Dreams

dream  /drim/ [dreem]
–noun
1. a succession of images, thoughts, or emotions passing through the mind during sleep.
2. the sleeping state in which this occurs.
3. an object seen in a dream.
4. an involuntary vision occurring to a person when awake.
5. a vision voluntarily indulged in while awake; daydream; reverie.
6. an aspiration; goal; aim: A trip to Europe is his dream.
7. a wild or vain fancy.
8. something of an unreal beauty, charm, or excellence.

What causes a person to dream? According to the Freudian school, dreams are the result of subconscious thoughts and desires. Others say that dreams are made out of many small parts of memory and imagination that get combined to form dream imagery. Another opinion of why a person dreams is because they bring balance to the events that happen during the day. I personally find the last one to be bogus, especially considering the dreams I usually have. Dream interpretation is just like art, not every one will interpret the dream the same way. Granted, there are 'professional' people out there that claim to be able to interpret dreams, but how close are they really? If you think about the meaning of interpret, it's almost seems like an educated guess. I don't know, maybe I am wrong about that. Either way, I do find the meaning behind dreams to be quite fascinating. Sometimes I have been intrigued enough to look up the meaning of my dreams. Then when I find the meaning, or how someone else would interpret it, I am left somewhat disappointed. Take for instance, the naked dream. Part of the meaning or interpretation behind that is 'shamefulness'. The person could be shameful in some aspect of their life. Okay, I get that, but why naked? Why do people connect being naked with shamefulness? Therein lies the difference in how I would interpret a naked dream versus someone else's interpretation. There is a reason dreams are top of mind for me this morning. I woke up this morning feeling exhausted due to the extremely intense dream I had last night. There I was, all decked out in black with gun holsters around my thighs and a gun sling on my back, complete with a sniper rifle. (I did look pretty awesome, but I digress.) I found myself firmly planted on the roof top of a skyrise with my sniper rifle pointed at the head of a zombie. Yes, a zombie. I was the ONLY human left while these zombies tried to find me and convert me. I have had this dream before and it is very similar each time I have it. One time, I was runnin' and gunnin'. The other time, I was camped out in an office building of some sort, sniping from the window. Last night, I was on the rooftop. Each time I have had this dream, I have always survived. So, there are two ways to go about looking up the meaning of this dream. 1) Only surviving human out killing the zombies or 2) The recurring dream. Here is what I found so far:

- "Recurring dreams are quite common and are often triggered by a certain life situation or a problem that keeps coming back again and again. These dreams may recur daily, once a week, or once a month. Whatever the frequency, there is little variation in the dream content itself. Such dreams may be highlighting a personal weakness, fear, or your inability to cope with something in your life, past or present." Courtesy of Dream Moods

My first thought to this meaning is, I am killing zombies...I don't fear them in my every day life.

- "The repetitive patterns in your dream reveal some of the most valuable information about yourself. It may point to a conflict, situation or matter in your waking life that remains unresolved or unsettled. Some urgent underlying message in your unconscious is demanding to be understood." Again, Dream Moods.

My thought/question about this meaning is, why zombies? If I have an unresolved conflict, why would my recurring dream be about zombies?! Enough about the recurring dream interpretation. I get it. I have an unresolved conflict that I need to deal with. Moving on the meaning behind the actual dream and away from the fact that it is a recurring dream, here is what I found.

- "To dream that you are attacked by zombies, indicates that you are feeling overwhelmed by forces beyond your control. You are under tremendous stress in your waking life." Another excerpt from Dream Moods.

This meaning, I can fully relate to, especially since I dreamt of being attacked by zombies at the heels of a very stressful last few weeks of work. I survived it, unscathed, so let's hope the zombie dreams are coming to an end. However, they were pretty fun because I not only looked cool in my dream, but I was kicking some serious @$$ too.