dreaming

1. Do you often remember your dreams?
Yes, every single day, and I feel out of sorts if I don't.

2. Have you ever had a recurring dream? If yes, please describe it!
Most of my recurring dreams are from my childhood.
The most interesting one stars Egon from the cartoon version of Ghostbusters, only he's a live-action cartoon Egon?, with white hair and slimy green skin. The p.o.v. of the dream switches back and forth from somebody watching a television that is playing a newscast in which Egon is the anchor, to my younger self, who has been made to sit on Egon's lap.
He holds me tight while he talks about evil news stories, and sneers after every one as if it ends in a punchline. I know he is evil and I am in danger, but I am helpless, so I just sit there and cry quietly. In some versions, I would pee on him and he would melt like the wicked witch in Wizard of Oz.

3. What is your most memorable dream?
Truncated version: It was lucid, and it was of a woman convincing me that what was happening was indeed real, even though it took place in a dream. I was in a dreaming room, of sorts, and saw many people around me who were in a dream state.

4. Do you dream best if you sleep at night or in the daytime?
The daytime, especially the morning or afternoon.

5. Are you sometimes ashamed of your dreams? Why?
I once was, especially as a child. Now: not at all. Dreams are innocent, in my opinion, no matter how warped or grotesque they may seem upon awakening.

6. Have you ever experienced a lucid dream? If yes, please describe it!
I would say that a third of my dreams are somewhat lucid. I've only been completely lucid, that is, in control of myself as well as the dream, a few times, and it never went on for long because I would wake up from being too excited.

7. What language do you most often speak/hear in your dreams?
Most often, English. French appears semi-regularly, and sometimes Spanish.

8. Have you observed any themes that run throughout your dreams?
The strongest theme is elevators. Being trapped in an elevator that is falling or shooting upward at an extreme speed, or even an elevator moving diagonally or sideways. In the last five years, I've been able to save myself or fix the elevator with increasing frequency, but lately it's turned into saving myself only to witness the death of other people in the elevator. One time, the dream turned lucid, and I saved us all by opening the side wall of the elevator to a room of gigantic mattresses, and we all jumped from bed to bed, doing flips and having pillow fights.

9. Have you ever had a night terror?
Twice. They were awful and made me believe I was dying.

10. Have you ever experienced sleep paralysis?
No, thankfully.

11. Do you sleep walk now, or have you ever?
Never.

12. Do you keep a dream journal, or have you ever?
Yes, on and off, depending on how much free time (aka sleep time) I have.

13. Do you talk in your sleep, or have you ever?
Never, it seems.

14. Have you ever had a question answered by a dream?
Never explicitly, but more often than not I gain insight from dreams that would be impossible to see in waking life.

15. What do you think about dream dictionaries? Are they rubbish? Or do you believe they do provide some insight?
They're useful to pick up on cultural signifiers, but I don't think they can be relied upon to understand the entire scope of meaning in a dream.

16. Do you often tell people your dreams or do you mostly prefer to keep them private? Why?
If it wouldn't bore people (and it does!) I would tell everybody about my dreams. I usually tell people when they've appeared in my dreams but it only seems to creep them out. When I hear I'm in other people's dreams, I find it so interesting and exciting.

17. If you don't remember your dreams, do you wish you could? Or are you indifferent?
I often wonder if I hadn't had such vivid dreams from early childhood on, would I be just as interested as I am now? I know the vivid dreams came first, and then the interest, but the interest has probably ensured that my dreams stay vivid.

18. Have you ever dreamt of your own death?
Often

19. Have you ever dreamt of killing somebody?
Sometimes. They seem to be less about the act of killing and more about the subsequent realization that it can't be undone. Waking up is always such a relief.

20. Have you ever dreamt of being another gender?
I've dreamt of having boy parts and taking the male role in intercourse, but never of actually being a boy. In some dreams, somebody will reveal to me that I'm actually part boy (in one case it was Kurt Russel??) and it's always such a relief (an aha! moment), followed by the horror of what it means to be part-boy/part-girl in society and realizing I might always be an outcast.

21. Have you ever seen yourself in a dream played by somebody else? Who?
Once I think I was played by Molly Ringwald... This happens often, and it's usually hilarious, but I can't remember anybody else at the moment.

22. Do you ever go to sleep hoping you'll dream a specific dream, or of something/somebody specific? What/who?
I hope to dream of Sebby some nights, even if it will be a sad dream.
When I was younger, I would hope to dream of being beautiful, loved, and happy.

23. Do you believe dreams have meaning, or are they merely the decompression of your memory (or the result of some other purely biological process)?
I think dreams provide access to the mysteries of the mind (I believe there are still so many!), and at the same time, are a result of a necessary biological function of the brain.

24. Has a dream during the night ever changed your behavior during the following day? Why/How?
Haha, sometimes a dream I have can ruin a whole week! This is probably not a good thing... but oh well. I have dreams I call "Goodbye dreams" in which close friends and family are saying goodbye to me forever, and I'm crying so hard in my sleep that I wake up crying, and the funk persists for at least three days, on average. I hate those dreams!

25. If you could record your dreams and store them in the library, on the condition that any person could view them at any time, would you?
Without hesitation!!! Especially if it meant access to the dreams of other people.