My Last Vivid Dream

My last vivid dream was a few years ago, I was probably eighteen or nineteen. I still remember the intensity of this dream and the feelings surfaced despite it being so long ago.

This dream, as most of my dreams, was in third person. The sun was shining abnormally bright through the full, healthy trees and a cooling breeze was making its rounds. I was standing at the foot of an open grave surrounded by many others who were gently crying and holding each other, leaving me feeling neutral and very unmoved. As everyone was taking in the reality of the loss of… whoever… the ground started rumbling. The crowd jumped and steadied themselves, parents lifted their children up, and the elderly fell. Shortly after the quakes, earthy brown vines of all sizes started shooting up from the ground and twisting through the air, causing the crowd to scatter. The vines seemed to aim for individuals rather than move blindly. Some would come from under a person, pushing them into the air, while another would hit them in midair. Many would aim for a straight collision to the chest or simply break bones. Of course I was running through all of this, dodging what I could. I felt instinctive. (You know when something REALLY bad is happening in real life, you lose fear. When you car is out of control, you accept that you may die. When you’re being mugged, you know that you may be stabbed even if you give up your money. When somebody that think dearly of is in trouble, you act.) Eventually a vine hits me center in the chest, knocking me into a tree. Immediately after, another vine wraps my entire body up against the tree.

**Time elapsed**

The vines crack slightly, then crumble into large pieces letting me fall to my knees. I’m breathing hard, but soon notice that my hand is clutching another’s hand. I look over to see a girl who was bound to the tree with me. We must have grabbed each other’s hands the split second between hitting the tree and being bound. I was absolutely terrified of this girl, not in a scared way, but terrified that I felt strongly of someone that I’d never exchanged a word with. She rose to her feet, still holding my hand, and tugged my arm gently. I stood up and we simply started walking away, though what seemed to be the apocalypse, never relieving our grip. I remember being more scared of how I felt about this girl than the fact that the world just ended. Hah.

I like that dream just because I experienced full emotion, not to mention the heightened senses that dreams can offer. I woke up with the butterflies in my stomach. This was a long time ago, but I still feel that it’s relevant to me. Can anyone spot key points in what I wrote? I think that I found somebody in the apocalypse is pretty nice.

- -Barrett

I really enjoyed this dream! One of my favorite types of dreams too is the one in which a deep emotional reaction occurs - and obviously this one truly stuck with you.

I'm no great interpreter of dreams, and I hold to the belief that people should choose their own interpretations, as our minds are too unique to offer on face interpretation, especially without even knowing someone first. But I also agree that outside perspectives can often be useful in helping people do that. Hopefully I can offer something to think about.

That said, what interested me was the transition from complete lack of emotion, to a numb, instinctive reaction, to a truly emotional experience of fear and caring for someone. It seemed as though, in phase 1, you're distanced, very emotionally in control, even at an event that would be emotional for most people. (Curious, if you had to guess, whose funeral would it be? Friend? Stranger? Some part of yourself?)

Then in phase 2, the safety and predictability of your world vanishes. You have no *time* for emotion - you're just surviving amidst chaos. You run from them, but there's no avoiding that they will catch up with you eventually. Finally, you're trapped, you have to surrender.

But then in phase 3, these forces that were previously so threatening crack and crumble and become harmless. At the same time, you make your first connection with a dream character - a very strong, caring bond that is scary for you. This person grabbed your hand just as the world was ending, and she's not your rescuer - she's just someone who was by your side during the worst, when violent forces brought you to your knees, and stayed by your side as you got up and prepared to deal with the aftermath.

This seems like a very hopeful dream to me. Perhaps it is your mind's way of telling you that sometimes we cut ourselves off, but when we let go of trying to always be in control, things that seem overpowering can lose their potency. We can find meaningful connection and support in ways that don't make us dependent and weak, but it requires us to be vulnerable.

Well, I hope some of that was helpful to you in one way or another. Thanks for sharing this beautiful dream.

-Maya

Wow, what a great introspect on that dream. I mainly wanted to share that experience because it's a frequent dream that haunts me, but I also thought that people may enjoy it. I'm glad that you did. A second motive was maybe I could get another view on it. I was half expecting a response of, "Well vines represent blah blah blah and a funeral represents blah blah and hands repres..." I don't feel that those kinds of dream symbols are static representations for everyone. Your view on it made my mouth hang open, heh. Everything you said is actually very, very relevant to me as an individual, particularly in the final full paragraph.

As far as who's funeral it was... It's obviously something significant to me since I was standing in the forefront with the masses behind me. Hard to imagine that a part of me would have so many people there. Maybe it had to do with the death of hope since disaster struck afterwards.

I'm still a little in awe of the new perspective you gave me because, like I’ve been saying, it’s still a relevant dream to me and having such a fresh view on it is a little bit of a mind shaking experience. Thank you, Maya. I hope you stick around here.

- -Barrett

Glad I could help Barrett... Keep up the cool dreams :)