- Nov 18, 2005
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Last night was the first time that it happened in many years, but it was slightly terrifying.
But, looking back on it now, I can't help but laugh hysterically.
So it went down like this:
Was sleeping. This is a given. Must have been dreaming, but I woke up. Definitely was my first REM cycle, hell I wasn't even aware I had been asleep long enough to have a true dream at this point, was a night I went to bed too late compared to the time I had to wake up (which I also fucked that part up, but that's kind of beside the point).
I wake up from said dream. This is the part where it gets very comical in retrospect.
My dreams can be very surreal. Sometimes they are very vivid, and on many occasion I have had to ask someone if I talked to them about something, or if something specific happened, because I'll have a dream that was so lifelike, I remember the next day or later in the week as if it actually happened. A lot of my dreams I'll almost completely forget, but sometimes they feel so real that my mind sometimes plays tricks and makes me think they were real too.
This dream was kind of one of those. Though, the dream itself I basically don't remember at all, but what it was about I do.
In my sleep, I think I was dreaming I was asleep. But in my dream, I woke up to find I had my hooded sweatshirt on my bed. And in that hooded sweatshirt I saw I snake. Yes, a snake. Well, it must have been at that exact moment that I woke up in reality. But, everything that happened in that dream I felt had just really happened. So, I throw most of my cover and sheet off the bed and one very fast motion, and proceed to basically freak out. Not knowing what really just happened in my moment of terror, I realize that I still think a snake was just on my bed and I proceed to snap up and jump out of my bed. The room is completely dark. My roommate walks in at that moment too, sheer coincidence, and I basically tell him to turn on the light. He does, and he asks whats up, as the way I said it and my behavior basically convinces him I'm kind of confused, scared, or something.
So... I tell him I thought I saw a snake on my bed, and at this moment I begin to get very confused. It's kind of like... I don't know WHY there was a snake on my bed, but I'm still kind of convinced there was. So I am start shifting through my sheets very carefully, and kind of start looking all around my bed. And then I remember that I apparently threw my hoodie off my bed, but where my hoodie is in relation to my bed just doesn't make sense. Then I get even more confused.
Now my brain is just spinning, I just don't understand what is really happening. My roommate appears even more confused, and as he asks again, I just don't know how to respond. It was like my unconscious mind didn't really believe what was happening and was trying to tell me that it wasn't real, but my conscious mind was like "there's a fucking snake in your room!".. but my unconscious mind was trying to control my thoughts and I was just like "... I don't really know..."
And then I decide that it's gotta be safe... either the snake is still around, or whatever... I need to sleep. Then I start figuring... no way a snake is in my room. It's central Ohio, dead of the winter, and I'm on the 4th floor of an apartment dorm building that likely is not a place a snake will wonder into. So I fall back asleep. I think I wake up an hour later and get confused and scared again, as I remember jumping out of bed, turning my desk lamp on and scanning the room once again, before trying to fall asleep once again.
We were talking about it earlier this evening and just cracking up. I don't understand how I felt this was all so damn real. It was almost like I was sleep walking, but sleepwalkers don't typically remember anything they do. I remembered everything except the specifics of whatever my dream was, other than the basic element of fear, and what I was afraid of, that happened in the dream.
It's just so weird. Something very similar, but with a different animal, happened probably about 7 or so years ago back when I was living at home. Thought a squirrel, raccoon, or opossum had gotten into the house and into my room. I was just as freaked then too, and my behavior was basically the exact same. Took quite a lot for me to tell myself it could not have been real, but as I tried to fall asleep, that element of fear would persist for quite awhile.
It was easier to control this time as I am older than I was then, more mature and more able to handle the creepiness that can be night terrors, but still... convincing yourself that what you just thought was so real was in fact not real can be quite a bit of effort. Thankfully I fell back asleep a good bit faster this time around, but then again, I woke up yet again with the same primal fear but the second time disappeared even faster as I was able to get back asleep almost right away.
Ugh. My mind is too damn creative and extremely photographic/visual at times. Sometimes it can be a blessing, but I swear at night it becomes a curse more often than not. My dreams/nightmares can be so damned shocking. Rarely are they truly terrifying, but they often have a true impact and can be so startling and can even cause true concern as they often bring sorrow/fear into the picture, either for myself, family, or friends.
Anyone experience anything similar?
Quite a post, yes... but it's rather entertaining in hindsight so I thought it'd be fun to share.
But, looking back on it now, I can't help but laugh hysterically.
So it went down like this:
Was sleeping. This is a given. Must have been dreaming, but I woke up. Definitely was my first REM cycle, hell I wasn't even aware I had been asleep long enough to have a true dream at this point, was a night I went to bed too late compared to the time I had to wake up (which I also fucked that part up, but that's kind of beside the point).
I wake up from said dream. This is the part where it gets very comical in retrospect.
My dreams can be very surreal. Sometimes they are very vivid, and on many occasion I have had to ask someone if I talked to them about something, or if something specific happened, because I'll have a dream that was so lifelike, I remember the next day or later in the week as if it actually happened. A lot of my dreams I'll almost completely forget, but sometimes they feel so real that my mind sometimes plays tricks and makes me think they were real too.
This dream was kind of one of those. Though, the dream itself I basically don't remember at all, but what it was about I do.
In my sleep, I think I was dreaming I was asleep. But in my dream, I woke up to find I had my hooded sweatshirt on my bed. And in that hooded sweatshirt I saw I snake. Yes, a snake. Well, it must have been at that exact moment that I woke up in reality. But, everything that happened in that dream I felt had just really happened. So, I throw most of my cover and sheet off the bed and one very fast motion, and proceed to basically freak out. Not knowing what really just happened in my moment of terror, I realize that I still think a snake was just on my bed and I proceed to snap up and jump out of my bed. The room is completely dark. My roommate walks in at that moment too, sheer coincidence, and I basically tell him to turn on the light. He does, and he asks whats up, as the way I said it and my behavior basically convinces him I'm kind of confused, scared, or something.
So... I tell him I thought I saw a snake on my bed, and at this moment I begin to get very confused. It's kind of like... I don't know WHY there was a snake on my bed, but I'm still kind of convinced there was. So I am start shifting through my sheets very carefully, and kind of start looking all around my bed. And then I remember that I apparently threw my hoodie off my bed, but where my hoodie is in relation to my bed just doesn't make sense. Then I get even more confused.
Now my brain is just spinning, I just don't understand what is really happening. My roommate appears even more confused, and as he asks again, I just don't know how to respond. It was like my unconscious mind didn't really believe what was happening and was trying to tell me that it wasn't real, but my conscious mind was like "there's a fucking snake in your room!".. but my unconscious mind was trying to control my thoughts and I was just like "... I don't really know..."
And then I decide that it's gotta be safe... either the snake is still around, or whatever... I need to sleep. Then I start figuring... no way a snake is in my room. It's central Ohio, dead of the winter, and I'm on the 4th floor of an apartment dorm building that likely is not a place a snake will wonder into. So I fall back asleep. I think I wake up an hour later and get confused and scared again, as I remember jumping out of bed, turning my desk lamp on and scanning the room once again, before trying to fall asleep once again.
We were talking about it earlier this evening and just cracking up. I don't understand how I felt this was all so damn real. It was almost like I was sleep walking, but sleepwalkers don't typically remember anything they do. I remembered everything except the specifics of whatever my dream was, other than the basic element of fear, and what I was afraid of, that happened in the dream.
It's just so weird. Something very similar, but with a different animal, happened probably about 7 or so years ago back when I was living at home. Thought a squirrel, raccoon, or opossum had gotten into the house and into my room. I was just as freaked then too, and my behavior was basically the exact same. Took quite a lot for me to tell myself it could not have been real, but as I tried to fall asleep, that element of fear would persist for quite awhile.
It was easier to control this time as I am older than I was then, more mature and more able to handle the creepiness that can be night terrors, but still... convincing yourself that what you just thought was so real was in fact not real can be quite a bit of effort. Thankfully I fell back asleep a good bit faster this time around, but then again, I woke up yet again with the same primal fear but the second time disappeared even faster as I was able to get back asleep almost right away.
Ugh. My mind is too damn creative and extremely photographic/visual at times. Sometimes it can be a blessing, but I swear at night it becomes a curse more often than not. My dreams/nightmares can be so damned shocking. Rarely are they truly terrifying, but they often have a true impact and can be so startling and can even cause true concern as they often bring sorrow/fear into the picture, either for myself, family, or friends.
Anyone experience anything similar?
Quite a post, yes... but it's rather entertaining in hindsight so I thought it'd be fun to share.
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