Dreams

I took a psychology class in high school (well, I actually took Pysch 1 and 2, which are semester long classes, and Psych AP.)  I think it's absolutely fascinating.  I think most areas of psychology are interesting (you know, personality disorders, serial killers, etc) but I think dreams rank pretty high on my list.  If I didn't major in history, I think I would've liked to have majored in psychology-and not because it's an easy, basic major which is most popularly selected by those who would rather receive an "undecided" degree. 

 It's inconceivable to me that our brains operate the way they do when we're asleep.  I think it's weird that some people remember their dreams vividly, while others can hardly remember anything.  It's also amazing that we dream some things that are practical, that could genuinely happen, while other times we dream things so impossible all you can do is wonder, "well where did THAT come from?"

And recurring dreams.  How can you dream something you've already dreamt? Growing up I had a recurring dream that I liked.  I would wake up happy but also mad that the dream was over. 

It took place at my church, but it was quite different than my church.  It was after hours, so I would always be the only one there.  It would typically start in the nursery, which was like a gym, but instead of workout equipment, it was like a gymnasium with lots of fun things to play on.  From the nursery, I would head down a hallway which passed what we referred to as "the cave," which was just a room, but it seemed kind of like it was underground.  The real hallway in my church has wood paneling, and in my dream, I would always find a trick board in the paneling which opened into a series of secret rooms.

 My favorite room was the foam pit room.  This was just a giant room with a foam pit (similar to the one to the right) like my gymnastics gym had.  In my dream, I would play in here for hours and then I'd climb a ladder along the wall and go through a trap door in the top of the wall to find another room that looked like the ball pit at McDonalds.  In the third and final room, which was accessed the same way, via ladder through a trap door in the top of the wall, was a clown.  Now I don't care for clowns at this point in my life, but at the time, I guess I was fond of them because this wasn't a recurring nightmare.  I seemed to enjoy the clown.  The rest of my dream would result in me exploring my church.  Often times I ended up in our old sanctuary which was much grander and loftier in my dream.

I just wonder why we dream.  Why doesn't our brain just rest when lay down and close our eyes.  Would it stop working all together if it wasn't alert and making you think of weird and elaborate things while you slept?  We are always thinking about something, and oftentimes, that which weighs heavily on our minds when we fall asleep plays a role in the content of our dreams, but wouldn't it be nice to sometimes be able to dream without having visions of odd things?  When I wake up, I am frightened or sad or happy, but I think sometimes I'd like to wake feeling refreshed and not think of the fleeting images my brain is still trying to grasp onto.