For our October Ripples in the Inkwell (#inkripples) Kai Strand, Mary Waibel, and I are discussing fear/things that go bump in the night. My mind immediately went to nightmares.
It is well-known among my friends and families that I have very vivid, often wacky dreams. I’ve even been lucky enough to have the occasional lucid dream (in which you are aware you are dreaming, and may actually be able to take control of the dream…pretty cool actually, and I always end up flying when I can!). That also means I’m subject to realistic, terrifying nightmares.
I’m more prone to having nightmares when I’m feeling anxiety and stress. A couple of common stress dreams I experience with some regularity are the one where I show up for the final test of a class I haven’t been to all year and the one where my teeth fall out or crack.
More likely than those two dreams, though, is a recurring anxiety dream that has changed throughout the years. When I was very young, I can remember having lots of dreams about wolves chasing me, and I would wake up sweating, my heart racing. At some point during my adolescent the go-to stress dream turned into dinosaurs stalking me (one reason why, to this day, I have a hard time watching any of the Jurassic Park movies).
After The Boy was born, my anxiety dreams were often about the end of the world. Usually they would start with me seeing something strange in the sky and then aliens would strike or there would be some kind of widespread terrorist attack, and I’d be trying to protect my family.
And lately, my nightmares have taken the form of zombies (you won’t catch me watching The Walking Dead ever!). What’s interesting about these dreams is that the zombies don’t get a lot of “screen time.” It’s more the constant threat of a zombie attack that causes the panic.
Aren’t you so glad to have a glimpse into my dreams? What kinds of nightmares have you all had?
Have you joined the #inkripples movement yet? Ripples in the Inkwell is a monthly meme created by Kai Strand, Mary Waibel, and Katie L. Carroll(me!). On the second Monday of each month, we post on a particular topic. The idea is that we toss a word, idea, or image into the inkwell and each post is a new ripple. There’s no wrong way to do it and we’d love for you to participate (full details here). October is all about fears and things that go bump in the night. Be sure to provide a link to your own #inkripple in the comments!
