Weird dreams last night...got me thinking about the very reality of dreams

It's not often that I clearly remember my dreams...

But I vividly remember one dream I had last night...and it was not one that would typically seem to stand out...but it got me thinking about the very "realness" of dreaming.

Anyway, I was shopping at a supermarket...I ran into this girl that I didn't know at all but we started talking. Anyway, it turned out that she was 2 years older than I am...

And I don't know if this is only true with my dreams or everyone else...but in my dreamworld, all perception is weird and skewed in comparison with the "real" world...so she started talking about where she's from, and it turned out she didn't live far from my hometown in upstate NY. I was like "oh, right up I-79 (which I use to drive home from school". And she said "yeah, I drive that all the time". Then I remember being in awe of this (in my dream) - because "everytime I drive on I-79, I lose control of my car on the ice. It's like a ski slalom". Now clearly, why would I have made this remark? I have driven PLENTY of times on dry roads...however...I have driven several times during blizzard/ice conditions and I have spun out in my car two or three times on this road in such conditions.

Then...we somehow jumped to being in my hometown...and we were both in this bar. I didn't even drink at this bar...because I had to drive. But then I told her I had to go home and I was contemplating taking a beer out to the car to drink on the drive home. She kept urging me not to...but I ended up in my car, driving home...and I had this beer in my hands, very tempted to open it and start drinking it. I was on this backroad I've known like the back of my hand since I was 10 years old...and I was about to pop open the beer when this tractor trailer came bearing down in the oncoming lane at a very high speed. Now, this was weird because I had NEVER seen a tractor trailer truck use this back road. He was swerving into my lane...probably 300 feet away...and I remember thinking "If I open this beer, he will hit me and I won't be able to avoid it". So I threw the beer into the passenger seat and kept driving...moving over onto the shoulder. The truck went back into its proper lane and I passed the truck safely. This is where my conscious memory of this dream ends...


Anyway, the dream may seem unspectacular to most but for some reason to me it's the most vivid dream I've had in a LONG time. Now...I have driven under the influence MANY times (not something I'm proud of or condone at all...but I've never had any incidents). In fact, my very rationale for driving under the influence has always been "It's a short drive, and I know these roads like the back of my hand...I could drive them with my eyes shut". I have never driven long distances or unknown roads after drinking.

But perhaps, the fact that I was on one of the roads that I know BEST, and merely 1 mile from my house...was my dream trying to tell me that if I continue driving under the influence something BAD will happen regardless of the fact that I am so close to my destination and on roads that I know very well.

Also, when I woke up I felt this unexplicable bond with this girl in my dream...like it wasn't merely a dream but I actually knew this girl.

Now I don't know...I guess my point is, perhaps dreams aren't merely dreams? Is it possibly that dreams really are a visit to the astral plane, which is merely another dimension of our world that is just as "real" as the waking world? I know this has been discussed before but why would this seemingly everyday dream have impacted me so vividly? Perhaps I really did meet this girl in another dimension...because I can't shake the feeling that I actually met her and did not just conjure her up in my own dream illusions.

Anyone have any thoughts? On a positive note...the imagery of nearly being run off the road by a truck on a road near my home that I know extremely well, just for contemplating opening one beer on the road...haunts me enough to keep me from even drinking a little before driving. What a weird dream...I can't help but shake the feeling that this really happened in the astral plane.

Yep! Don't drink and drive. And as a matter of fact use caution when driving at all times by all means.

I interpret this as a lesson since it is often our elders that we learn from and you stated she was 2 years older.
You also mentioned a specific road so I would use caution on that road in particular.

Many times dreams have great importance in a persons life and I think you figured it out pretty well yourself without anyones input.

I really believe the power of dreams is real and for an example I give you this.

A few times a year I will have a dream about my electric bill being in the mailbox and sure as can be that day the bill will be there in reality.
It's not always delivered on a certain day so it is not a clock within my psyche so maybe a coincidence?

That's weird about the electric bill...perhaps paying the bills was already weighing heavily on your mind, I know paying my bills does!

But this road was in my hometown in upstate New York...I'm at college in Pittsburgh and won't be back home for another month and a half. So it was weird that that road would be used in my dream.

So what do you think? Are dreams simply visions or visits to a real spiritual world?

Dreams are funny, you're more honest with yourself than you are when you're awake. Its like a survival mechanism sometimes. Yeah...I'd have to say that driving drunk is bad, regardless of how close you are to home. You cant control the conditions around you, a child could easily be walking along side the road. I think it was you telling yourself to stop driving under the influence. I have no idea about the girl...although I can relate, I've had many vivid dreams...they are wonderful, and so are the girls I meet in them. Its such a bummer to wake up from them and realize it never happened. I dont think dreams are anything supernatural, but thats just my opinion, I tend to be skeptical and look for the most obvious explanations.

Originally posted by Paranoid Freak
I'm at college in Pittsburgh and won't be back home for another month and a half. So it was weird that that road would be used in my dream.

So what do you think? Are dreams simply visions or visits to a real spiritual world?

Month and a half the roads here on the east coast will have ice. Use caution. Have you recently been short of ice for beer at school? Maybe this somehow mixed in with the beer and ice in the dream.
I know I would always run out of ice in my school days and would have to drink warm beer before class.


I don't worry about the bills so I don't think it's that. There is some connection though.

___________

Dreams are dreams...

theres a link on "C2C".. ....'Wealthy New Lab Aims To Capture Dreams Literally'



Its about a new research & dream spa/retreat & convention complex around VA suburbs of DC...monies no problem! they're gonna research in depth what goes on in dreams...collecting data beyond just brain waves & subjective dreamer retellings upon awaking...it'll be 06-08 before its operational...

maybe you can do research there by then

Originally posted by evecasino

Originally posted by Paranoid Freak
I'm at college in Pittsburgh and won't be back home for another month and a half. So it was weird that that road would be used in my dream.

So what do you think? Are dreams simply visions or visits to a real spiritual world?

Month and a half the roads here on the east coast will have ice. Use caution. Have you recently been short of ice for beer at school? Maybe this somehow mixed in with the beer and ice in the dream.
I know I would always run out of ice in my school days and would have to drink warm beer before class.

I don't worry about the bills so I don't think it's that. There is some connection though.

LOL. No ice shortage...but plenty of beer shortage. I could barely scrape together money for a case of Keystone tonight...

And trust me, I've had my license for just over 4 years and I've driven in more ice storm/blizzard conditions than I ever wanted to. In fact, last year I got the feeling someone had a death warrant out for me from up above. Everytime I drove to and from school (Thanksgiving, Christmas, trip to and from Syracuse (my hometown) in January, and even "Spring" Break in early March...it was in HORRIBLE driving conditions...EVERYTIME I got caught in the midst of blizzards and ice storms, witnessed NUMEROUS accidents live, and saw cars flipped over off the side of the road...terrible accidents involving several cars and stretchers. Pretty haunting stuff...b/c it was HORRIBLE each and every time I drove to and from school, and I drive the same route everytime.

Also, while this thread is up here...one of the dreams I remember BEST is from 15 years ago. I was in my school (a Catholic private school) and I was making out with this girl. I still don't understand it to this day...I was 6 or 7 years old and had little interest in girls at this point. But in this dream I was making out with this girl and I remember being very attracted to her in the dream. I still don't get it to this day...because at 6 or 7 years old I doubt I even knew what "making out" was. But I still remember waking up and longing for this girl in my dream. WTF? If dreams are based on subconscious thoughts from our waking life...this dream makes no sense. I don't consciously remember being attracted to ANY girls until 4th or 5th grade.

[edit on 10/15/2004 by Paranoid Freak]

I know that bond feeling all too well. Very odd; didnt happen in a dream though.

Trippin on acid back in the days that i used; said hi to the cashier at the supermarket. The whole time she was checking the other persons order, i kept feeling like ive known her longer and longer.

Regardless, turns out she was on something as well (not '___') and felt a bond with me. We bumped into eachother at the mall and got to talking, and she said she felt like she's known me forever, and blah blah.

Very strange stuff happens in altered states of consciousness.. Dreams, intoxicated. The brain doesn't work right, and that may affect normal consciousness. Very odd.

Stay safe.

I can post with remarks and experiences of my own about the girl in your dreams, but not the truck or anything else. Hopefully my experiences and thoughts can help you out a bit.

Not long ago, I myself also had the most vivid dream I have ever had in my entire life. Everything down to the most mundane details, just like I was awake. I met this girl and we got along the best you could possibly imagine. We clicked perfectly, there were never any odd moments, and I was the happiest I've ever been. We just chilled and had some beers, talked, got to know each other, etc etc. We ended up walking down the road near where I live, all the time feeling better and better about having met. I remember wanting things to work out, and being willing to do anything to make that happen. I knew she felt the same way, almost like soulmates.

Now usually my dreams make zero sense, and are quite derranged and extremely weird. Whenever I do have vivid dreams though, they are more normal, and seem like they could actually happen. I think because of this I agree with you in thinking that some facet of it is real, like some other reality or state of existence, even projecting. There is no way I could have conjured up this girl in my mind. It's not that she was overly attractive or anything like that, because that's what my dreams would have conjured up, but rather she was simply right for me.

I think that something happens while "astrally projecting" and similar energy flows interact and are drawn to each other. This can happen in deep states of sleep as well I believe. This girl was (unknowingly) projecting at the same time as me, and we met in this "other reality." The weird part is I could still tell you what she looked like, and I've never seen someone like that in the physical world, I COULDN'T have imagined or dreamt something I hadn't ever seen before. Anyway, I still wish to some day meet her, because I know for a fact she is a real person, but only time will tell. The strange part is I've been in a relationship for a while, and even if I simply met "the girl from the dream", then that would be fine with me. I am happy in my life and relationship, but I'd just like to prove to myself that what I experienced was actually real, and not a figment of my dreaming, which I KNOW it wasn't.

Anyway, there's a lot more that I was going to type on my theories of "vivid or more reality based dreaming", but I am very tired and need some sleep. Take care, and U2U me or post if you want to know more or continue to talk about this.