Saturday, April 16, 2011

N.....is for nightmare

I'm pretty sure everyone has experienced a nightmare at least once in their life. Some people have them regularly, some only have them once in a blue moon. I'm lucky in that respect as I've only had a few. However.....those few that I've had were extremely vivid. I have awakened with tears on my face, gasping for air, my heart hammering rapidly and awakened quietly glancing around the room fearfully looking for intruders.

I dream in color and was surprised to read that many do not. However, dreaming in color only makes the nightmares more intense and realistic.

Some say that nightmares are caused by what you ate before you retired. Some say they can be caused by recent books or movies you've experienced. I suspect its a little of both plus a pinch of what we secretly fear thrown in for good measure. When I saw the picture I've put with this post, it brought back something I hadn't thought about in years. My fear of "something" under my bed! My mother used to get so angry at me for taking a run from my bedroom doorway and jumping into bed.....so my feet were never close enough for "something" hiding under the bed to grab my ankles. I never had that fear the next morning when it was daylight. She would straighten the mattress and covers and show me that there was nothing under my bed except for maybe a couple dust bunnies. I could see she was right....but that didn't mean that "something" couldn't get under there by the time it was.......dark. I don't worry about anything under my bed anymore, but I still do have nightmares once in a while.

I'm very happy that, on 98% of my nightmares, I can only remember a tiny portion.....usually the part that woke me up with a start. Even that much will usually be forgotten by the time I've had my morning coffee. However, there are some dreams and some nightmares that are so real and so......vivid....that I remember them and their intensity for days.

Do you think that dreams come true.....can they predict the future? I have never had a prophetic dream but I think there could be people who do. I've had some really wonderful dreams that I just didn't want to wake up from. I've also had dreams that were so good.....I've gone back to sleep and continued on right where I left off. Nightmares.....on the other hand.....are not dreams we want to continue and so after waking from a nightmare, I usually won't go back to sleep right away. I'm not taking any chances!!

So here's a wish for you from me.......sleep well, dream sweetly and wake refreshed.

10 comments:

Jamie said...

What a great post, Val. I can picture you leaping into bed from the doorway..

I hate nightmares and lately I am having them almost regularly. I have tried to figure out why so I can stop them, but so far no luck.

Have a great Saturday. friend. Hugs. :)

JY69 said...

I dont even remember my normal dreams any more.... I wonder if I dream....

forsythia said...

Better safe than sorry. Of course you had to run from the bedroom door and jump into bed! There could have been a "soonaroon" under there. When he wasn't under your bed, he was under mine. I'd recognize those claws anywhere.

Joy Des Jardins said...

I have more dreams than nightmares; but I have had some nightmares that have woken me up in a cold sweat. They have felt so real. If I'm dreaming something that is particularly upsetting to me...I wake up and feel anxious and actually get out of bed to make sure I don't continue to dream about it. Thank God it doesn't happen very often. Good post Val... ~Joy

happyone said...

I dream in black and white sometimes and color at other times. I've had many many nightmares and wake up yelling.
I think mine are from all the books I read.
I have many happy dreams too though.

Josie Two Shoes said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Josie Two Shoes said...

An awesome N-word Val! How clearly I remember our childhood concerns about monsters in the closet or under the bed!

I too have had wonderful memories that I wish had been real, and a few nightmares that I am so very thankful weren't. I experience a mixture of both, thankfully not bad ones too often. But yes, some haunt me forever. Then there are the ones when I dream my long-deceased grandma is with me. She is young and beautiful and so full of strength and comfort. And I awake wondering...

I think I'm going to save this topic for a "Monday Memories" prompt. Maybe I can talk you into sharing a dream there when I do. :-) Thanks for the inspiration!
~Josie Two Shoes~
Two Shoes In Texas 
Monday Memories
Write A Letter Wednesday
Words In Motion

Unknown said...

LOL, This post brought such a SMILE to my face :)...it is the hands with the claws!! Just how perfect they are! I remember running and leaping into my bed because of those hands, also rearranging myself in the center of my bed, so they couldn't reach up and grab ME!! I didn't just have the problem with those creepy hands under the bed. They also, were UNDER THE STAIRS TOO!!...I would run up the stairs so fast (so those creepy hands couldn't reach through and grab me and pull me under the stairs) I would have skinned off the skin on my shins, lol or fell UP the stairs ~ and at the top of the stairs slamming the door closed behind me, to the point that I would be hitting my own rear end before the door closed LoL!! ..Oh' yes the wonderful land of dreamland step right up, get your ticket, for you have NO IDEA what is in store for you tonight! BRRAHAHAHAHA ~ Great Post! Sweetest of All Dreams to You! :)

Anonymous said...

As I mentioned in today's post, EVERY night in my life, I had VIVID and horrendous nightmares. I know now that they were how my subconscious was correctly translating my life.

My one prophetic dream was of a poor horse in the field. His head was hanging, he was gasping for breath and covered in sweat.

The next night found me in the hospital, gasping for breath, covered in water from the oxygen tent I was enclosed in for pneumonia. Yowza!

Margaret Hall said...

Great idea for the "n", Val~! Indeed, nightmares are those things that keep kids from wanting to go to bed..My youngest always thought that there was someone ALREADY in the BED before he got in and did not want to budge to get in...when we asked why he believed this, he said "Cause they took his "blinkie" and he wanted it back"...*sigh* What kids don't have to worry about...I dream a lot now, crazy stuff, and then also about prophetic dreams as well..interesting...
Hugs, see you at "O"...

http://timeforabucketlist.blogspot.com/
http://imagesinthought.blogspot.com/
http://the-old-story-tree.blogspot.com/
http://bagladythoughts.blogspot.com/