don’t care or pay attention to that part of me?

Then the dream flipped to me watching the performance and I was in the company of three men. One of the men was “with me” in the dream, even though it really was not clear to me who he was. One of the other two was my first real love, from the UK, we got engaged when I was 19. I have no idea who the other guy was but he was not significant in the dream anyway.

The funny part about this was that my ‘first true love‘ had the strangest hair do that I had ever seen. His hair was separated into tufts that were about 4 ins long and sticking out all over his head. There were sections where it looked like he had small bald spots. In the dream he was a very out spoken, confident person and the funny thing was that his hair-do made him seem even cooler! He was a definite leader, I could sense that. He turned to the man I was with and told him that he really liked him, because he was really funny. This was very strange as I don’t recall the man I was with actually saying anything…LOL!

My first love and I broke up when I was 21 and have not seen him since I was 23, many years ago! I did communicate with him via the internet briefly, about eight years ago, but I have never dreamt about him before, this was a first.

The next part of the dream totally changed. This again involved someone from my past, who I dated when I was twelve, if you can call it dating at that age. I have not thought about this boy in over three decades and haven’t seen or spoke to him since I was fourteen years old. So why would he suddenly appear in my dream? I found myself thinking about it a lot, because up until last night, I probably wouldn’t even have been able to recall his name.

What happened was I was in a rush to go down to the pub, because I had arranged to meet Chris (my 12-yr old sweetheart) for a date at 8:00 pm. My daughter was whining to me, saying that she didn’t want to go as it would be boring to be with me on a date. I told her she didn’t have to come and to stay home, but she came anyway. When we got to the pub it was 8:20 pm and I couldn’t see Chris anywhere, but there was a group of people there who were really pleased that my daughter and I came down. There was one man in particular in this group that seemed really pleased to see me. Who he was I do not know, but I had the feeling that he was interested in me.

The next moment in walks Chris, wearing a navy blue suit and walking with a crutch under his left arm as he had hurt his leg. When I saw him, I ran up to him to say hello and he puts his arm around me and it feels really good. He looked pretty much the same as my distant memory remembers him, except for his bangs were cut really short in a very straight line, which I thought looked really odd. Could this mean anything? Probably not, but it was very significant.

Now remember, Chris was nobody really special in my life and when I woke up the two things that really stuck in my mind were my first love’s hair and personality and remembering Chris.

Through the course of the day I wondered if Chris being on crutches meant that he was in trouble some how, or needed assistance. But then why me, what could I do to help, I wouldn’t even know how to get in touch with him. I also thought it could mean that someone would go out of their way to meet me, no matter what. In relationship to what exactly, who knows…it was just a thought and to be honest all I could come up with…LOL!

I will need to digest this a little more, but I found it so strange that the experience of this dream left such an emotional drain on me. It really effected my entire day, I couldn’t focus or think clearly. I know that sounds odd, but that’s why I am posting this. I dream all the time, crazy, vivid dreams too, but this one was so intense that I actually felt the emotions when I woke up as if it had been real.

So if anyone has any wise words or thoughts….speak up, I would love to hear them.

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