The School Dream
You've all had it. Where you find yourself back in school with everything going wrong. Either you're naked, or you've got a test in a class you don't remember signing up for, or some other horror of adolescence. My recurring variation is one where someone at the St. Paul School Board realizes I failed to take some vital cluster of courses and contacts me to let me know that if I don't come back and take another year of high school they're going to revoke my entire education including college. I had this dream at least a couple of times a year from graduation through selling a book, almost always when I was worrying about something or feeling insecure.
After that first sale, the school dream changed. Now when the person at the school board calls me into their office, I will bring a copy of my university diploma and a couple of my books, drop them on their desk and either walk out or offer to teach a seminar or two. I usually have this version after some sort of writing milestone. Apparently getting to the place where I can see the end of MythOS counts.
Last night I dreamed that I was back in school looking for my home room. I was late, but unworried about it. When I finally showed up, the teacher asked me if I was always going to be so late. I told him yes and explained that I was back for the year because it was a cheaper way of picking up some college course I needed for research for my books. The teacher challenged me on the books front and I upended my backpack spilling out something like thirty books under five names, all of which I had written. The pile included the WebMage stuff, several of my books under submission and, for reasons known only to my subconscious a couple of Star Wars tie-ins.
Does anybody else out there have recurring dreams that were transformed by some real life event?
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4 comments:
After I got my M.A. way back when, I had a "back to school" dream where I faced the usual scenario: have to return to school, take make up classes, find a place to live, blah blah. About five minutes (relative time) into the dream, I suddenly stopped, said, "Wait - I have my M.A. I don't have to be here. Screw this", and walked out of the dream and into another one.
Since then, most of my back to school dreams have been shot down pretty fast. :)
I don't know that I have any recurring dreams at all. I don't usually remember by dreams. Strange.
I never have any of those "back to school" type dreams. I have a high stress day job which I guess supercedes any and all anxiety-laden dreams that involved school.
But like Kelly Swails, I mostly don't remember my dreams.
I like the idea that one day I'll be able to influence my dreams like Douglas does. The idea that I'll think, "No, it's just a nightmare. Everything's cool."
Or I'd like to be one of those authors who dreams their plots like romantic suspense writer, Sharon Sala. It would be really sweet to let the subconscious do all the brainstorming, since imagination seems to be its main function anyway.
I didn't used to remember my dreams when I was young, not until I hit my twenties and really started writing. Then I started plot dreaming. It doesn't always happen, but it sure helps when it does.
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