Dream a Little Dream

Have you ever had one of those long, extended, nightmare-style dreams that refuses to give up?

You struggle to open your eyes, realize you are far away from that wretched situation, snuggle back in, and - BOOM - back in it.

Even after I got all the way up this morning, I was all sweaty and twitchy - still fighting that nervous feeling from my night-long bad dream. Something about a man who would shoot at me with a giant machine gun after first calling me on my cell phone. Whenever it would ring, I would hit the floor.

I have one recurring dream. I call it my student stress dream. Lost on a huge campus, I am on my way to take a test. It is a comprehensive test for a class that I didn't know was on my schedule (thus I forgot to attend). For some reason I think I can still pass the test and survive the semester, so I am determined to show up and pass the test anyway. So I'm walking, hurrying, to this "never-took-the-class-but-need-to-pass-the-test" test. And, I can't find it.

I am completely lost. I am frantically running across acres of grass, building to building, and no one will help me or answer my questions.

Finally, in a huge panic, I wake up. I am done with college. I am not in a class. I don't have a test. Phew.

I'm not alone. I've heard this is a common dream. Many people who have attended college - and many teachers - have this same scene replay while they are sleeping. Not sure what this says about our educational experience.

Rarely do I have good dreams. I want to dream of faraway places, falling in love, revisiting loved ones who have died. I want the kind of dreams to sink into and escape. I want happy dreams that leave me rested and secure.

More often, my dreams are scary and stressed...

How about you? What is your most prevailing dream?

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