Buildings

Cuba building (Photo credit: @Doug88888)

         When I refer to "buildings" this does not include houses.  My "H" topic will be houses.  Buildings in my dreams are typically there as scenery or setting.   They are like the empty structures of a movie set and serve no actual function.  I often don't enter the buildings in my dreams, but merely see them.

          Since the buildings often look old and somewhat familiar, I believe that these buildings represent memory or past.  They are in the dreams to create a certain sense of comfort or normalcy, yet they evoke something in my mind that reminds me of other times and places in my life.

         Sometimes seeing these buildings instill me with an eerie feeling that may be related to deja vu or an apprehension of the unknown.   The buildings and surrounding areas are oftentimes unpopulated and desolate which adds to an ambiguous notion of fear.

         If during the dream I do enter a building, it is often very large with hallways that seem endless, many mysterious rooms, and old rickety interiors.    All of this would lead me to believe that the buildings represent the inner recesses of my mind or memory and my past history.

       What kinds of buildings do you see in your dreams?   Do you go inside of buildings in dreams?   What do you find if you do enter a dream building and how do you feel?

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A Dreamer On Vacation

"Open Your Eyes" by Ada Zdanowicz

How does dreamer location affect dream setting and content?      

         In a past post I discussed the concept of specified geographical locations as dream settings.  The places I typically dream about seem familiar within the dream, yet strange at the same time.  In other words, I will usually know where I am in a dream, but it will not look like the actual place in waking life or it will be an artificial setting that I accept as being real in the same way that a movie set will appear real when seen in the viewing of a film.

         If this explanation seems convoluted or weird, then that's because it is.  Dream setting and the sense of place can be difficult to explain.  In other words, a dreamer might accept the dream setting as being their house, but there are usually many peculiar differences that make that house a much different place that it is in real life.

Dreaming Away from Home

         Recently when I was on vacation traveling across the country and staying in different hotels or at my daughter's house, the settings in my dreams seemed to reflect the fact that I was dreaming away from home out of my own bed.  Unfortunately I do not recall any of the dreams as I did not make a point of remembering them upon awakening and I did not record any of them for future reference.  After all, I was on vacation wasn't I?

        However, I do recall being specifically aware that my dreaming mind knew that I was not at home and my dream setting reflected this.  This was a noticeable phenomena that stood out in my mind.  My dreams away from home had a distinctly different feel from the dreams I would normally experience in my own bed.  The settings continued to be strange, but within the dream context my mind had an awareness that I was traveling.  It's difficult to explain, but lets just say that perhaps the dreaming mind is aware of where the dreamers body is and when it is not in its normal sleep base then the mind somehow is able to convey this to the realm of the subconscious.

Why would dreams seem different when one is away from home?

       It seems obvious that new or different sensory stimulation would have a dramatic influence on ones dreaming mind when one is not at home.  Waking hours when traveling are often filled with a bombardment of new sights, sounds, and other assaults to the senses.  Especially if driving long distances, sensory stimulants are passing by so quickly that the mind cannot process everything at the time and may use the subconscious mind to sort things out in dreams.

      The affect of different surroundings, such as a hotel room, while sleeping can also undoubtedly have an influence on dreams and at times even provide a certain sense of disorientation or other mental affectation that can enter into the sleeping mind thereby swaying ones inner visions.  Likewise things like time zone shifts, changes in eating times, and other jolts to ones routine might cause dreams to feel vastly different than when at home.

       Could it even possibly be that external effects stemming from ones location in the universe influence what one dreams?   Perhaps there are force fields encompassing various areas of the Earth that can affect our bodies differently depending on where we are.  There could even conceivably be forces emanating from the stars or somewhere in the universe that pass through us in different ways depending on where we are.  These are all wild thoughts, but are they concepts that are totally inconceivable?

My Conclusion

       I'm sure we can think of many reasons logical and quite far-fetched that dreams away from home would seem different than dreams in ones own bed.  I will hold to the theory that most dreams are merely processing the day's activities and when that days activities involve relocating to another locale of sleep then the processing codes the new place to be interpreted as such in the dream.  The sensory overload of travel combined with the unfamiliarity of new sleep location provide us with a somewhat different dream experience than we are accustomed to.

       Did I thoroughly confuse you?   When you travel are your dreams different than the ones you have at home?   What do you think that travel or new sleep location does to the dreaming mind?   Do you think that external sources (fields, auras, and the like) change with geographical location and can influence dreams?   Have you ever slept in an area that some consider to be near a psychic or energy vortex (Sedona, Mount Shasta, Devils Tower, etc)?   Any stories to relate?

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Does Anyone Really Know What Time It Is?

Art by Ada

           Have you ever noticed what time of day it is in your dreams?   Is the time setting even identifiable as an actual time of day or is in a twilight zone of dream time?

            I can recall a few dreams which I know were nighttime settings.  For one thing it was dark.  Also there was some factor that indicated to me that it was night.   These dreams always have to do with something frightening or ominous.

           In the night dreams I can often see something awful happening in the distance.  There are lights in distant buildings that tell me that it is night.  Sometimes the setting seems to be during a time of war and other settings seem to be usually a vague disaster or crime.  Though I feel a sense of dread or even a fear, I am not terrified to extent of waking up.  The feeling is more like one that I might have while really getting into a scary movie and suspending all disbelief to the extreme.  It's an almost theatrical fear bordering the edge of the real thing.

           The majority of my dreams seem to be occurring in a sort of daytime setting.  I don't recall ever actually seeing the sun or even the day time sky in these dreams.  In a sense these dreams seem to take place indoors on a movie sound stage.  In fact my dreams are almost like movies--movies that make little logical sense.  But they hold my interest and are usually rather entertaining.

          Night?  Day?  Some ambiguous undefinable dream time?  Does it matter which?  I wonder if there is any significance when the time is identifiable or specified.   Unless the time setting has a specific bearing upon the dream story, I don't think the time means anything in particular.

          In a dream I may find that I'm late for something, but I don't ever recall knowing what time it is during the dream or what time I'm supposed to be somewhere.  The time itself never seems to have any importance, only the dream activity.  The state of being late, the anxiety of trying to get somewhere on time seems to be the main factor of the dream.  Feelings seem to trump specific details.

           Since dreams for the most part do not rely on any tangible fact or accuracy of time and space then the dream state is probably more a sensate realm of feeling and emotions.  The visual aspect of dreaming is merely symbolic cuing triggered by those feelings, releasing memories of our experiences and the perceptions of things we know.

            Do you usually associate your dreams with any particular time of day?   Do you find "dream nighttime" to be frightening?   Is the concept of light or dark noticeable in your dreams?



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