No, I’m not talking about someday having that nice house with a picket fence or being able to fit into a size five again. I am talking about when your head hits that pillow, what are you dreaming about? Do you remember your dreams? Have you ever pondered their interpretation?
I have very vivid dreams every night. A few times they have translated into gripping nightmares or deeply spiritual experiences. One night, I dreamed about my friend’s ailing mother whom I had never met. The dream was so lucid that I woke up in the middle of the night to drop him an email, letting him know I was thinking about them. I found out the next morning his mom had passed away at the same time as my dream.
Before you think I am some kind of soothsayer, let me assure you that most of the time, my dreams follow the same pattern: psychosis. And poor Jamie gets to hear allllll about them them in the morning.
There was that captivating dream when I rode to a desert island in a shark’s mouth. Or those many times I dreamed I was knocked up at BYU and was stressed because I could not get a date. Go figure.
But my most reoccurring dream is driving me nuts. I have had it in some version at least five times per week for the past few years: I am in my last semester of college with finals looming before me and I realize I have forgotten to go to class the entire semester.
Have you ever had a regular dream where you F-R-E-A-K O-U-T? That is me, running in circles, crazed that I will not graduate and trying to cram four months of work into a few days. Is it not enough that I live like this during the day but does it have to translate to nighttime, too?
It has been bugging me so much that I finally googled “dream interpretations” the other day. And do you know what I pieced together?
To dream that you forgot to attend a class you signed up for, indicates your anxieties and fear of failing. You may also be lacking self-confidence in your ability to handle new responsibilities or projects.
Gee. And I just thought it was a sign that maybe I should have gotten my Master’s Degree after all. 
So, what are your interpretations, oh Dream Senseis? What are you dreamin’ about and what do you think it means?
Editor’s Note: Angie left me the following comment:
I used to have that exact same kind of dream! I had it for years — high school, undergrad, masters — seriously, years!
Then, one time I read in a magazine that the psychologist writing the article said that he always calls it “the overachievers dream.” He said that the only people that have that kind of dream are the people that would never, ever let that happen in real life.
I will take her anal retentive overachiever interpretation over obsessive failure any day.
I'm a Canadian-born mom of two, former Denver Post columnist, family travel writer, editor of MileHighMamas.com and 9News contributor. Expert on all things Utah, Denver, family and travel. Lover of laughter and life. Happily married to a man obsessed with growing The Great Pumpkin. 