Frivolity

Dreaming can be such a nightmare

9 years ago
by SamMorto19
Kettlemag, Frivolity, Dreaming, Nightmare, Samantha Morton
Written by SamMorto19

Over the years scientists have explored why as humans we dream. There has been a lot of speculation on what could impact our dreams.

Could it be our diet, state of mind or are we just crazy when we dream about running away with the circus? (Yes, I actually had that dream).

Scientists have proven that when we sleep, dreams are a state of mind marked by increased brain activity. We can dream up to every 90 minutes during the time we’re asleep.

So does eating cheese before bed make you have a nightmare? Simple answer, its never been disproven, although it’s possibly psychological. It’s human nature to analyse situations. Bearing this in mind if you have a certain dream you will begin to look at the events in your life to try and explain why you had the dream. 

In the spirit of trying to prove I’m not going crazy when I dream and that I just have an overactive imagination, here’s my top three weirdest dreams:

Running off to join the circus

This dream occurred during my first year at University. Bearing in mind I studied Journalism… between Journalism and the circus is quite a big career jump. A jump I would have never been able to make because I have no gymnastic talent and I’m probably one of the most uncoordinated people in the world. If I tried juggling I’d probably just end up being hit repeatedly in the face by objects I was throwing around in the air.

Moral of the story, it gave me a good giggle but you won’t be seeing me taming a tiger any time soon.

Nightmare on My Street

You’ve probably all seen Wes Craven’s Nightmare on Elm Street? Well even now at 22 I still have an irrational fear of Freddy Krueger. This is something my family loves to play on by repeatedly singing ‘one, two, Freddy’s coming for you’ whenever I’m alone walking through the house at night. So my worst nightmare has got to be when I actually dreamt I was in a Freddy Krueger dream and he was coming to kill me.

Is he real? Was I a part of the movie in some alternate reality? Or am I just a big chicken that needs to remember horror movies aren’t real? I’m voting on being a chicken because I wouldn’t want to be in a world where stuff like that was real, its just too terrifying.

For those who do enjoy Freddy, here is a reminder of Nancy’s School Dream Scene…for the rest of us, look away now.

Heartbreaks

This ones for all you girls out there. Have you ever dreamt your boyfriend was cheating on you? I did, which resulted in the long silent treatment and evil looks in the morning.

So are these dreams some sort of premonition or are we just being paranoid and jealous?

The good news? He wasn’t, it was just a dream, although it’s surprising how much it impacted me emotionally; I was devastated just by the idea. After a moody couple of days I realised it was probably because before we went to sleep we had a disagreement and weren’t talking to each other. So I guess the old saying is right. You should never go to bed with a loved one angry.

Don’t over analyse your dreams, have fun with them.  They usually make for funny ice breakers if you’re ever in an awkward situation. There is meaning behind our dreams but unless you study dreams for a career you probably won’t come to any sort of conclusion about them. 

Instead learn from them, if you have a dream that you wish was reality then make it reality. See what you can do when you’re awake to change your life, not when you’re asleep. To quote my favourite film, as Dr. Frank-N-Furter would say ‘Don’t dream it, be it’. if you don’t know the reference, go watch The Rocky Horror Picture Show now for lots more frivolous fun.

If you want to read more about films and how they influence us, look out for our  film section looking at The Film That … coming soon in Kettle Mag!

 

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