Your recurrent dreams in ER?

[Lsbcal]

I used to have a recurrent just after retiring about trying to find my desk and being outside of the institutional setting.

Here is one of mine that I now have even after years of ER:

Dream: I'm driving down the road. Now I notice that my car is ahead of me as I sit with my hands firmly on the wheel. Now it goes around a bend and I loose sight of it for awhile. Will I get lucky and steer correctly or .... ?

Analysis: This is obviously a loss of control dream. But things are going fine for me right now so why this dream? I mentioned it to DW. She said it's probably that you are getting older and are nervous about your future health. Bingo, I think she is right. Luckily my current health is excellent.



I don't very often remember my dreams but this one stuck in my mind.

Anyone want to share their dreams? You don't have to analyze it as that is certainly a speculative endeavor.

 

[aja8888]

Anyone want to share their dreams? You don't have to analyze it as that is certainly a speculative endeavor.

A friend of mine were discussing this last week (remembering dreams). Lately, I have had dreams of my late teen years with one of my old girlfriends just before I left for the military. I have no idea why, though.

 

[W2R]

I haven't had recurrent dreams since I retired. I had them when working, though.

But anyway, I had a great dream the night before last that I'm sure some ER forum members can relate to.

(As background, I need to mention that starting in July, my monthly SS deposits are actually scheduled to increase by an additional $555/month and I am pretty excited about that.)

Anyway, in my dream, I dreamed that the increase turned out to be $5,550/month instead of $550/month! In the dream, I went to SS and confessed that I was getting more than I should. But SS said, "No you're not! and stop bothering us!"

So, during the rest of the dream F and I were running around town Blowing that Dough.... That was fun.

 

[easysurfer]

I still occasionally have recurrent w*rk dreams, but they aren't as frequent or intense as when I had just FIRE'd. The dreams (well, nightmares) would go that I was still plugging away at megacorp, but on a volunteer basis as is w*rking for months without pay. A recurring part is that I haven't filled out any time sheets so when megacorp finds out, I'd be in trouble.

But the good part is now usually towards the end of the dream, I realize that I'm FIRE'd or about to ER so in the dream, have a carefree attitude before waking up .

 

[RAE]

The one recurring dream that I have every so often involves me being hopelessly lost trying to find the right building and room for a class (or appointment) I'm supposed to be at. I keep wandering around looking for it, checking my watch for the time, etc., and never finding it. And sometimes (but not always) the dream goes on from there......I try to find the same building next week, and still can't find it. And that goes on for a few weeks, and now I'm really upset, because I need this class to graduate, and now I either have to drop it, or I'm going to flunk it, because I've never been to even one class. Bizarre, huh? And the funny thing is that I never had any problems finding the right building/classroom at college, and I rarely missed any classes. And I graduated right on time (actually a semester early). So I'm not sure what this dream means, but I kinda wish I could get rid of it!

 

[Bamaman]

My reoccurring dreams were while I was working. They were nightmares. Those in my company worked harder than anyone I ever knew, and the job was engrained in them 24 hrs. per day.

Now my dreams must be pleasant, as they are not remembered.

 

[candrew]

Although I dream during sleep, I can never recall what those dreams were about. OTH, DW recalls her dreams in vivid detail.

 

[Lsbcal]

I think it is possible to get better at remembering dreams. Maybe a good step is to immediately think back as you awake from sleep. Some of us would rather keep these thoughts back and out of conscious thoughts.

 

[Sunset]

I recently dreamed my Mother was running out of money, and I could see things were going to be tough for her.
Then I woke up and remembered she is dead, so it was just a silly dream.

 

[NW-Bound]

I recently dreamed that I somehow wandered back to megacorp. My badge still worked at the gate, so I went in. They were handing out PCs, nice fast ones, to employees so they could do work at home. I thought perhaps I should get one, because I might work for them again. And they encouraged me to take one.

Then, at home, before I set up the PC, I rethought the idea and asked myself what the heck I was doing. How could I get lured back to work so easily? No, I was going to return that PC to them, and said that I was really done with them. Then, I woke up.

 

[marko]

My recurrent dream is that I'm out in my hometown harbor in a small boat or raft, it is dark or twilight but the water is very very shallow, like maybe 2 or 3 feet deep. I'm maybe a mile away from shore but can get out and walk around in the eel grass.

In reality the water is maybe 20 or 30 feet deep.

I seldom, if ever, have a work dream despite 30+ years of enjoying my old work life.

 

[Nightcap]

The “can’t find the room / building” lost dreams are frequent, as are the ones where the sea is rising and waves are beating upon my home (that one means I have to get up to pee) and dreams that I have to give a presentation / preach a sermon / perform in a stage play and I’m unprepared.

“Bennie Noakes sits in front of a set tuned to SCANALYZER orbiting on Triptine and saying over and over, ‘Christ, what an imagination I’ve got!’”
— John Brunner, Stand on Zanzibar

 

[marko]

Part 2:
Another set of recurring dreams is that I'm in an area of my town that is completely wooded. I'm walking down a dirt footpath, down a hill, through a heavily wooded area. I know where I am because of a nearby road I'm familiar with. I can look around and see everything; other footpaths crossing, a stream, wildlife etc. It's always a hot summer day.

Here's the thing: The wooded area I'm in hasn't been that way for over 150 years. The dirt footpath is now a main road with a gas station; older, 100 year old homes are now where my dream said was just woods.

Memories from a past life?

Part 3:
Modern times dream. I'm in a town, driving a car. I've never been to this town; seems like in the Mid-West somewhere. A long stretch of city road; stores, McDonalds, strip malls etc. At the other end of the road is an older side of town; older buildings like a courthouse, town hall, police station. Shady streets with big, old trees. Big old-style mansion type homes.

I've never seen this town in real life but I tend to know my way around. In different dreams I go to different residential streets, down to a lake, get stuck in traffic, look at a house being built on a side street, just drive around but it's always the same town.

I've dreamt of this town a least a dozen times, but I know for sure I've never been there in real life or even seen it in a movie.

What's up with that?

 

[scrabbler1]

An occasional dream I had, mostly in the months just after I ERed in late 2008, was that I was supposed to be awake and scrambling around to catch my train to go to work. Then I would remember, I am RETIRED and don't have to make that despised commute any more! Phew.


And for some weird reason, like RAE, I would have a dream about missing a class in college (30+ years ago) and on the verge of flunking it because of that.

 

[Lsbcal]

...

And for some weird reason, like RAE, I would have a dream about missing a class in college (30+ years ago) and on the verge of flunking it because of that.

That seems to be a popular dream. I have had several along those lines. Being unprepared.

 

[easysurfer]

I had a missing class dream last night. Was supposed to go to a class of a grade school teacher. But each time I got close to finding the room the location would change. So close, and yet so far .

 

[Dash man]

Since ER I haven’t had any dreams that I can recall. Don’t even know if I dream at all. I used to dream a lot and remembered them in great detail. No idea why the change other than no stress.

 

[ABQ2015]

My occasional dream is that even though I've retired, I'm sneaking into the office to try and finish up a project. But I don't have my badge since I had to turn it in and am concerned that the security guard will come by making his rounds and ask to see it. I'd be in big trouble since it is a classified area so I have to be ready to hide if I see the guard. Of course it is not clear how I got into the building in the first place without a badge.

And I also had the college class dream - the class I needed to finish to get my degree before my employer of 30 years figured out that I was not actually an engineer and fired me. Maybe now the fear will be that they will take away my pension.

 

[Nemo2]

One I used to have, but haven't had for a while:

I show up for work at an office that I presume I work out of. I seem to recognize a few people, all of whom appear to be very busy and on top of whatever it is they're engaged in.

Me? I don't even have a clue what the damn company does!

I'm handed a huge file by someone I figure is my boss, and 'reminded' that I have a meeting with some (unknown to me) corporation in 30 minutes.

We're downtown, the address I've been given is downtown, so I hop on a bus hoping to play catch up.

I look out the bus window, I'm now the only passenger, and the bus is in the middle of the prairies. Not a structure in sight.

Then I wake up.

(Come to think of it, that was pretty much the scenario when I was employed. )

 

[jazz4cash]

It's the end of the month and the TSP report is due. I will have to work through the night to compile it to my usual standard but I know my colleagues are not so diligent so I'm tempted to lower my standards and go to bed. I used to have the dream once per month but not so often lately. Coming up on 3 yrs of ER.

 

[Redbugdave]

I have had this dream on occasion...last week was the last time.

I am at home and the phone rings. It is my old workplace. The guy at the workplace says that I need to come in and go back to work. I tell him that I have been retired more than 4 years. The guy at work says that does not matter...I just have to come back to work. I tell him that I have obligations and doing other things now. I feel the pressure of being forced to do something I don't want to do and that feeling of dread. Sometimes I wake up to realize they can't get me anymore and I have that euphoria of being free. If I don't wake up immediately, I distinctly remember that dream in the morning.

 

[Bir48die]

I have had no reoccurring dreams in retirement. It took me 20 years to stop having naked in class dreams once I graduated college.

 

[eytonxav]

I have not had any recurring dreams since getting out of college. For a while after that I would get recurring dreams of walking into an engineering final exam and being unprepared, what a nightmare.

 

[W2R]

I have had no reoccurring dreams in retirement. It took me 20 years to stop having naked in class dreams once I graduated college.

Oddly, I never had one of those apparently common naked-in-class dreams, or one of those late-for-a-final-exam dreams. I don't know why!

I actually WAS late for my Thermodynamics final exam, because my ex was overseas for work and I had to pick up our kid from school and drop her off at childcare, then drive to A&M and couldn't find a parking spot. I arrived about 20 minutes late, but the professor let me continue working on it for 20 minutes after everyone else left. What an amazingly nice thing for him to do. But I never dream about it.

 

[Lsbcal]

We apparently all dream at night and maybe we even have recurrent dreams we do not remember.

Here is a decent treatment of some facts about dreams: https://www.webmd.com/sleep-disorders/guide/dreaming-overview#1

Why Are Dreams Hard to Remember?
Researchers don't know for sure why dreams are easily forgotten. Maybe we are designed to forget our dreams because if we remembered all our dreams, we might not be able to distinguish dreams from real memories.

Also, it may be harder to remember dreams because during REM sleep our body may shut down systems in our brain responsible for creating memories. We may only remember dreams that occur just before we wake, when certain brain activities have been turned back on.

Some say our minds don't actually forget dreams, we just don't know how to access them. Dreams may be stored in our memory, waiting to be recalled. This notion may explain why you may suddenly remember a dream later in the day -- something may have happened to trigger the memory.

Tips for Dream Recall

If you are a sound sleeper and don't wake up until the morning, you are less likely to remember your dreams compared to people who wake up several times in the night. But here are some tips that may influence your ability to remember your dreams:
Wake up without an alarm. You are more likely to remember your dreams if you wake up naturally than with an alarm. Once the alarm goes off, your brain focuses on the annoying sound and turning it off and not your dream.
Remind yourself to remember. If you want to remember your dreams and make a conscious decision to do so, you are more likely to remember your dreams in the morning. Before you go to sleep, remind yourself that you want to remember your dream.
Dream playback. If you think about the dream right after waking, it may be easier to remember it later.