Open Book.

Don't we all have some sort of dream/nightmare repertoire?

You know, the dreams that have popped in and out of your mind for as long as you can remember.

That same house. That same situation. Those same people.

Everything seems so familiar when you awake, but you're never quite sure if you've actually had the dream before or if your mind is just playing another trick on you.

My two most frequently reoccurring ones are oddly associated with my living quarters.

There is the secret room dream. In this dream, I'll find a secret, or rather undiscovered, room to my house. In this room will reside a home theater, a small bowling alley, a new computer or a gourmet kitchen -- basically anything my subconscious is yearning for during that particular slumber adventure.

The room always makes me deliriously happy and I walk around the house like a fool shouting "Why did I never see this room before? This room is great! And it's been here the entire time!"

And then, as always, I'll wake up and for a second or two, still believe that the room exists.

Another nighttime favorite is the slightly more intense "my house is on fire" dream.

Most of the time, the fire or other natural disaster threatening my house is never visibly apparent. Rather, I just know that I have to vacate and must get my important belongings out of the house.

And usually, I'm given just one big black Hefty bag to do the job.

That's the sort of dream I had last night.

The only item I can recall saving from the burning fire last night?

A childhood favorite, the Dr. Seuss book, My Book About Me.

Analyze that one, all you Hop on Pop psychologists.

If you read dollarshort regularly, then its meaning should be fairly obvious. Or maybe, I really don't have a clue what it means and just think I do.

The wacky mind.

Comments

[judith]

i still have - and love - my copy of My Book About Me - filled in when i was six. i remember that my mom got mad that a babysitter had helped me fill it in, as she'd probably hoped that we would do it together...

[denise]

in dreams, a house represents you and the different rooms are different aspects of your psyche. don't ask me what each room means, i couldn't tell you. but say, you were dreaming repeatedly about cleaning your house, that might mean you're working on some self improvement. maybe the house is on fire dream means you're stressed out? you need to save yourself from something?

[olga]

referencing the common house as self dreams--> the fact that you have a secret room where all your deepest desires are fulfilled.. would seem to mean that (however cliche it may appear) that you are walking around already in possession of the treasures that make you deliriously happy-- inside you. You just keep forgetting to look there. :)

[Patty]

The house on fire dream is a recurrent one for me. Only I'm trying to call 911 and I can't because my fingers are shaking and I dial the wrong number.

[Katherine]

If it weren't for My Book About Me I'd never have remembered / known that one of my earliest career aspirations was to be a milkman (milkwoman?). Mena - dollarshort is great... I've been lurking around here for a while but have never introduced myself. Keep up the good work!

[Ryan]

I also still have my My Book About Me... in fact, I have two of them, one fully filled out, the other partially. I remember, even at that age, worrying about having the "right" answers and scribbling out "I am good looking" and the checking it again, not quite sure how painful on the eyes I was at age 5.

[Jeff]

Denise's analysis seems plausible. Considering that you and Ben are a) looking for work and b) looking for a new house, it seems you are mentally preparing for change, cleaning house, so to speak.

Well, our time is up for today. That will be $125.

[dawn higgins]

I, too, have experienced recurring dreams... with the burning house, but where my legs are leaden and I can't run... I have to clutch at the grass to drag myself in order to escape!! I am happy to have discovered your site. :-) And I would like to buy the "All About Me" book to share with my daughter. Thanks for a pleasant visit.

[debbie]

Hey, I have that room dream too! Usually when I start running out of space. I open up the room and magically have more places to put things.