To Sleep Perchance To Dream. Again.

Everyone dreams. Really, everyone dreams - but not everyone remembers their dreams. Generally speaking, I've fallen into this latter category throughout my life. I've remembered very very few dreams. And they were all very strange - the ones I remembered. Some were like mini motion pictures. And I've almost always been able to figure out what's triggered them off.

I don't believe dreams predict the future. Dreams sort out your unconscious. They try and figure it all out for you. For me, the memory of a conversation earlier that day, a line from a book, something I've seen in a TV show, a noise, all of these can trigger off dreams

This year though has been something else all together. This year I've remembered dozens of my dreams. Most have been, scarily enough, diploma or job related or, not surprisingly, medically related.

Actually, when I was in hospital, I used to get my first IV drip of the day at 6am. I normally went back to sleep as soon as I'd been plugged in. Now, sleeping while strong antibiotics were slowly plinking into my veins gave me some very very odd dreams. I didn't write them down though, so now I can't remember them. Come to think of it, that's probably not a bad thing.

In the last couple of weeks I've dreamed of other teachers testing me on diploma vocabulary and shouting when I didn't know the answers; I've dreamed of another (single, childless) friend lying on the couch, smoking away, with six of so kids running riot around her (too much 'Wife Swap' and kindergarten, methinks); I've dreamt my mother (who I've not spoken to for almost 20 years) was a hooping champion. And then after she'd told me that, she went running into the street with a man and flashed her bum; I've dreamed of teeth falling out a couple of times (I know that's 'meant' to be money related, but I don't believe that); and last night I dreamed I had to go to Glasgow (I worked with a teacher from Glasgow recently) for a radio interview (er, not sure about this bit) and they were trying to send me there by express train (again, no idea). In the same dream I dreamed of gourmet pet food (nope) and of going to the prom (American high school kind, not Royal Albert Hall kind. And no, I never had a prom at my school).

Come to think of it - I can't remember any more. I'm still traumatised by my mother flashing her bum....

Do you remember dreams often? What do you think they mean?

I just remembered another recent one: I was in a doctor's consulting room (yes, I know!) but they weren't sure what was wrong with me (again, I know!), so they started showing me very complicated flashcards and getting me to name things on the cards. They STILL couldn't figure out what was wrong with me but then I suddenly discovered that if I lifted something with my right hand (I tried a stereo and a suitcase - though not at the same time), then I forgot the proper word for something. For example, I called a bear 'a cat'. Everytime I put down whatever I was holding, I could name things properly and everytime I picked something back up, I couldn't.

Again, I blame the diploma for this kind of dream.