The fabulous DREAM topic!!!, Have your darkest disorders EXPOSED!!!

[Blitz]

We've had some fun with this in the Forumtoons topic, so why not give it a topic of it's own? Just explain a weird dream that you've had and someone else can interpret what it means.

Now, the dirty little secret about Freudian dream annalysis is that it's WAY easier than it looks, 'cause it's not really the DREAM that you get stuff from. See, you're supposed to spend a LOT of time getting to know the person first, so you'll know what context to interpret the images in the dreams by. SOOOO, all you actually have to do is take what you already know about the person, mix that in with your own preconceptions about lfie in general, and impose both of those onto whatever the dream is and only talk about the parts that seem to make sence!!! Easy, huh?

To start things off, I'll annalysize a dream I just had last night:
(Now, this is a LOT longer than most posts will probably be, but that's just 'cause I know myself so well):
Me and my family are riding around in the van, but there's some construction blocking the street just before we get back to our house. In fact, there's a munch of large tree parts in the middle of the road. So, we of course crank the van up to full speed and ram said tree parts head on. For some reason, that actually does get the tree out of the way, but we still stop the van and start walking around the big, muddy lot where the people are working. Everyone ends up hanging out near one of those cool vans where the inside is all decked out with cushions and a big soundsystem to eat lunch, meanwhile I stretch out of a waterbed (that is OUTSIDE the van for some reason) and pet a dog. At this point, the muddy lot has turned into a huge white stable on a massive, abandoned plantation and my family is actually starting to work there (I don't ever see what we're supposed to be DOING, though). That, and I've found these two really cool looking knifes that I stash in my pockets. We have another meal with the people working there at a big table in someone's messy backyard, and everyone eats a weird soup that seems to be those valentine hearts candies in milk (eww)... and thats about it.

Now, the first thing to be established is that most of the settings of this dream are very familiar to anyone who lives around Raleigh, North Carolina. There is construction and development EVERYWHERE in this city, and it makes driving anywhere a real hassle. The plantation idea is rather familiar in the South in general, since there are a ton of historic old residences around here. More importantly, though, there used to be a "Plantation Hotel" not far from where I live... except that it's now closed and very run down... and surrounded by construction. A connection! The messy back yard at the end is something commonplace that everyone's encountered, so there's no need to get into it's origins at the moment. But what does it all mean?
Well, the predominant theme in the begining of the dream is movement: riding around in the van. The tree and the construction are an obstruction: an obstical to getting somehwere. Where are we going at that point? Home, normality, a sence of belonging. So, the construction represents an obstical prevenenting me from attaining a sence of normality. The ramming of the tree depicts a fierce determination to get through these obstructions and find that percieved normality, and the fact that the tree actually is moved suggests that it is not completely cut off. However, the van still stops and everyone gets out. This sidestepping of the intended path speaks of a divided purpose: yes, finding the percieved nromality of home IS important, but not enough so that taking a look around isn't okay.
So next we have the cool stoner van, the water bed, adn the dog. None of these images have much of anything to do with the rest of the dream itself, so it's more the idea behind them all that matters. Everything about that setting suggest goofing off, relaxation: an impractical yet entertaining van, lounging around on a waterbed, goofing around with a pet, it's all recreation. This stands in sharp contrast to the steadfact determination that lead to ramming a vehicle into a downed tree only moments before. Finally, people sitting down to a meal, a symbol of settling down. Note however that I don't actually eat anything yet, though, so I haven't fully given up on the quest for classic normalicy yet.
Then there's the whole bit with the plantation. Now, even if such a place is old and abandoned, it's bound to feel a LOT nicer than a muddy pit. There's still people working there, though, so the situation itself has not changed, only my perception of it. Furthermore, my connection to this new setting is stronger than before since the whole family actually works there now. Here, my attention is truly becomming caught up in whatever this new place represents, replacing what I was originally seeking. This interpretation is supported by the presence of the two cool knifes that I take. They're not mine, so I really shouldn't be toutching them, but I take them anyway. This is an embodiment of my internal confusion over these evnts, even as I allow them to occur.
Finally, we have the wierd dinner in the back yard with the icky-looking soup. FIrst off, reguardless of how nasty valentine heart candies in milk SHOULD taste, it seems fine when I taste it. THAT'S the big deal, I'm fully immersed in this new situation now. No more fierce seeking of getting ANYWHERE.

Okay, but what does all this dense stuff mean? Well, the prominence of locals familiar in North Carolina quickly brings to mind the fact that I wasn't too thrilled when we moved up here from Atlanta. It took several years for me to quit wanting to head back to Atlanta and start thinking about North Carolina as home. So, is this dream simply my subconsious reliving my stereotypical adolecent angst, something I got over a while ago? I don't think so, since the progression of events is backwards.
While the construction and the plantation are clear Raleigh references, the messy backyard is anotehr matter. This place was cramed, overgrown, fenced in, and generally OLD. Now, I just don't see many yards like that around Raleigh, 'cause most of the old houses are built on old farm land and have pleanty of space. The subdivisions where the houses are close enough together to match the bakcyard in the dream are still very new and expencive. On the other hand, Atlanta has pleanty of older, cheep houses where the yard is a nasty mess. This would suggest that the settings are simply counterpoints against which the actual meaning of the dream may be contrasted.
It has been established already that the original destenation at the beginning of the dream was "home" - the embodiment of a normal state of existence, and that the desire to get there was all consumming. However, that entire way of thinking was soon overpowered by a totally different way of thinking: one centered around a sence of recreation and goofing off. It is also established that I'm conflicted over my shift from a drive to accomplish to complacient goofing off. What events in my life can I equate these feelings to?
Easy: when Summer Vacation started, I was dedicated to picking up work on my site and my fanfics and generally getting back to the fanboy fervor I had back when I first got into FDD-dom. However, instead of accomplishing this, I've allowed myself to sink into laziness and doing very little. In fact, the only thing I've really been dilligent about doing are the forum cartoons, something that didn't even EXIST a few weeks ago. So that's the meaning of the dream: I'm unhappy about the fact that I'm failing to live up to my original desire to pick up my work.

So... what am I going to do about it? Heck, I'm gonna go write some Fanfics!

Now, let us all swear to NEVER make a post this long EVER AGAIN!!!

[Megan]

Wow. Who'da thought we'd actually be doing something that involved THINKING at the forum.

Uhm. The dream I had the other night.. I was drawing a bear on the computer, but at the same time I was afraid of it. I couldn't even zoom in to do the lineart and coloring and stuff, even though I knew I had to do so to make the picture any good.. but it still came out pretty well. And then I posted it on Deviantart, and everybody commented about how I need to improve on my backgrounds. So then I made a journal entry asking if anyone knew of any good tutorials about drawing trees.

So, you analyze it now? It seems pretty self-explanitory to me, though.

...Oh yeah. The bear I was drawing was kinda South Park style, sorta.

[Blitz]

Interesting, very interesting.

Off hand, I would say that the bear itself does not represent anything in particlar but is simply being used to provoke a more important reaction. Obviously, the bear is of your own making. You have created it. However, it frightens you. As I said, the fact that the drawing is of a rather fearsome creature makes the entire senario easier to digest, so it is the fear you feel that needs to be examined. You are not happy wit the thing you have created, not because of any technical flaws but because of what it IS. Yet you continue to work on it and perfect the very thing you fear, even showing it off to others. This suggests a severely repressed aversion to something in your life that you yourself are responcible for pertpetuating. It could be a situation you've gotten yoursefl into or an action you continue to perform, or maybe just a food you don't really like but eat anyway. The point is, you are repressing your unhappiness and your desire to escape so that you may continue to do whatever it is that is causing the problem.
The responce from all the other people to the picture sheds some light on the whole situation. No one else seems to be the least bit scared of the bear. In fact, they don't even notice it but focus on the background instead. Baised on their reactions, you forget about your own aversion to the drawing and instead go about seeking a way to improve the drawing, or otehr ones like it. This recalls a rather typical peer presure senario, though it seems to go deeper than that. After all, as noted before, no one else is talking about the bear. Therefore, by listening to their comments about something only slightly related, you are able to ignore the original fears and focus on something less troubling, like drawing trees.
The meaning? Your subconcious wants you to quit ignoring it and deal with something... that, or you just don't like bears.

[Megan]

Woah.


Wooooooooaaaaaaah.





.................

Whoa.

[Blitz]

Thank you, Keannu.

[Tania]

! Now I need to write down my dreams. I moved back into my old room because I was deathly afraid of my brother's room that I moved into, but now I don't seem much better in my current room, and I think I'm just afraid of the dark.

Okay, that has nothing to do with anything, but it does make for interesting dreams, I guess. I'll pay attention to one I remember so you can analyze it.

Oh, here's one I told Gwen a while ago...I probably don't remember all the details or the order, but here's what went on...I think.

Okay, I think in the beginning we were in Toys R' Us or something...or we might have started off in the Hotel. Either way, in the Toys R' Us I stole an RV or something and pocketed it and left, oh I was looking for Legos and I saw some prissy girl I don't like. And there was a shelf of big plastic things shaped like Disney characters and they held tape casettes inside them. One of them was shaped like the Beast, except it was X-men's, not Disneys. (Pun in dream!?). Then I was in a Hotel filled with doors and corridors and it was a never ending hell (I AM easily lost...) and finally we find our way to the reception center or something (I'm with my brothers Andy and Mike...Nick isn't even there) and I'm wearing a ripped and torn dress (I never wear dresses!) and the evil lady there says "Search their pockets for drugs!" and I was all afraid because I had the RV in my pocket (and I've never even been tempted by drugs, anyway) so finally we make our way out and I'm missing a sandal and my brother Andy doesn't care, I think Mike did (he was being unusually kind during that week or so) and then I think there was some interlude....but that might have been another dream, all I know is I went into a store and I got lost on the way back...probably represents the fact that I don't even know the name of the street I live on...anyhoo, in the end I end up having to work at Dennys for all eternity, with a ripped dress and no shoes. I think I was serving Mike and Andy in the end, too.

Make sense of THAT nonsense!

Or how about the one me and my three brothers were in space and Nick wanted to investigate a red, bubbling planet and Mike and Andy wanted to go to a yellow one, so Andy tells me all I have to do for them to go to the yellow one is get decapitated, and then I did and everything was slowly going all white until I opened my eyes and the sun was blaring.

That's the only other dream I can think of with my brothers...makes Andy look all evil (which he is....he ate my Omelette >_<)

[Gwen]

What the freaking heck do you mean FUN???! DDDDDDD==== MINDRAPE.

Actually...

okay whatever.

I had yet another dream last night hooray =D I tell.

I was actually at my old house in Fort Grant...back in Arizona. Like, not here. And somehow I found out that there was going to be an anime convention in Willcox (nearest town, like a 40-minute drive away) even though in reality, that place is WAY too small to host anything larger than a school function. Also, I found out that Blitz was stopping by Fort Grant for some reason before going on to the convention...I have no idea why he would do either of those things, going to a convention ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COUNTRY or stopping by Fort Grant, which is TOTALLY out of the way of the route to Willcox. Anyway, I was like "I'm gonna go say hi to Blitz!" so I walked up to the bus stop...the SCHOOL BUS stop, that is. I guess Blitz has said he'd be there, so whatever. He'd actually barely just arrived there before I did, and then pretty much the next thing I remember is that I was already at the anime convention, which didn't actually seem very anime-related. It was more like some kind of elegant formal ball setting but without the formalness. Then for some reason, I lost my entire outfit like, twice...and both times had to walk back through one room to get to where I'd left my backpack so I could get a convenient extra outfit out of it...The whole time I was thinking "Well, if they don't seem to care that I have no clothes, then...I won't either" so I just sort of casually-but-discreetly sneaked over to my backpack both times. It really wasn't all that eventful...it was more like...stupid. There were parts where I showed people drawings, including some Animaniacs-related fan creations, but they had to ask me to verify that they were indeed Animaniacs-related. I guess they couldn't tell exactly what they were because I had drawn them in my usual style, which isn't very Warner-ish, but I didn't mind. Also, I think there was some old lady around for some reason. Like Yubaba or Mother Mae-Eye. Whoever she was, she might have been going around doing some villainous things or something...but I don't remember what exactly happened. Everything got way less vivid around that point. Or I woke up.

So yeah. FEAR THE NAKED DREAM!

[Megan]

Nakedness and Blitz, all in one dream? Lucky.

[Gwen]

*snorts a fruit snack and maybe some root beer...but not Coke*

For the record, Blitz pretty much disappeared after I said hi to him at the bus stop. XD

[Blitz]

Whoa! One at at time!!!

Um, Tania's first one first (redundant!!!): The predominant theme is the dream would seem to be uncertainty. The location keep changing, you're afraid of getting caught with the RV in your pocket, you're confused by the mixed up characters (Beast, not Beast), you dohn't know where you're going. Even your clothes are in a state of disaray. I would say that this dream is a reflection of your aprehensiveness about your own future. Where exactly are you going? Is it where you want to end up? Do you even have any control over it? The fact that the dream ends up with you working in Denny's "for all eternity" seems to back this up.

As for the second one... Heck, I dunno. It's so darn short it's hard to form a clear oppinion... Possibly some unresolved issue with your brothers over who's in charge?

Now, Gwen's: This sort of dream is interesting since it changes so drastically before the end. I mean, the first part is focused on your attempt to say hi to me, not go to any convention. But then the second part finds you actually at the convention yourself. I think this shift is more important than the actual settings of the dream (old home, wierdly small town, odd looking convention). In the first part, you've been made aware of the plans of someone else... someone who you don't ever seem to see very long. Then latter YOU are doing what you'd heard the other person was going to do: go to the convention.
Now, I don't think you've got any deep resentment of me, I'm just a convenient figure for the setting of the dream. Instead, I think this may be a general statement of your subconcious desire to follow in the footsteps of those who inspire you. I can't get more specific, since I don't really know who your personal inspirations are. In fact, it may not even be any specific individual but simply an ideal. In any case, you are desiering to take that next step, whatever it is, and that desire is being mingled with the emotional fear of change. That's what's up with the fact that you must explain what your art is and the disapearence of the costume: part of you feels ill-equiped to meet the challege of your ambitions and fears being discovered as a fraud. Still, that emotional reaction seems to be countered very well by a rational responce sicne you always resolve the situation
By the way, the lack of clothes part ammuses me because most of the times I have that dream, the people around me don't seem to care either. I guess we're both torn between the purely emotional apprehention and a rational "yeah, whatever" mindset.
I don't know what the heck the old lady is about, though, since she doesn't really seem to do anything...

[Gwen]

XD Aaand interestingly enough, I think some of that might apply to me. Not quite sure what exactly does and doesn't, though.

Anyway.

A dream I had when I was like, 3 or 4 years old, just for the heck of it:

...There were penguins. 3D penguins. Like, they looked sorta computer generated. And they were tap-dancing.

okay, never mind. XD But I did have that same dream like, twice.

[Blitz]

You want to control penguins. It's all about CONTROL with you!

[Gwen]

Tuh. *smap*

[Tania]

Yeah, my dream did suck. I once had a dream about pirates. That was cool. XD Maybe my dream today wont suck so much.

[Gwen]

XD Also, I once had a dream where...things...I don't remember.

I got nothin until tomorrow. *shrug*

[Blitz]

I had anotehr dream last night that was basically a lost Bill & Ted movie... Seriously, it was Bill and Ted being goofy. Good fun, it was.

[Gwen]

I remember one time I had a dream involving the Weekenders, towels, bugs, and a pony.

[Blitz]

...................................

It means that you hate EVERYTHING, Gwen. EVERYTHING.

[Gwen]

Fun.

[Tania]

You had a Bill and Ted dream!? Awesome!!

[Gwen]

*goes around hating everything* >D

[Blitz]

LOOK WHAT YOUR SUBCONSCIOUS HAS UNLEASHED!!!

...and it was actually a funny dream. It involved Robin Williams as a really psycho DJ for some Rock and Roll station

[Tania]

XD Robin Williams - Class Nine level hairy.

[Blitz]

Indeed

[Gwen]

Come to think of it, if I hated EVERYTHING...then I would hate hating everything...but I would also hate to not-hate everything...so I'd be an emotionless meat-puppet of hate?



But no, cuz I totally love everything. XD