by Dave Kemp

Created on: April 26, 2008

Dreams have fascinated me ever since I can remember. I could never quite figure out what triggered some of the dreams I had. If I really wanted to dream about something, like the cute new girl in school, it never seemed to work. I would go to sleep thinking about this girl I was so crazy about and then dream some horrible dream about falling out of a tree.

Then, when I least expected it, I would have a great dream about a girl that I maybe knew five years before. At this point, it seemed like a wasted dream. I know I don't always remember my dreams, but when I do, they are in full color and often so life-like that I have a hard time knowing what is real when I wake up. Sometimes these dreams give themselves away because just as I'm about to wake up something totally unrealistic takes place - like flying without an airplane or something.

The other thing I can't figure out is that in all the reading I have done about dreams, they all state that you can't dream about someone you have never met. If this is true, then I have another life going on somewhere. If I have seen or talked with someone once and I see them years later, I remember them. In my dreams, there are characters that I am positive I have never met or seen before. Sometimes they are very normal people and sometimes they are very outlandish in appearance or character.

Most of these people I have never met appear in my most life-like dreams. Recently, I dreamed I was traveling in Europe and had a whole gaggle of friends along. A couple of them were people I had known in college, but most of them were complete and utter strangers to me, yet they were interacting with me in a dream. This particular dream threw me off badly when I woke up because I literally thought I was supposed to be in a hostel in Germany, so couldn't figure out why I was waking up in my bedroom at home.

This brings up another sad point. Often during my best dreams I have gotten so energized by what is happening that I have woken up. Then, when I realize what has happened, I pray that I can go right back to where I left off in the dream when I fall back to sleep. In over 30 years, I can only remember this working out one time. Then, of course, I had to wonder if I had dreamed that I woke up in the middle of a great dream, but really didn't. I still don't know to this day what really happened.

What I do know is that I enjoy my dream lives very much and feel sad for people that say they never remember their dreams. In my opinion, it just takes a little reflection upon waking to make sure you think about what you dreamt and lock it into your memory banks before you begin your day. Then, in your slow times during the day, you can sometimes reflect on your dreams and enjoy them again.

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