Holding onto dream-feelings after waking up.

**makeastar** · 09-28-2012 10:30 PM

I was just reading the thread about feeling pain and this came to mind. I had a weird dream once where I was turning into a huge bird (harpy-like) and I woke up with pain in my gums from losing all my teeth, and my back hurt where the wings were supposed to sprout. I felt like crying. It sucked.

It's like I've got this weird habit of not letting go of dream-feelings when I wake up. Sometimes it's not even willingly, it just kinda sticks with me for a while.

I don't know how to explain it. For instance, I've never flown in real life (except on airplanes, but that doesn't count; I'm talking about actual flying, like sprouting wings and so on), but whenever I dream of it, I wake up actually feeling like I was just floating on air or something.

Sometimes I smell something or someone in a dream, and I remember it in real life even though there's no way I could, 'cause I haven't done it in reality. (Of course that's probably my brain making up shit. I doubt I'm smelling the actual scents in the dream. Unless I'm psychic, which, duh...

).

I actually woke up crying once because my boyfriend had cheated on me in my dream. I was aware that it wasn't actually him, but it just felt so horrible. And another time I woke feeling like I had a kid because I loved my dream-kid so much.

My recall is pretty good overall, could it be that I just remember my dreams too well, not only images and dialogues, but also those feelings?

Does anyone else get this? Like, ultra-vivid dreams that kind of never die?

**Sensei** · 09-28-2012 10:39 PM

Yes, I have been having dreams like this my whole life! a few years ago I found a best friend and had memories of her all through my life. Then I woke up and she was gone. I was sad for like a week, and then I realized that I should just be happy that I had a friend like that. My wife said that she had a dream that we had a daughter, and she was very sad when she woke up. I couldn't even imagine losing that much like that.

I have other feelings that follow me. normally heat or cold, but one time I could swear that there was someone standing ten feet away from me in the room, but I couldn't see anyone (you know the feeling of someone else being there, you may not notice it, but you would if you had the feeling when there was no one else around)

**ThisWitheredMan** · 09-28-2012 11:38 PM

I used to get this more before I seriously started LD'ing, most often in the form of perfect romances shattered by waking up. I'd be with some great girl, then wake up missing her or wishing she existed. I don't really get dreams like this as much anymore, though I think that's because the romantic in me is kinda over the idea of perfect romances and I no longer crave that sort of unrealistic thing. Now it seems like it's easier to detach from whatever I was feeling as I woke up, at least by the time I stand up out of bed. As far as sensations go like eating or smelling things, these things are no more or less real than your experiences while awake, so naturally your memory of them will be no different from "real" experiences. After all, as Morpheus tells us, "What is real? How do you define real? If you're talking about what you can feel, what you can smell, what you can taste and see, then real is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain."

**Carrot** · 09-29-2012 06:39 PM

Other than the ultra vividness in your dream, I think it could be a possibility that you're an emotional person too which is why the dream is having such a strong impact to you even after you woke up.

Talking about crying after a dream event happened, I dreamt that my grandma was really weak and she looked like she could pass away any minute. I woke up after the dream ended and cried finding my grandma.

**Intfere** · 10-02-2012 05:31 PM

I know what you mean. During the time I used to have nightmares I would often wake up feeling angry towards somebody, without remembering the dream or knowing why. Then if I made an effort to remember, I would recollect that I had a dream where they treated me badly. Feeling angry was a big hint that I had a bad dream about them.

But that never lasted more than a few hours, after that feelings weared off. I'm pretty sure that a few hours case was exceptional, too, all other cases lasted much shorter.

**makeastar** · 10-03-2012 04:50 AM

Originally Posted by BrandonBoss

Yes, I have been having dreams like this my whole life! a few years ago I found a best friend and had memories of her all through my life. Then I woke up and she was gone. I was sad for like a week, and then I realized that I should just be happy that I had a friend like that. My wife said that she had a dream that we had a daughter, and she was very sad when she woke up. I couldn't even imagine losing that much like that.

I have other feelings that follow me. normally heat or cold, but one time I could swear that there was someone standing ten feet away from me in the room, but I couldn't see anyone (you know the feeling of someone else being there, you may not notice it, but you would if you had the feeling when there was no one else around)

Aw, I'm so sorry. I've had a lot of awesome dream-friends, but never one that I missed after waking up. That's a bummer.

And I feel your wife's pain. I don't know what it's like to have a kid in real life, but I was such a loving mom in my dream, and my baby was so beautiful that I just wished I had her in real life. Maybe in a few years.

Originally Posted by Carrot

Other than the ultra vividness in your dream, I think it could be a possibility that you're an emotional person too which is why the dream is having such a strong impact to you even after you woke up.

Talking about crying after a dream event happened, I dreamt that my grandma was really weak and she looked like she could pass away any minute. I woke up after the dream ended and cried finding my grandma.

Everyone says I am very emotional, so I guess it does make sense that things would get intense combining my good recall/dream vividness with my emotional "problems."

Sorry about your grandma. I know the feeling. Losing people who are important to me is the worst thing ever, even if it's a dream.