So I used to have this recurring dream. In fact, I've only ever had one recurring dream. (That sentence doesn't seem like it makes sense, but you know what I mean, right?) The only dream I've ever have over and over again is the one where my teeth fall out. That's actually the only part of it that recurred. The situation wasn't always the same. In fact, I can't say that I really remember the situations, except one where there was a radiator involved.
I had this dream a lot while I was growing up and into young adulthood. At a get-together while I was in seminary, the topic came up, and -- I kid you not -- almost half of the 12-15 people there had had teeth-falling out dreams. What was always weirdest about mine was how visceral they were. Sometimes when I woke up, I had to put my finger in my mouth to make sure my teeth were still there. That vividness was what most of the people at the party remarked upon about such dreams. But it seemed as though the sensation was different for different people. Mine usually felt like they were just dissolving in my mouth. It was creepy, especially since I lost my teeth late (for real) and the last ones sort of did dissolve. In fact, I think that dissolving thing might have been a later development, after the experience of losing those last teeth that way.
Anyway, I never really associated this dream with anxiety or anything else specific; it just seemed like a weird dream to have repeatedly. Then, a while after that seminary party where I discovered other people had had similar dreams, a friend told me that Martin Luther had dreams like that too. Strange. Is this a religious thing?
But here's what's weird lately. I haven't thought about this dream in a long time, because I haven't had one for years. I'm not sure I've had one since I moved to my present location over seven years ago. The only reason I thought about it is because there was a random comment on an episode of 30 Rock (first season) that we watched last week that made it seem like one of the writers has probably had this same dream.
So what do you think? What weird recurring dreams do you have? Have you had the teeth-falling-out dream? And what does it mean when a recurring dream leaves you, potentially forever?
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3 comments:
Oh my gosh, I've had this exact. same. dream!!! Well, in mine, my teeth always crumble. But I had NO IDEA that other people had it, too. I know my husband hasn't. How weird. Maybe it is a religious thing...
I have no teeth falling out dreams. But I do some weird recurrent dreams. Like the ones where my contact lens (outside of my eye) morphs to become about the size of a plate or turns from the translucent to an opaque vinyl bathtub shower-curtain type texture. I then attempt various strategies to shrink it or get it to fit in my eye.
The other one I've had frequently, even though I never really play horn anymore, is that I'm in a concert situation and there's a big horn part and the conductor gives a cue and I can't remember how to play. The other night, though, there was a strange twist. My 'horn' was a huge piece of pita bread. I couldn't figure out how in the world one was to make a sound come out, but all of my fellow-pitabread-horn-playing section mates could. Very weird.
I have teeth-coming-out recurring dreams, too. An ex's mom told me that in her culture (she was from PR), it portended the death of someone close to the dreamer. Given the sheer number of times I had this dream, however, everyone I love would be dead by now.
It's just your garden-variety anxiety dream, I think. I grind my teeth in my sleep, so that may be another 'cause' of the crazy dreamin'. I'm pretty sure I've mostly graduated to preaching-related anxiety dreams, but occasionally the teeth come back into action.
I also have a lot of other recurring dreams. There was a time when I repeatedly visited a certain town by train in my dreams; a town that, to the best of my knowledge, does not exist in real life. It was a pretty cool place to go, though.
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