Besides the dog, who drives me absolutely batty with his chewing and barking at construction workers outside our house, I don't really have any personal stress in my life right now. I don't have a job, I don't have any kids, and my only responsibility is to make a nice dinner and keep the house tidy. So why do I keep having the most stressful dreams?

Practically every single night since the beginning of September I have dreamed about school. Last year while I was subbing I used to have the Sub Nightmares all the time, and they started again about a week before I subbed in September. (Those are the ones where you show up and the teacher hasn't left you any instructions and you have to come up with something to teach all day.) But even after I quit subbing and haven't gotten called in a month, I have continued to have the nightmares. Sometimes I'm the sub, sometimes I'm a student, and once I was college roommates with one of the high school girls I abhored. Two nights ago I was back in high school: I forgot my locker combination and was late to physics. (For some reason, it's always physics when I'm the student, but at least I get to see all my high school buds and even Action Bruce -- jealous, Curt?) Last night I was a teacher trying to teach Moby Dick. No idea why. A few weeks ago I had to teach refraction of light through a prism.

So if I don't have any real stress in my life, why do I keep wigging out in my dreams? Why the constant forgot-to-do-my-homework panic when I don't have anything like that going on in my real life? I don't think that all dreams need to mean something, but I'm in class nearly every single night these days. I wake up all agitated, and I have this Reverse Reality thing going on where I have to calm myself down in the morning and remind myself that my real life is much less stressful than my sleep. What's the deal?

Sheesh, why can't I just build a go-cart with my ex-landlord?

Posted by: Sarah at 05:35 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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1 I think that as long as you're fully dressed in this dreams you'll be fine. I used to have the classic anxiety dreams about being late for class and not being able to find my room, and I was always either starkers or in my undies. It sounds to me like you just haven't adjusted to not teaching yet, and that it was a pretty traumatic experience. (Were you teaching on a base? Kids from military families?)

Posted by: Pericles at October 21, 2005 08:23 AM (EpPuP)

2 I'm jealous as long as you don't let Charlie chew your Action Bruce. You know I never got one of those...damnit Leenie! How could you forget me? Speaking of Leenie, I was at mile 23 cheering her on as she finished her first marathon the other weekend.

Posted by: Curtis at October 21, 2005 08:29 AM (lVKyj)

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