Sigmund Freud in,“Interpretation of Dreams,” wrote that dreams are “disguised fulfillments of repressed wishes,” and his theory contributed to the rise of dream interpretation. Scientists do know that just about everyone dreams every time they sleep, whether they remember it or not, but the bottom line is that while there are many theories, there has been no single consensus on why we dream.

According to Kendra Cherry in “Verywell Mind,” researchers have found that the nine most common dreams involve: 1. Dreams about falling, 2. Dreams about being naked in public,
3. Dreams about being chased, 4. Dreams about losing teeth, 5. Dreams about dying,
6. Dreams about taking a test, 7. Dreams about infidelity, 8. Dreams about flying, 9.Dreams about pregnancy (not necessarily in that order.)  There are lots of dream interpretation books, but some modern theories suggest that dreams may have a biological component such as sleep position.  

All I know is that I rarely remember my dreams, but when I do they don’t seem to fit into any category. For instance, I have an artist friend who has beautiful dreams in color. When I was a deadline writer, she would describe these beautiful panoramic dreams, while all I remembered was dreaming words in black and white going through my brain on a stock market ticker tape.  All night, words were passing through my mind, and NO! I never recalled any of them.

However, this morning, I woke up and my dream was so vivid that I remembered all of it, and maybe I have discovered a new category for analysis. What do you think?  Here it is:

I’m backstage waiting to give a speech. The audience are getting settled into their seats. I begin to  pull my speech notes out of my briefcase, and find that my notes are out of order as I pull out various Bloody Mary drink recipes,  which are interspersed with my notes and blank plastic sheets. I proceed to put my speech into order while throwing Bloody Mary recipes and plastic sheets onto the floor.

In the meantime, a woman, in charge of the event, goes to the microphone on the stage, but there is no sound. She calls out to the sound technician to fix the problem, and he shouts out that he is a member of the union, and is allowed a break. Finally, she threatens him with her umbrella, and he goes to the stage and fixes the mic.

The audience is grumbling. I go to the stage, and they give me a smattering of applause.  I begin my talk by giving them a recipe for making Bloody Marys.  THEN I WOKE UP.

I don’t know why I had this dream. I don’t know why I so vividly remember it. I wasn’t falling. I wasn’t naked, No one was chasing me, I had all of my teeth, I certainly wasn’t dying or taking a test, and I was neither flying  nor pregnant.  I wasn’t even upset during the dream or after I woke up—-and I slept like a log.

And, to top it off—I don’t even have a repressed wish to drink a Bloody Mary. Oh, Sigmund, where are you when I need you?

Esther Blumenfeld