To Sleep, Perchance to Dream

“Dreams, if they're any good, are always a little bit crazy.”
~Ray Charles~

Dreams fascinate me.  They are usually out of context with real life and so disjointed in the sequence of events that, in the light of day, they make no sense and bring pause to wonder what things must be happening in our subconscious to skew things so dramatically.

There was a time, not so very long ago, when I never remembered dreaming.  I have always heard that, whether or not we remember, we dream all night long.  For some reason, I remember dreams now even if it's only part of the dream.  I've also noticed that my once infallible memory isn't quite as infallible as it used to be and I have to wonder- are my dreams taking up space previously used for reality?  Is that even possible?  Could there be a connection between memory and dreams?

And what about dreaming in color?  I've heard about a couple of studies that suggest dreaming in color occurs mostly with younger people and that, by the time we're about 60, our dreams are black and white.  I could never remember if my dreams were in color or black and white until one that I had recently in which the colors were quite vivid.  There goes that theory that dreaming in color is only for the young.

Some people believe there are supernatural connections to dreams, as well.  I'm not sure how much of that I believe but I DO believe that some dreams have a purpose or a meaning.  Those dreams, I believe, are the ones that we have the highest level of recall about.  I've had exactly four of those dreams in my lifetime.  I can remember every detail of each of those dreams and the last one - about a year ago - is the one with the vivid colors.  I'm positive of the message of only one of those dreams so far - the very first one - but believe there was a reason for each of them.  Maybe in time, I'll learn that purpose - or purposes.

As I first stated, dreams fascinate me but the ones I find the most fascinating are the ones we have over and over again - recurring dreams.  I've never had a recurring dream but used to think I'd like to - until that last, vivid dream.  That dream was so real, the feelings within it so strong, that I would rather not have that dream again.  After that dream, it occurred to me that most of the recurring dreams I've heard of are not often good dreams.

Last night I dreamed that my husband and I were visiting our granddaughter.  She was giggling and playful, clearly having missed us as much as we miss her.  There's nothing mysterious, out of context or disjointed about that dream.  I really do miss her and have had her on my mind a lot lately.  Maybe that's what all those dreams really are - a cornucopia of all the things that are swirling around in our minds coming together in the only way they can.  That or maybe they're a bunch of separate dreams that we remember as though they were one.  I guess we'll never know.

Sweet dreams.