Dreaming vs Physical Reality

[Selski]

Does this happen to anyone else?

Because I take so much notice of my dreams, there are occasions where I think back and I really don't know whether it was "real" or happened in a dream.

I've just spent the last 6 hours looking for a very important letter, which due to its importance could only be in a few places in the house.

Finally I have come to the conclusion that the letter never existed in physical reality, and I dreamed it all up.

It's very annoying, and it happens to me a lot  

Sarah

[jilola]

Ditto. That happens to me a lot as well - at times almost daily. It seems to me to be a case of perception have become loosened from the waking reality perspective.

2cents & L&L
Jouni

[alexd]

One time I had a memory that I thought was real but in truth only half of it was real. I could tell this because the other part of the memory didn't make sense. I confirmed with the person the memory related that it was only partly true. I don't know how dreams interlace reality in this way but obviously it happened because my mind is usually quite stable.

I do think that there is a point where dreams and reality blur though. It would be useful to know what can be done, to sharpen the lines between dream and reality.


Alex

[aarong11]

The same happens to me too. Once I went down to the fridge and wondered where my cake had gone. I went and asked my mum if she'd ate it. She asked me what cake I meant. It turned out there was never really a cake - It was just a dream. It seems to happen more frequently when the dreams are more lucid. Nothing to worry about though, if your dream is that realistic, it's just your brain confusing the two.

[wisp]

Selski,
I have to grab what little of a dream I can (remember) and write it in my journal. I think it's grand when dreams are remembered!

I can make a clear distinction between dreams and waking.  Only once I experienced an earthquake which didn't happen according to my mother some years later!?

I have perception differences which come in the form of memory distortions. I can give many examples of what I mean. I recently visited an aunt. While there I noticed no phone visible. Later, I remember a phone sitting right in front of me, as BIG as day. Telephones come and go in my line of vision for some reason. This is related to unconscious dreaming I suspect. Furniture is another common thing to get displaced in my memory vs waking reality.

I can sure understand how a dream can get mixed into waking reality. I didn't understand my perception quirks until I experienced a few years of remembering dreams on a regular basis.

I don't know if this makes sense. Another example to help clarify what I mean is.... I've lost a couple of items. I've been looking for several months. Every time I recall where these items were, their located in this table drawer...but...the table they were in (my visual memory) is located in a part of the house this table has never been (in this reality)! It's weird, and it seems these items have just disappeared!

edit: Nevermind this statement

I can make a clear distinction between dreams and waking.  

[Selski]

Wisp

Thanks for the response.  Gosh, I remember my dreams incredibly well.  

Funny you mention telephones – I can't see plants.  In fact, I'm not very observant generally.  But plants especially.  I'm talking waking reality here.  I can walk into a conservatory full of plants, walk out again and if someone asks me to describe the conservatory, I'll miss out all of the plants, lol!

Re: your last paragraph – are you saying that physical items have been lost, and when you remember where they are, you are remembering them being in a table that doesn't exist, or in a table that does exist, but in a different part of the house to where the physical table is?  And you still can't find the physical items?  That's weird.

I also have dreams where I go somewhere and recognise the place from a previous dream.  However, I can't recall the previous dream at all.  The worst of all is when I get snatches of recognition of a dream and fleeting images come into my mind throughout the day, but I can't quite fit the pieces together - it's like having a tune on the tip of your tongue that you can't remember - infuriating.

No wonder I talk to myself...

Sarah

[wisp]

Selski,

I remember my dreams incredibly well.

Lucky you. I've always wanted to, and it did happen for 6 years. The dreams (remembered) come about 5-9 times a month now for me. Better than none I guess. I do get the essense of the dreams, that their good. If I can remember just one thing in a dream it helps me remember.

I know what you mean about the plants, same here with obvious things.I'm not a good navigator about town either. There is this huge graveyard in the middle of town. I didn't discover it until after being here for umpteen years! I always thought the place had only one of them (in another section of town). It always looked like a park.  

a table that does exist, but in a different part of the house to where the physical table is? And you still can't find the physical items

Yes, this is what I mean. Or...the furniture (like the one I mentioned) is not turned in the same direction, a different place and/or a different direction. I know for sure the items are somewhere and they'll both show up sooner or later. It is weird!

Speaking of weird. Keep a dream journal and a separate day journal. It's very interesting how confusing that gets. I won't tell you what weird stuff can happen. Check it out. I'm not sure though, it got weird because I was writing other people's dreams in my dream journal.They wouldn't write their dreams down so I could interpret them, so I wrote them out for them. I won't do that anymore. If someone isn't interested enough, I don't bother!

[-lines-]

The mixing of the two has got to do with the memory of the dream being put into long term memory. You don't have the memory of when it happened, just that it did. It's like when I wake up in the morning, trying to remember why my alarm is ringing. That confusion is because the short term memory of the dream is still interfering with my thoughts (plus I'm in a daze after the dream). I think it's similar to that, because once you remember the dream, it's usually thrown into long term memory so you can remember about it years later (just sometimes the fact that it was a dream is lost).

[Selski]

I've always wanted to, and it did happen for 6 years. The dreams (remembered) come about 5-9 times a month now for me. !

What changed?  I find it sad that at one time you could remember them, and now only so few times a month?  I'd be mortified if I lost my memory of dreams - I adore them.

I'm not a good navigator about town either. !

We have a lot in common - when I go into a shop, I have to tell myself which way to carry on walking when I leave the shop, otherwise I'll just walk back on myself without realising!!  I wonder what that's all about.  I feel like a dizzy blond at times, even though I'm not blond!

Speaking of weird. Keep a dream journal and a separate day journal. It's very interesting how confusing that gets. I won't tell you what weird stuff can happen. Check it out.

I like weird things so I'll definitely try this out.  However, I'm not too sure how I'm going to get time to live my life with all these journals to complete!!  

Thanks wisp

Sarah

[Selski]

Oops - I didn't mean to appear rude, only responding to wisp - so thank you jilola, alexd and aarong11 for responding too.  That cake made me laugh out loud aarong11!!

And -lines- I think you're onto something there.  Thank you.

Sarah

[wisp]

Sekski,
Oh yeah, I adore dreams too!!!!Someone like me should have more to remember than the few I get to recall.

when I go into a shop, I have to tell myself which way to carry on walking when I leave the shop, otherwise I'll just walk back on myself without realising!! I wonder what that's all about

Do you mean you draw a blank? I've never heard of "walking back on myself", do you mean you project spontaneously?  

The subject of this thread is much bigger than what can be contained in a few lines of conversation. This is a very interesting subject.

Well, true on the time factor when journalling. That's why I've never gotten around to typing up my dreams. I stopped making a separate journal for waking experiences. I just started making notations in my dream journal after a while (so later I could recall the experience better).It's still an interesting experience if you haven't done it yet.

[Selski]

Do you mean you draw a blank? I've never heard of "walking back on myself", do you mean you project spontaneously?

I mean in physical reality!  I'm clueless.

It's still an interesting experience if you haven't done it yet.

Not yet - but I plan to.

Sarah

PS  I still think that letter will turn up... I've even started looking in silly places like the breadbin  

[GeKKo]

I also have that stuff: I sometimes think I did all my chores, to wake up to a pile of work :-/.

Also be aware that there are occasions where the line between reality and dream state actually blur (without one noticing).

If you stay awake for (too) long, this happens... I was told that being awake for a (really) long time can be damaging to your brain, so watch out with this one :)...

Normally I would say you could start having it if you go on for 3 days without sleep (around 70hours or so). It is also possible that you get this experience if you don't sleep enough on a regular basis (for instance skip one night every 3 nights) but it is harder to predict, and the experience isn't as thorough. Most people get it a lot sooner than that.

You will be sitting in your chair, doing stuff, and afterwards you don't know if you actually did it or not. It is similar to dreaming awake, only here you can't make the distinction. It can lead to funny circumstances if you are with more than one person (it is also easier to stay awake when you're not alone).

The sleep you have after staying awake too long will be extremely deep (in my experience) and be intermingled with the stuff you did those past days you did not sleep, so also here the distinction may be unclear; and lead to false memories.

[Selski]

If you stay awake for (too) long, this happens... I was told that being awake for a (really) long time can be damaging to your brain, so watch out with this one ...

Normally I would say you could start having it if you go on for 3 days without sleep (around 70hours or so).

Hi GeKKo

I'm the opposite.  My favourite pastime is sleep  

However, when I was young and impressionable, I met a young fellow in a nightclub who claimed he hadn't slept for 4 days.  In those days, we didn't have much money and it was either a packet of ciggies or a taxi home.  The ciggies always won and we walked home.  My best friend and I ended up walking home with this guy.  He was so sleep-deprived he couldn't remember his name.  It appeared to be genuine - however I was young and impressionable - he was probably stuffed to the eyeballs with drugs!  

I wouldn't advise it myself, I couldn't bear missing out on my 10 hours a night...    

Sarah

[GeKKo]

I'm the opposite.  My favourite pastime is sleep  
(...)
I wouldn't advise it myself, I couldn't bear missing out on my 10 hours a night...    

Dont get me wrong i love to sleep, it just so happens I do not always find the time to do so

[wisp]

Selski,

when I go into a shop, I have to tell myself which way to carry on walking when I leave the shop, otherwise I'll just walk back on myself without realising!! I wonder what that's all about?  

Okay, I think I'm beginning to understand what you mean. Could it be your just sensitive to your environment and all the continuous changes taking place right before your eyes, in some way?

One of my friends and I have taken notice of trends along these lines. My friend wants to move on but is drawn toward the mystery of her synchronicity with people where she grew up. I'm drawn to the same thing in an environmental sort of way. It's not so confusing as being able to understand what is going on, imo.

Please say so if I'm on the wrong track of what your talking about, Selski.

Hope this makes sense. This gal is also my aura reading subject   . She is beginning to read auras too! I need to post our last session somewhere.It was very interesting. I believe auras are closely related to dreams, if I'm stating this right.  

[leoxamex21]

some times in dreams our spirits jump to other places, realitys , universes, planes ore whatever theyare, and things are in similar positions, but not really the same places, for example you see a relative in your dream and you see, he or she is wearing a wrist watch. you notice it was cool so you remenber it its inprinted in your memory
(same case if item is terrebly ugly)
next time you see he or she you ask about the watch an they say what watch?

comments?

[Selski]

Hi leoxamex21

Interesting possibility.  What makes it more likely is the fact that when you are dreaming, you don't seem to be aware of the anomalies that arise.  

For instance, you might be in a room with your best friend, your secret lover, your deceased grandmother, and your first pet goldfish, who are all getting along famously, and this seems perfectly normal to you in dreamtime.

And sometime later, when you are very much awake, you mention to your best friend the fact that they were getting on very well with your secret lover... oops.  

Sarah