I assume that I'm not different from the majority of people; thus, I assume that the dreaming that I've experienced over the past 75 years is, in general, in line with the dreaming of others. You might see how we compare.
As a child, I dreamed rather mundane dreams that no longer respond to my recollection, for the most part. I did dream one dream that resulted from my having stolen a piece of bubble gum (priced at one cent, which I obviously did not have, in those days) at age six. (My parents did a good job of instilling a sense of right vs wrong, and guilt, into my subconscience.) In that dream, Dad had pulled the family car into a filling station with the passenger side of the car (I was seated behind my mother who was the front-seat passenger) toward the towering pumps. As happened, there were actually two pumps (one for gasoline, one for kerosene) that stood about four feet tall in that dream - and - an angel stood abeam of me, where a third pump would have stood. The angel pointed its whole arm and pointy-finger at me, saying, "God is not pleased with you!!!!" Message received. (In reality, when I had started to chew the gum, I could not - I was choked up with guilt and discarded the gum shortly into my walk homeward.)
One other childhood dream that I recall involved a fountain pen (no ballpoints in those days) that I had lost at my grandmother's house. My dream told me where the pen was.
Moving along, I don't recall teen-aged dreams, at all; but, I know that when our children were young, most of my dreams were nightmares involving their being in danger and my being unable to save them from whatever the danger of the current dream might be. (I was always running toward them, interminably, never reaching them, for one thing.)
Aging on, while in my mid-30s, I had a dream in which I was being chased by a bad guy - a spy of some sort. Eventually, he chased me into a motel room. Boy! Did he ever get a surprise. I turned on him and killed the SOB! After killing him, I stuffed him up into the space over the dropped ceiling in the bathroom of the hotel room. That was the end of my nightmares! Message received. I now knew, in real life, that I was in charge of my life. Delicious!
Last night, for the second time in my life, I dreamed that I killed a man. I should have made notes on it. At this point (it's been a busy, busy day), I no longer recall the dream. All I know is that I killed a man who needed killing. Ah, me. How can I say, "message received" when I don't even recall the message?
If anyone was in tune with my brain, last night, please help me out with this. Tell me the content of the dream!
P.S. Before you ask, the man in my dream of 40 years ago was armed with a gun. I was not armed with anything but my wits and body. The man in my dream of last night was not armed - nor was I.
P.P.S. Bogie & Dudette--In deference to your sensibilities, I'll omit all reference to dreams of passion - lol! ; )
Presumably someone has annoyed/frustrated you, he wrote, ducking for cover.
In MY dreams I think I must be crossing a desert, because there are always lots of camel toes ;-)
Posted by: Ole Phat Stu | September 21, 2013 at 09:59 AM
Stu--Camel toes? If there is a hidden meaning in that, you will have to explain it to me, please.
Thanks for the help on my latest lethal dream. And here, all along, I've been thinking that my dreams reflect my timidity index. When my dreams portrayed me as being able to merely resist external forces but not to overcome them, it was pretty reflective of real life. I've always been able to survive, but I did not have the positive confidence that I associated with determining my own path in life. It was wonderful when I developed the confidence reflected in that first lethal dream.
I've noticed that in the past five years, my dreams are reflecting, not powerlessness, but less confidence in my abilities to cope with external forces. The latest dream may be my statement that, "I may be old, I'm not down, yet!"
Posted by: Cop Car | September 22, 2013 at 07:26 AM
@CC, if you have to ask, you don't really want to know ;-)
Stu
Posted by: Ole Phat Stu | September 22, 2013 at 11:46 AM
When I was a child my dreams were about food. As an adult, they were about bodies and sex. And they still are, sometimes. But the dreams that express my individuality are very mysterious and involve unpeopled houses and cityscapes. There is something impersonal and aesthetic about them.
Posted by: Hattie | September 22, 2013 at 11:49 AM
CC, stu is making one of his suggestive/off-color/whatever jokes. check it out: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camel_toe
Posted by: M.E. | September 22, 2013 at 06:28 PM
Cop Car: I woke up thinking about the strength and uniqueness of the dreams you've described in this post. Killed a guy! (two separate dreams and, I assume, two separate guys!) A tall angel joining the pumps at the gas station to point a finger at you for taking a piece of gum!? (Glory....you can remember dreams you had in childhood, even?) The strength and uniqueness seem to fit your waking persona.
Posted by: M.E. | September 23, 2013 at 07:20 AM
Hattie--I take it all back - implying that we all dream similarly. What ever was I thinking? Too, I flat out lied. I do recall that, as a teenager, I dreamed of arriving at school having forgotten the combination to my locker's lock - or without having remembered to wear clothing. Your aesthetic dreams would be different from anything that I have ever dreamed!
ME--Your pal Stu sent me an email, writing, "I...don’t want to embarrass you in your comments, lest you kill me ;-)" I'll ignore the implication that he thinks that I might do you harm!
Yes, the two guys were not the same one. I'm not Steven King! The best part of the earlier "strong" dream was that it signaled an end to nightmares that had demonstrated my feelings of powerlessness.
Posted by: Cop Car | September 23, 2013 at 07:37 AM
Camel toes - the visual on gets of a woman's nether regions when she is wearing really, really tight pants. Don't worry, I had to look it up the first time I heard of it last year.
Posted by: bogie | September 28, 2013 at 05:51 AM
Bogie--Many of the women whom I see in really, really tight pants are so overweight that they look more like an elephant's rear end.
Posted by: Cop Car | September 28, 2013 at 02:20 PM