Sidetracked Charley

When I was a kid I called them nightmares. Today I relegate them to the realm of disturbing. They do not contain monsters borrowed from a late night show my parents told me not to watch but from a odd arrangement of reality. They dwell in the area of the possible from which there seems to be no escape. Per Wiki: A nightmare is an unpleasant dream that can cause a strong negative emotional response from the mind, typically fear and/or horror, but also despair, anxiety and great sadness. The dream may contain situations of danger, discomfort, psychological or physical terror. Sufferers usually awaken in a state of distress and may be unable to return to sleep for a prolonged period of time. These days I can no longer connect my disturbing dreams to bad food or bad movie or bad news. I more often see them as heralds of a bumpy road ahead or a signal that I have overlooked something important I need to attend to. I can describe them more by the terms despair, and anxiety and sadne...

I am an active dreamer. I dream in color and I quite often remember my dreams in vivid detail. But some nights my dreams are just more over the top. Last night was such a night. I woke up feeling as if I had participated in some Olympic event. The last dream before waking was of skiing. I have not skied in eight years but I was on a familiar run - one that is a combination of places I have skied and all the horrid fears skiers can have when they drop over the top into unfamiliar terrain. Getting up seemed wise. It certainly was going to be more relaxing. I have often wondered if my more vivid dreams, and nights like this last with seemingly endless dreams, have a root cause. I know I am apt to get a round of nightmares when I am coming down with something. And dreams that repeat like the airport bathroom dream (a version of the empty box dream women often suffer) occur when I am quite frustrated. I dream more on the three days of full moon influence (day before through day after). ...