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  3. What's it like to have a dream?

What's it like to have a dream?

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  • L [email protected]

    Play a lot of shooting games?

    My rare odd dreams are often related to book or anime I've read. When I wake from those I wanna go back in.

    T This user is from outside of this forum
    T This user is from outside of this forum
    [email protected]
    wrote on last edited by
    #16

    Actually not at all!

    However, I recently listened an audio book about the Continuation War between Finland and Russia (part of WW2), which might have had an impact.

    1 Reply Last reply
    0
    • L [email protected]

      I don't really dream. It's extremely rare to the point where I'll have a handful in a year and I don't remember them. Waking up with an emotional reaction to an odd dream inspired by life events or entertainment... Then the details slip away from me and I can't even talk to anyone about the experience.

      What's it like for you?
      Do you enjoy, dislike or analyze your dreams?
      Is it really a window to the subconscious for you?

      lambdarx@sh.itjust.worksL This user is from outside of this forum
      lambdarx@sh.itjust.worksL This user is from outside of this forum
      [email protected]
      wrote on last edited by [email protected]
      #17

      Recently I've dreamt of having a lucid dream, so dream me thought he had control of the dream, but I don't think I did. I remember trying to master flying, but it was difficult, and I was afraid of heights.

      1 Reply Last reply
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      • L [email protected]

        I don't really dream. It's extremely rare to the point where I'll have a handful in a year and I don't remember them. Waking up with an emotional reaction to an odd dream inspired by life events or entertainment... Then the details slip away from me and I can't even talk to anyone about the experience.

        What's it like for you?
        Do you enjoy, dislike or analyze your dreams?
        Is it really a window to the subconscious for you?

        H This user is from outside of this forum
        H This user is from outside of this forum
        [email protected]
        wrote on last edited by
        #18

        You sound a lot like me but maybe you are younger. I can't remember the last dream I could remember but I do recall that I have had neat dreams scary nightmares in my life. Definately had variations on flying and crawling ones and had a reoccuring house break in one as a kid but on average it was like maybe one a year.

        1 Reply Last reply
        0
        • L [email protected]

          I don't really dream. It's extremely rare to the point where I'll have a handful in a year and I don't remember them. Waking up with an emotional reaction to an odd dream inspired by life events or entertainment... Then the details slip away from me and I can't even talk to anyone about the experience.

          What's it like for you?
          Do you enjoy, dislike or analyze your dreams?
          Is it really a window to the subconscious for you?

          R This user is from outside of this forum
          R This user is from outside of this forum
          [email protected]
          wrote on last edited by [email protected]
          #19

          I'm similar to you, but probably not as bad. I don't often remember my dreams, or I might wake up with a fragment of a memory in my head: "Oh no! I need to let someone know the cats are playing cards in the oven!" But any of the context is lost. Also, if I don't immediately focus on that fragment and try to remember more about it, it will disappear from my mind completely.

          Sometimes, I'll get a big chunk of the story, or multiple fragments that I can chain together to figure out the overall plot of the dream, but that's only a few times a year, if that.

          I wish I remembered more of them more frequently. I find them very entertaining.

          L 1 Reply Last reply
          2
          • L [email protected]

            I don't do drugs. Even skipping pain meds for a bad back. No real reason I just dislike pills. Drug free for work reasons.

            I tend to sleep 4-5 due to overwork. Even if I have 8-9 hours free my internal clock wakes me up at night.

            The times I dream are often when I take a 30min-2hr nap.

            knight_alva@lemmy.worldK This user is from outside of this forum
            knight_alva@lemmy.worldK This user is from outside of this forum
            [email protected]
            wrote on last edited by
            #20

            This is my experience exactly! I have never heard of someone else having a similar experience. If you end up going to a sleep specialist or finding any sort of explanation, please DM me about it.

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            • A [email protected]

              The type of dream I enjoy the absolute most are called "lucid dreams." It's when you actually recognize you're dreaming and can take control of it. I could be dreaming of walking down the sidewalk and see a cool car, realize I'm dreaming, and then just say ok I'm going to get in that car and drive it lol

              Unfortunately they're super super rare so I think I've only had like 4 that I remember.

              N This user is from outside of this forum
              N This user is from outside of this forum
              [email protected]
              wrote on last edited by
              #21

              It wasn't until ubiquitous social media that I realized lucid dreams weren't the norm for everyone else. My default dreams are both lucid and recurring: I have the same fifty-odd dreams over and over and have the freedom to change the ending, rewind, or otherwise alter events. Oh, there's one-offs too and not every dream is lucid but that's what I considered a "normal" dream growing up in the previous century.

              A 1 Reply Last reply
              2
              • L [email protected]

                I don't really dream. It's extremely rare to the point where I'll have a handful in a year and I don't remember them. Waking up with an emotional reaction to an odd dream inspired by life events or entertainment... Then the details slip away from me and I can't even talk to anyone about the experience.

                What's it like for you?
                Do you enjoy, dislike or analyze your dreams?
                Is it really a window to the subconscious for you?

                S This user is from outside of this forum
                S This user is from outside of this forum
                [email protected]
                wrote on last edited by
                #22

                To answer out of order, I don't analyze them. I don't think there's really any reason to.
                Sometimes it can be a window to the subconscious, but it's mostly just random things.

                It's really hard to answer what it's like. I dream very frequently and quite often vividly. What it's like varies so much night by night. Lately, for maybe the past three weeks, I've been having one nightmare after the next after the next. For me, I tend to enjoy the scarier dreams that deal with "monster movie" plots. Zombies, clowns, ghosts, etc. Those are fun for me because they're not real irl, so it's easier to enjoy.

                The problem I'm having right now is that these nightmares are too real and too targeted. "Nobody likes you" or bleeding out or being alone or getting cancer. Just all the horrible things my brain can do to make me wake up miserable, I guess.

                When I'm stressed, I have a set of reoccurring themes that makes it easier to identify as a stress dream and therefore not be as effected by the events or emotions in the dream. Themes are: tsunamis, bears, brakes failing, or physical abuse.

                One of the greatest problems I have after dreaming so vividly my whole life, is that I'm terrified that my brain will flip a switch when certain situations arise. For example, I've often dreamed about drowning. As in I'm in a pool or lake or ocean and for some reason am unable to get air. So I start panicking and doing anything I can. As I finally can't take it anymore, I gasp for the air that isn't there and... Huh. I can breathe water? It takes a bit, but inevitably the dream says look at you, you've always been able to breathe water, you just never tried.. So when it comes to the real world, I'm terrified that if there's a situation where I need to hold my breath for a while underwater, my brain is going to just lean into the many lessons learned and tell me to just breathe and it'll be fine, because I've always been able to breathe water, duh.

                So. None of that probably answers your question. But it's such an esoteric and personal and varied thing from person to person. Or from week to week within a single person.

                If you do want to dream more, try to keep a little notebook on your nightstand and when you wake up with these dreams you rarely have, write them down. It clues your brain in to start remembering them more and then you will start to truly dream.

                reverendender@sh.itjust.worksR L 2 Replies Last reply
                2
                • L [email protected]

                  I got an emotional dream a few months ago. Woke up feeling a wreck and distraught while having no idea why. Very frustrating.

                  L This user is from outside of this forum
                  L This user is from outside of this forum
                  [email protected]
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #23

                  Yeah, I lose a day being on low energy every time it happens. But the subconscious dreams what it wants, regardless of an attempt to influence.
                  We can give a scenario through our activities before going to sleep, but they tend to stretch out on their own even so.

                  1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • S [email protected]

                    To answer out of order, I don't analyze them. I don't think there's really any reason to.
                    Sometimes it can be a window to the subconscious, but it's mostly just random things.

                    It's really hard to answer what it's like. I dream very frequently and quite often vividly. What it's like varies so much night by night. Lately, for maybe the past three weeks, I've been having one nightmare after the next after the next. For me, I tend to enjoy the scarier dreams that deal with "monster movie" plots. Zombies, clowns, ghosts, etc. Those are fun for me because they're not real irl, so it's easier to enjoy.

                    The problem I'm having right now is that these nightmares are too real and too targeted. "Nobody likes you" or bleeding out or being alone or getting cancer. Just all the horrible things my brain can do to make me wake up miserable, I guess.

                    When I'm stressed, I have a set of reoccurring themes that makes it easier to identify as a stress dream and therefore not be as effected by the events or emotions in the dream. Themes are: tsunamis, bears, brakes failing, or physical abuse.

                    One of the greatest problems I have after dreaming so vividly my whole life, is that I'm terrified that my brain will flip a switch when certain situations arise. For example, I've often dreamed about drowning. As in I'm in a pool or lake or ocean and for some reason am unable to get air. So I start panicking and doing anything I can. As I finally can't take it anymore, I gasp for the air that isn't there and... Huh. I can breathe water? It takes a bit, but inevitably the dream says look at you, you've always been able to breathe water, you just never tried.. So when it comes to the real world, I'm terrified that if there's a situation where I need to hold my breath for a while underwater, my brain is going to just lean into the many lessons learned and tell me to just breathe and it'll be fine, because I've always been able to breathe water, duh.

                    So. None of that probably answers your question. But it's such an esoteric and personal and varied thing from person to person. Or from week to week within a single person.

                    If you do want to dream more, try to keep a little notebook on your nightstand and when you wake up with these dreams you rarely have, write them down. It clues your brain in to start remembering them more and then you will start to truly dream.

                    reverendender@sh.itjust.worksR This user is from outside of this forum
                    reverendender@sh.itjust.worksR This user is from outside of this forum
                    [email protected]
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #24

                    Brakes failing is the worst! Also, half the time I can’t reach the pedals, and/or see clearly over the steering wheel.

                    S 1 Reply Last reply
                    1
                    • L [email protected]

                      I don't really dream. It's extremely rare to the point where I'll have a handful in a year and I don't remember them. Waking up with an emotional reaction to an odd dream inspired by life events or entertainment... Then the details slip away from me and I can't even talk to anyone about the experience.

                      What's it like for you?
                      Do you enjoy, dislike or analyze your dreams?
                      Is it really a window to the subconscious for you?

                      S This user is from outside of this forum
                      S This user is from outside of this forum
                      [email protected]
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #25

                      I'm not sure if I have them and don't remember them or just don't have them. Like you, I may get a little something during short naps but next to nothing during longer sleep.

                      Related to this, are you able to picture images in your head while awake? There's a phenomenon called aphantasia that I've participated in a couple studies on. I'm somewhere around a 4 or 5 on the picture in the wiki. I recall at least one of the studies exploring the correlation between aphantasia and dreaming.

                      L 1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • L [email protected]

                        I don't really dream. It's extremely rare to the point where I'll have a handful in a year and I don't remember them. Waking up with an emotional reaction to an odd dream inspired by life events or entertainment... Then the details slip away from me and I can't even talk to anyone about the experience.

                        What's it like for you?
                        Do you enjoy, dislike or analyze your dreams?
                        Is it really a window to the subconscious for you?

                        lennybird@lemmy.worldL This user is from outside of this forum
                        lennybird@lemmy.worldL This user is from outside of this forum
                        [email protected]
                        wrote on last edited by [email protected]
                        #26

                        For those who don't dream much, I'm curious of your surrounding sleep habits and how much you've looked into changing your habits. This could be a big indicator you're not getting into REM sleep, which is not good.

                        Do any of you drink alcohol, take other prescribed substances (or not prescribed)?

                        Have you tried eating foods rich in magnesium or taking magnesium supplements?

                        C A 2 Replies Last reply
                        1
                        • N [email protected]

                          It wasn't until ubiquitous social media that I realized lucid dreams weren't the norm for everyone else. My default dreams are both lucid and recurring: I have the same fifty-odd dreams over and over and have the freedom to change the ending, rewind, or otherwise alter events. Oh, there's one-offs too and not every dream is lucid but that's what I considered a "normal" dream growing up in the previous century.

                          A This user is from outside of this forum
                          A This user is from outside of this forum
                          [email protected]
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #27

                          I don't know how I'd feel about reoccurring dreams, but I'm definitely envious of the constant lucid dreams! Lol

                          1 Reply Last reply
                          1
                          • R [email protected]

                            I'm similar to you, but probably not as bad. I don't often remember my dreams, or I might wake up with a fragment of a memory in my head: "Oh no! I need to let someone know the cats are playing cards in the oven!" But any of the context is lost. Also, if I don't immediately focus on that fragment and try to remember more about it, it will disappear from my mind completely.

                            Sometimes, I'll get a big chunk of the story, or multiple fragments that I can chain together to figure out the overall plot of the dream, but that's only a few times a year, if that.

                            I wish I remembered more of them more frequently. I find them very entertaining.

                            L This user is from outside of this forum
                            L This user is from outside of this forum
                            [email protected]
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #28

                            Yeah I get fragments too.

                            Usually wake up to some pieces of life in a zombie apocalypse... And I was a blacksmith? Making bullets? Farming tools? WTH

                            R 1 Reply Last reply
                            1
                            • S [email protected]

                              To answer out of order, I don't analyze them. I don't think there's really any reason to.
                              Sometimes it can be a window to the subconscious, but it's mostly just random things.

                              It's really hard to answer what it's like. I dream very frequently and quite often vividly. What it's like varies so much night by night. Lately, for maybe the past three weeks, I've been having one nightmare after the next after the next. For me, I tend to enjoy the scarier dreams that deal with "monster movie" plots. Zombies, clowns, ghosts, etc. Those are fun for me because they're not real irl, so it's easier to enjoy.

                              The problem I'm having right now is that these nightmares are too real and too targeted. "Nobody likes you" or bleeding out or being alone or getting cancer. Just all the horrible things my brain can do to make me wake up miserable, I guess.

                              When I'm stressed, I have a set of reoccurring themes that makes it easier to identify as a stress dream and therefore not be as effected by the events or emotions in the dream. Themes are: tsunamis, bears, brakes failing, or physical abuse.

                              One of the greatest problems I have after dreaming so vividly my whole life, is that I'm terrified that my brain will flip a switch when certain situations arise. For example, I've often dreamed about drowning. As in I'm in a pool or lake or ocean and for some reason am unable to get air. So I start panicking and doing anything I can. As I finally can't take it anymore, I gasp for the air that isn't there and... Huh. I can breathe water? It takes a bit, but inevitably the dream says look at you, you've always been able to breathe water, you just never tried.. So when it comes to the real world, I'm terrified that if there's a situation where I need to hold my breath for a while underwater, my brain is going to just lean into the many lessons learned and tell me to just breathe and it'll be fine, because I've always been able to breathe water, duh.

                              So. None of that probably answers your question. But it's such an esoteric and personal and varied thing from person to person. Or from week to week within a single person.

                              If you do want to dream more, try to keep a little notebook on your nightstand and when you wake up with these dreams you rarely have, write them down. It clues your brain in to start remembering them more and then you will start to truly dream.

                              L This user is from outside of this forum
                              L This user is from outside of this forum
                              [email protected]
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #29

                              Sometimes I'm glad I don't dream considering nightmares and overthinking the meaning of things.

                              What I'll say about not dreaming is life feels more mundane.

                              Wake, self care (brush teeth, shower, eat), work, chores, brainrot, sleep.

                              I feel like even bad dreams would shake things up more.

                              1 Reply Last reply
                              1
                              • C [email protected]

                                Sounds like you probably aren't getting enough sleep to get into REM very often. 4-5 an hour isn't the healthiest.

                                L This user is from outside of this forum
                                L This user is from outside of this forum
                                [email protected]
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #30

                                Valid. I'm trying to fix it.

                                C 1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • L [email protected]

                                  I don't really dream. It's extremely rare to the point where I'll have a handful in a year and I don't remember them. Waking up with an emotional reaction to an odd dream inspired by life events or entertainment... Then the details slip away from me and I can't even talk to anyone about the experience.

                                  What's it like for you?
                                  Do you enjoy, dislike or analyze your dreams?
                                  Is it really a window to the subconscious for you?

                                  P This user is from outside of this forum
                                  P This user is from outside of this forum
                                  [email protected]
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #31

                                  For me personally it's a bit like... the creation of memories. And the synthesis of what I like to call "ambient feelings" – like vibes or atmospheres people, places or situations give off. A lot of layered emotions, a lot superpositions, where something or someone is multiple things at the same time. "Chimeras", which are blends of people I know for example.

                                  Then the details slip away from me and I can't even talk to anyone about the experience.

                                  That's normal. I swear that my dreams are really detailed sometimes, but the memories become muddy the more I think about them.

                                  Is it really a window to the subconscious for you?

                                  Yes. I take my dreams very serious. They are weird and hard to describe, sometimes they are cruel in a way. I consider myself a pretty reflected person, but from time to time my dreams show me stuff I don't want to admit to myself.

                                  That said, I love dreaming. Reality is rigid and boring. I like to imagine we live and absorb impressions only so our brains can dream. Which is bullshit 😄 but I enjoy the thought.

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  1
                                  • S [email protected]

                                    I'm not sure if I have them and don't remember them or just don't have them. Like you, I may get a little something during short naps but next to nothing during longer sleep.

                                    Related to this, are you able to picture images in your head while awake? There's a phenomenon called aphantasia that I've participated in a couple studies on. I'm somewhere around a 4 or 5 on the picture in the wiki. I recall at least one of the studies exploring the correlation between aphantasia and dreaming.

                                    L This user is from outside of this forum
                                    L This user is from outside of this forum
                                    [email protected]
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #32

                                    Holy shit yeah. I'm at a 5. Zero ability to picture things in my mind.

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • lennybird@lemmy.worldL [email protected]

                                      For those who don't dream much, I'm curious of your surrounding sleep habits and how much you've looked into changing your habits. This could be a big indicator you're not getting into REM sleep, which is not good.

                                      Do any of you drink alcohol, take other prescribed substances (or not prescribed)?

                                      Have you tried eating foods rich in magnesium or taking magnesium supplements?

                                      C This user is from outside of this forum
                                      C This user is from outside of this forum
                                      [email protected]
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #33

                                      I have woken up aware that I dreamt perhaps a half dozen times in my adult life.

                                      Alcohol: no

                                      Medicine: no

                                      Drugs: no

                                      Never tried loading magnesium.

                                      Terrible sleep hygiene.

                                      Comfy bed, dark room.

                                      lennybird@lemmy.worldL 1 Reply Last reply
                                      1
                                      • L [email protected]

                                        I don't really dream. It's extremely rare to the point where I'll have a handful in a year and I don't remember them. Waking up with an emotional reaction to an odd dream inspired by life events or entertainment... Then the details slip away from me and I can't even talk to anyone about the experience.

                                        What's it like for you?
                                        Do you enjoy, dislike or analyze your dreams?
                                        Is it really a window to the subconscious for you?

                                        C This user is from outside of this forum
                                        C This user is from outside of this forum
                                        [email protected]
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #34

                                        Everyone dreams, FYI. It's an integral part of sleeping. You just don't remember it.

                                        It's like being awake except more entertaining things are happening. It's a window to the subconscious in the sense I can tell problems from the day appear in them, but not in a Freudian way where they mean things.

                                        C 1 Reply Last reply
                                        2
                                        • L [email protected]

                                          I don't really dream. It's extremely rare to the point where I'll have a handful in a year and I don't remember them. Waking up with an emotional reaction to an odd dream inspired by life events or entertainment... Then the details slip away from me and I can't even talk to anyone about the experience.

                                          What's it like for you?
                                          Do you enjoy, dislike or analyze your dreams?
                                          Is it really a window to the subconscious for you?

                                          A This user is from outside of this forum
                                          A This user is from outside of this forum
                                          [email protected]
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #35

                                          I have aphantasia so don’t really have full fledged scenic dreams with a narrative like some people have.

                                          It’s more like I see my daughter crawling and falling into the plug socket so I need to go in after her, and then I’m suddenly in a field full of wasps.

                                          I don’t ‘see’ much, it’s more like flashes of images and emotions; and I’ll often open my eyes and talk or shout but still be asleep mentally.

                                          L 1 Reply Last reply
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