So when I'm stressed, I tend to have a lot of nightmares. These nightmares usually involve being stalked, kidnapped, or attacked by criminals, or, when things are really bad, they involve getting poor grades.
Last night, my nightmare was of the stalked/kidnapped/attacked variety.
In my dream, two scruffy-looking men from Louisiana were chasing me. Why Louisiana? No idea. But in my dream, I remember saying, "Oh no, it's those guys from Louisiana"--as if that explained everything.
I'm still not sure why they were chasing me, but it seems I had some sort of top secret insider information that the person they were working for wanted. (Why is it that everyone is always working for someone?) And these people wanted that information and then they wanted to hurt me. Badly.
So I wanted to run from them. Obviously.
They were chasing me at night, and we were all ducking in and out of the shadows of my apartment complex. For those of you who don't know, my apartment complex looks freakishly like a prison, which makes it a good setting for a nightmare.
Or a singles ward.
But I digress.
I could describe every excruciating detail of each terrifying moment of the rest of the dream for you, but my descriptions would not begin to encapsulate the FEAR and HORROR that I felt in the dream. So I'll spare you the details.
Let's leave it at this: It was scary enough that my HEARTBEAT woke me up at 2:30am and kept me awake for at least another twenty minutes. And the mere MEMORY of it prevented me from enjoying my usual morning nap on the bus.
I know, bad, right?
Googling "nightmares" this evening led me to a helpful (?) website on how to get back to sleep after a nightmare. Apparently, I should try to "neutralize" the nightmare by imagining a different, more pleasant outcome. This website contained specific suggestions for how to deal with nightmares in which you are being chased. If you are being chased, it says, you might imagine that "you turn and face the pursuer, only to discover it's a cuddly teddy bear just having fun."
I have no words for this answer, but perhaps it will help some of you.
Best of luck.
I'm just going to stop snacking before bed.
4 comments:
"my apartment complex looks freakishly like a prison, which makes it a good setting for a nightmare.
Or a singles ward."
You are right is kind of like a prison. hahaha!
Does that website tell you what to do when you dream about getting poor grades? I am trying to imagine a teddy bear holding a big A+ and giving me a high five. That is kind of a scary image too. Help!
Mer. I have be so enlightened by that post. One thing I learned while living with you is...I can't watch Lost before bed. I get nightmares..real bad.
whoa meridith. that's bad! what are you eating?
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