Dreams and Dream Books

Car Crash Dream

Saturday, September 13, 2003

I woke at 9:30 a.m.

I was walking up the side of a road that lead to a major road or freeway. I saw two white flat-nosed (Mack?) semi-trailers turning down the road I was on. The rear one lost control and hit the one in front which then swerved towards me. I ran backwards (in slow motion?) trying to get away. The truck got closer and closer until I could almost touch it. I thought I was going to be hit but at the last moment it swerved to the right and missed me. I ran back down the road.

When I felt far enough away I looked back and saw a car crash near where I had been standing. I saw another car crash and a man jumped out and threw a large rock(?) at me - which I caught and threw on the ground. The man then hid in one of the other wrecks. I ran further down the road and sought refuge underneath a cliff.

I heard crashes from above - cars on the highway were hitting the barrier above me causing some dirt to fall. I didn't feel safe there and ran up the road again. I saw a car crash and a boy climb out of the back seat. I called to him and said, "It is safer here". We retreated closer to the cliff.

I woke up.

Context: Before going to bed my computer had frozen when I was playing a game. I decided to run Scandisk and other diagnostic programs. I also decided to do some maintenance on my computer

Mood: Anxious

Analysis: The crashing vehicles were probably computers. Viruses and 'Windows Quirks' (bugs) cause all types of problems. The man may be the person who sold me the computer or may be myself at this time. The boy may be a Linux distribution of some type. (I have thought of switching to Linux for all aspects of computing except gaming - therefore I would need a dual boot system. I think about it whenever I have Windows problems.)

Dreams

I usually don't analyze dreams unless they are troubling. I like to enjoy the story and see what happens. Sometimes I have Lucid Dreams and try to manipulate a troubling dream or wake myself up if it 'stupid' or frustrating. I try to record really vivid or interesting dreams so they can be used to stimulate my writing.

Sometimes analysis takes place on an unconscious level. One night I dreamt that several problems were building up at home. A strange small boy said open the door and I did. Richard Pryor and several other black guys came in and fixed the problems. Richard said to me: " Don't be afraid to ask for help." I then woke up.

I wrote down the dream but could not understand it because it had grown from another more confusing one. In the morning I thought: " Richard Pryor's hair caught on fire! - I must be thinking about 'Firemind' and my new diary. Writing about things does help me deal with them." This seemed a valid idea and it made me glad I had started a diary.

Dream Books

I usually avoid books full of dream interpretations. They are full of vague or silly notions that don't often help me. When I do read books about dreams I look for what else the book says about sleep and dreaming. I had read 'Dreams And What They Mean To You' by Migene Gonzalez-Wippler and liked what she said about the subject. I looked for the book in August but couldn't find it in the stores so I bought 'Understanding Dreams' by The Diagram Group. I read it periodically when I wasn't reading novels.

This morning I browsed the chapter on Symbolism (a typical listing of dream symbols that takes up most of the book). None of the motifs fit my dream. I then read the final chapter on dream diaries and finished the book. That chapter is the basis for the format used above.

The book has some interesting information about different cultural views of dreaming and the types of dreams but it isn't profound. It is a good introduction to dreams.