Recently, I viewed several TV clips where “grown ups” have sent children off to bed and wished them “Sweet Dreams.”

Though I have heard, or even spoken this to children, it got me thinking.

“Shocking Zulu!”

I began to wonder; do adults have “Sweet Dreams as well?”

Recently my life; work and leisure activities have changed. Not long ago, when I was working everyday, it would seem that every night I went to bed, I was so physically and mentally tired, that I fell into a deep sleep almost immediately. As far as my sleep profile went; I probably got 4-5 hours of decent sleep a night. Yes I had dreams, yes I remembered a lot of them, and yes, they were always in color. I seemed to notice that if I ate closer to bedtime, my body would naturally begin its active process of breaking down the recently eaten food. Well, if the body was working overtime physically, then the brain was also on “high alert,” and therefore my dreams would be more prevalent, extremely detailed and unfortunately slightly more deranged than usual. What is the usual? I’m not even sure at this point.

“Oy Vey!”

I have, on occasion, been afflicted with the most common disturbing dreams as many humans have, and the ones that are unique to Americans; forgetting the combination to their school lockers. I have also had the “falling” dream, the “flying” dream, and “driving the out of control car” dream, but I never had the “my teeth are falling out” dream, or the “being late for something” dream.

Speaking of the “late for something” dream, now would be an excellent time to address the important significance of the “late for something” dream. As an Irish-American, I don’t believe such a dream truly exists. I am not aware of any Irish-Americans “terrorized” by such a dream. In fact, it’s my opinion that many of “Us” are plagued by the opposite; the dream/nightmare of actually showing up on time for something and finding ourselves in an empty room wondering if we have chosen the wrong date, time, or meeting place. If that’s not bad enough, our “Golden Slumber” is further agitated by the continuation that when and if the other Irish Americans finally show up, they mock us terribly for arriving on time. Let’s not even talk about arriving early, because we’re talking about dreams here………not ridiculous fantasy.

My two main recurring dreams are about me back in the Navy and back in high school. My Navy dream is almost always the same; I have to stand Quarterdeck watch, and I can’t find my dress uniform, or I don’t have one. My school dream leaks down from college; two days before graduation, I am informed that sometime in my sophomore year, I “dropped” a math class and I no longer have the sufficient credits to graduate. In high school, this is improbable, but that doesn’t matter. In an odd force of cognitive ability, my brother taught me a way to “fight back” against the high school graduation dream. He has had the same dream and one day he told them, “Do you know what? I’m a grown man with a wife and daughter, and a good career. You can keep your diploma; I don’t need it!” Surprisingly, I have on occasion been able to use this method to repel this particular anxiety-driven dream.

In recent months, I seem to have gotten more sleep than ever before; six, seven, and even eight hours of sleep on occasion. “GASP!” This has caused new problems. With such resting time, I am now more aware of my dreams and have longer to engage with them. So far, this is not a bonus. Often, my dreams are SO vivid, chaotic, and filled with dialog that I am forced to get up in the middle of the night, and go surf the internet trying to distract my brain and derail my dreams. If I Immediately go back to bed, my mind only continues the dream as soon as I close my eyes. It’s exhausting.

I began to dread going off to bed at night.

So, are there any Sweet Dreams for Adults? Maybe, but there is something even better……

Stay Tuned for “Sweet Dreams ….Part Two.

All comments about your dreams are invited!