The vividness of dreams

How vivid are your dreams?

I have been wondering how vivid do you find your dreams? Visually my dreams lack all vividness. They are about as clear as squinting in a dark movie theater. I rarely see anyone, I just have a sense of different people being there and ‘knowing’ who is there. My dreams tend to annoy me. Its as if I know that I am dreaming, and just wish that I could get back to sleep. Other people seem to have visually vivid dreams, where they see things. I feel almost, if not completely blind in my dreams.

What are your dreams like?

I do get very vivid dreams at times. These dreams I enjoy so much because even the ambiance is there, I feel that I am really in these situations and wish sometimes that they never end. There are elements in my dreams that get repeated, like the time they take place–usually around dusk or almost nightime where the streets are empty and quiet and my feeling is that of being alone or loneliness. Sometimes, my cat would even be in one of these dreams, appearing around the corner or in the kitchen.

One of my favorites goes like this: A friend of mine drops me off at some place to do my laundry at some laundro-mat. I got out of the car with my laundry bag and she drives away. Then I notice I am standing alone in a place where there is no one in sight and all the buildings are empty and no activities are going on—a ghost town. Very much like the place we see in horror movies, maybe. When I try to make a phone call, I realize there aren’t any phones around. Worst, I don’t really know where I am as far as street address or city name. So, even if I walk home, I wouldn’t know which direction to turn.

Thank you for sharing Arctic.

May I ask you a few questions?

1. When you have these very vivid dreams do you actually
   see everything?

2. Does it look the same as seeing things when you are awake?

3. Do people look the same?

4. Do places?

5. Is the light usually dim in your dreams?

1. Yes. That is why my feeling/emotion changes depending on the situation because I see people’s facial expression, color (my cat is black and he appears black in my dream), and how stark or exciting the place is.

2. Yes. I once dreamed that I walked up to a house that seemed to be abandoned. But when I knocked on the door, someone opened it and allowed me in. The people in the house looked Asian to me, Malaysian to be exact. I asked if I could use their telephone, a man gladly pointed at it. That’s when I noticed the cobwebs on the corners of the room and dust on the table.

3. Yes. I have dreamed about my sister, my brother, and strangers. I could recognize people in my dream—my parents, my siblings, and a friend; and distinguish strangers.

4. Yes. I have dreamed about deserted roads, a deserted town, a city, and a quiet rural area. In fact, I have dreamed about swimming in a river and getting the feel of my body floating in the water.

5. No. Sometimes, it happens in broad daylight. But, as I have mentioned earlier, the most common time of the day is around dusk, or late afternoon, just when it begins to get dark but I could still see some things.

Arctic,

Thank you very much! I find this very exciting! This provides me with evidence that there are people who have very vivid dreams. It helps me to understand how other people experience their dreams. I never fully understood their impact on other people. Now I can begin to understand them better. Thank you!

I have pretty vivid dreams except for one point. I usually know that I am dreaming, and I sometimes have conscious controll over the dreams and can more or less decide what is happening. I also tend to fly (or its really more of a quick floating) alot in dreams…

Strange, not less than an hour ago I had this very same idea for a thread, and now I have found it already made.

When I was younger I used to have extremely vivid dreams full of that kind of orbiting symbolism that rises out of ones subconcious and finds form in the dream, but over the last 4 years or so their occurance has dwindled to the point where it is now a rarity for me to remeber my dreams at all. So I suffer from a similiar frustration as you Xanderman in that I rarely receive satisfaction from them any longer.

When I did have vivid dreams they often propelled me into thoughts that I would not have had otherwise.

I have very vivid dreams, though they were even more vivid when I was younger. About ten years ago I would oftentimes ask my parents things and they had no idea what I was talking about, because the thing I was refering to had only happened in my dreams.

Now I usually know what happened in my dreams, but it takes me a few seconds when I wake up. I’m often still laughing or crying when I wake up. Also, when I dream about important social interactions, this has a very deep impact on my life (like when I dream I’m best friends with someone who I barely know irl, I start behaving more friendly towards them because I have the feeling we’re best friends).

My thanks to everyone who has shared their experiences here.

Lucid dreaming, or being aware that you are dreaming, having control over your dreams is another topic that fascinates me. One of my good friends, Tommy has lucid dreams quite frequently. I feel so jealous of him. He first discovered the ability to lucid dream during puberty. So he used it originally to be intimate with girls he liked. Frequently in these lucid dreams he would be intimate with a girl who lived right on his block, because she was the closest attractive girl to his house.

Another friend of mine way back from high school, named Brian, had almost godlike powers over his lucid dreams. He could control everything, destroying and recreating the entire world according to his whim. He had a recurring character in his dreams, a sort of assistant who would help him micromanage his new creations.

My high school English teacher, Mr. Thomas used to tell stories about the complete vividness of his dreams. During his own years in high school he often didn’t know when he was dreaming and when he was awake. He found nicotine worked to help him differentiate between being awake and being in a super-vivid dream. He still smokes like a chimney to this day.

I used to have dreams all the time and they would be extremely vivid and everything would be nice and bright as if they were real. My dreams were usually pleasant. I think my favourite one (this is going to sound so stupid but it was nice) Was when i could fly and some people were trying to hunt me. But hey, i could fly, and i had to escape from them. But then i got really scared when i went into a playground and i didn’t have the power of flight anymore and had to run, the hunters were even like cartoony, something that could be portrayed in some Disney film or something.

But over the last i think 2 years, i practically don’t even dream anymore. Well i can’t remember any and when i do. They are so frustrating, because everything is so unbelievably dim. As if i have smoke constantly circling around my head and no matter how hard i peer or however close i get to something to make it brighter. It never does and becomes very annoying. I know what everything is but i can never see it as if it was a clear red cup or anything.

Thank you for sharing Lokei,

It sounds like we have a similar experience. I also feel frustrated with my dreams. They are so dim, I see nothing. Alas this has always been the case with me for as long as I can remember.

Can you think of anything that has changed in your life in the past few years? Different diet, different sleep pattern, new place of sleep etc?

If i told you, you probably couldn’t refer it to your life but i could give you some other factors that may had affected it.

Alright, well i think i’m younger than most of you, i’m 15 so take that into account.

I would say that i have slowly become more and more unhappy. I would say actually depressed for some of the stuff i do is… not rational lets put it. I’m not going to blab on about my life unless you want me to turn into old, senile man mode and sit on my toadstool over a “Old Jimmy’s Tobac” pipe or whatever.

But, i have been moved to a school where you don’t get much of a life but work and to pretty much escape work you have to just NOT DO IT. This is because the Headmaster is obsessed with making it one of the top schools in the country. And, i think it is pretty much there by the rating it stands by.

Diet… mmm… i think mine may have improved as i eat to an extent which is not unhealthy. I’m not saying i was fat when i was younger, just i think i ate more cakes than “proper food” as my mother used to put it.

Sleep patterns, i don’t usually go to bed early, i’m not going to brag about how i go to bed sooo late and thinks it’s really cool to do so but if i find it difficult to get to sleep. I go to bed pretty late and get up at a time fit for the national bum after being on a binge for 3 days.

I guess, it may be having different interests to what i used to have. But i solely blame my frustrating dreams on my depressive life. I don’t want any sympathy from you, i am just answering your question xanderman. Maybe you also feel depressed, i think it may be a misunderstanding or something that you wish to understand but unable to accomplish. I seemt o get this a lot in my life. Especially Maths and Sciences, If Sciences were obliterated then i would be more content in coming to school on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Lokei,

Thank you for you feedback. I have battled with major depression in my past. I wish you the best of luck in dealing with you own depression. I like your suggestion that there may be something that I am trying to understand but that I am unable to understand. I think there may be something to that idea.

I think depression is an actual part of my personality. I sometimes like to tell myself that i am depressed.

That way i have a reason for everything wrong in my life. Actually there are things wrong that others find horrifying but i really can’t see them as that bad maybe because i am too naive to understand them.

What did you suffer depression from xanderman? If i could ask you that. And how bad was it? If i could ask you that as well?