What Dreams May Come

I've always wondered what the significance of dreams are. They have to have some purpose, even if just to entertain our minds while we rest.

All dreams are generally by definition weird - not like reality. My dreams seem to usually fit part of my life in them, but add other parts that seem to have nothing to do with anything. I remember a recurring dream I had in 1st grade...well, I was starting 1st grade. My mom had taken me to see the school to where I would be walking each day when school started. I dreamt that night, and every night until I walked to school the first time, that I walked to the end of the street and I had to turn right. The school was to the left. And to the right, the road suddenly dropped off like the Grand Canyon. There was a huge fire pit in the bottom and a tiny little narrow road leading across the ravine. At the very end of the road I could see witches brewing something in a large cauldron.

I would stare into the direction of the witches and I'd turn around to run back home, but by the time I turned around, the street from which I came was gone! I was stuck on this little piece of land with fire all around me and the witches were coming toward me. Then I'd wake up, terrified to walk to school.

Another dream I remember pretty vividly, that I won't go into too much detail about, was when I was 14. I woke up (in my dream) in my bedroom. It was in the middle of the night, but there was a spiritual war going on outside. The sky was orange and red and there were people running around everywhere screaming. I looked out my second story window and could see huge angels standing watch over my house. They were three stories tall, white, beautiful, gentle but fierce at the same time. I didn't talk to them, but their feeling told me they needed my help. This is the crazy part - they wanted me to lead people to hell. Yeah, fun job. I had to take people they told me needed to be led to hell. The funny part, hell had this "now serving" sign lit up at the entrance (like in the Disney cartoon movie Hercules).

After my duty was fulfilled, I could go to heaven. But by the time I was finished, heaven was full. The only thing the angels could do was get me into Panda Heaven. I hated it. The walls were all white and all I could eat were bamboo sticks. Bleh. Luckily, I woke up after that.

Those are some of the whacky dreams I've had, but I've also had some dreams that somehow became a reality. Two sad ones I never want to remember, but occasionally do, are the dreams I had before my cat Scat and my dog McKyna died. They died within a week of each other, and I had dreams about both of them dying the week before it happened.

I saw Sheldon's face in a dream in Alaska before I'd ever met him. The weird part...I just saw his face. He didn't have a body. Crazy. I'm not the crazy psychic lady or anything. I don't even know that I believe in the ability to be psychic. I'd just like to know why my dreams tend to show me parts of my life before they happen, and why they show those parts.

The reason I bring all this up is because I've been struggling with what I want to do with my life. Those of you who've read my posts before know this. Well, I had a dream last night about a guy who kept handing me a packet and telling me to read it. It was information about being a lawyer. He said they (whoever "they" are) needed lawyers to work for their organization and he really wanted me to consider it. I never saw what this man looked like. I just saw his arm. The hand was wrinkled and tough and on his arm was a white jacket sleeve.

Now I'm not planning to run off to law school anytime soon, but I have been considering it in the future. As I mentioned before, I want to know what role dreams play, what purpose do they have? Can they direct us toward the path we're to take in the future? Can they steer us aways from bad decisions? Are they just pure unconscious entertainment for our minds?

I don't know the answers to any of these questions. But I'm anxious to see what dreams may come.