MetaChat - OK, I saw the weirdest dream.

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10 April 2006

OK, I saw the weirdest dream. What does this mean? I'm happily asleep and I see a dream about MetaFilter where I'm being outed on MetaTalk and then chatting with jessamyn who points out strange posts from the past where I've used foreign languages and made all kinds of silly statements.

I wake up all confused. I still am.

post by: keijo at: 09:21 | 32 comments

Wierd weird weird, I dreamt about jessamyn last night too! For no reason in the world that I can think of, other than I was thinking about sending her a cd of some old Ted Leo music on Saturday, and I guess that was still on my mind. Anyway, we were watching a play.

posted by omiewise 10 April | 09:31

I always had dreams where I was being taken to task by perceived authority figures, like teachers or professors or employers, maybe it's an indication that you value the group opinion of metafilter.

posted by Space Coyote 10 April | 09:31

It sounds as though you suspect yourself of being all over the place lately. The fact that you didn't recognize your own writings, and that your public identity was something different than what you thought, might suggest that you are unconsciously worried about a disconnect between how you feel and how you're coming across.

Or I could be full of shit.

I had my first dream featuring a Meta* person -- it was YouCanCallMeAl. I forget about it now, but Al was writing something.

posted by Miko 10 April | 09:39

omiewise: Really weird. I've never even spoken to her in person. Hmm. Maybe I'm afraid of authority.

posted by keijo 10 April | 09:40

Miko, interesting interpretation. Perhaps I should get out more often if I start seeing dreams about jessamyn :)

posted by keijo 10 April | 09:46

I love that you *saw* instead of *had* the dream. As if it was not your own, but rather something that was presented or appeared to you.
A mind movie.

posted by Hellbient 10 April | 09:54

I like Space Coyote's take.

I had an internet people dream last night. . .the only metachatter was Ethylene, who was a very sensible, very large black man who I chastely crashed with on his matress on a floor in New Orleans. (I just figure Ethylene rhymes with New Orleans, at least the way I say the two things.)

posted by rainbaby 10 April | 10:00

You don't say that? Is that UK-specific? I get 46,100 hits in google for "saw a dream". Interesting. In my native language you say literally "to see a dream" not "have a dream".

Although I do see mind movies from time to time, where I am just watching a movie and not taking part.

posted by keijo 10 April | 10:03

I had the "in school and there's a test and I'm not ready" dream for the first time ever (that I can remember) last night. This is probably the most cliched dream I've had.

posted by Capn 10 April | 10:04

Capn, as long as you were not naked. That would be even more cliche.

posted by keijo 10 April | 10:36

Those archetypal dreams like Capn's are so interesting. Several years ago I had a dream that all my teeth crumbled and fell out. I had never heard of such a dream, but when I awoke, I said to myself "That dream was not the product of my own individual mind...it's gotta be one of those standard ones." I asked around and found that dreams of losing teeth are indeed a common, classic anxiety dream.

posted by Miko 10 April | 10:42

I had my first MeCha dream over the weekend too, about ethylene. I don't remember any specifics, I've been really sick and drifted in and out of sleep all weekend (and missed you folks, as well). But I remember she had a lovely voice, and was worried about me for some reason or another.

posted by tr33hggr 10 April | 10:44

It is Miko, and that's extremely interesting. I had a dream of losing my teeth a couple of years ago amidst a personal crisis and that really made me think about Jung's collective subconscious et al.

posted by keijo 10 April | 10:46

I frequently dream that I need to run, need to be somewhere and find someone or something in a hurry, but I can't run because my legs are exhausted and cramping, so I end up on all fours, running like a dog. I'm always in public, and it just feels like I'm trying to run through quicksand or water, just can't get going.

posted by tr33hggr 10 April | 10:48

Then there's the dreams about flying, which are supposed to be about sex. Whatever. But last week I saw a dream where I jumped from a plane but couldn't open my parachute. That's pretty bad sex. I tell you.

posted by keijo 10 April | 10:54

Heh, had my first Mecha dream as well. Frisbee Girl, mudpuppie and I were walking along a shore (ocean, I think, maybe a lake) chattering on about something I can't remember. Kindall walked by and waved to us. And I exclaimed that they were right! Kindall really is eight feet tall! Weird as hell, although it made sense in the dream, of course.

That dream about not being ready for a test in school? I always forget my pants, too. I spend the dream walking very carefully so as not to expose myself.

posted by deborah 10 April | 11:12

tr33hggr, I have those can't-run dreams, too. Though it feels like I'm trying to run through molasses, not just water. I'm impelling my legs to move, but the motion is just too slow, and I can hear whatever it is gaining on me...ugh!

I thought flying dreams were supposed to just indicate a feeling of control or mastery over your life. I never heard they had anything to do with sex. [For what it's worth, in Jung's morphology, sex is represented by water].

posted by Miko 10 April | 11:33

I thought it was Freud who equated flying with sex, don't have time to check now but he would, wouldn't he?

Of course, sometimes flying is just flying just like a cigar can be just a cigar.

posted by keijo 10 April | 11:39

Actually, Freud explicitly wrote against one-size-fits-all dream interpretation, arguing instead that the dreamwork was the product of each individuals unconscious.

posted by omiewise 10 April | 12:00

Some preliminary poking around seems to reveal that some of the common themes for what are called "Typical dreams", these universal-theme ones, are:

Loss of teeth
Public nakedness
Didn't study for the test
Flying/falling
Death of a loved one
Chase or pursuit
Fire

Freud seemed to think that flying dreams were somehow related to a wish fulfillment dating from the physical activities of childhood, not sex exactly. He does say elsewhere that dreams about airships are about sex.

Here's a page of interesting takes on different typical dream topics. I particularly liked "Dreams about people" -- it might explain the MetaChat dreams somewhat. It talks about dreaming of movie stars, and how they might represent a part of yourself, or perhaps a quality you would like to have. I could easily see MetaChat personas, in dreams, as standing for elements of personality. Despite knowing very few of you in real life, each personality here has a distinct presence for me, associated with certain qualities. Why would our minds not use these personas as shorthand for those qualities in ourselves?

posted by Miko 10 April | 12:06

By the way, I'm totally speculating and not endorsing that site as legitimate. I wouldn't be able to really evaluate it. Just having fun.

posted by Miko 10 April | 12:07

Ok, I'm probably confusing the flying thing with something else, it's been 15 years since I read Freud.

But Miko, what you are saying really is that I have a secret desire to be jessamyn, mathowie or maybe even dodgygeezer? :o *goes away and ponders*

posted by keijo 10 April | 12:10

Not necessarily -- you might not desire to be them, but you might wish you had their qualities (I don't know, power, the ability to delete snarky comments, knowledge, authority). Or, if Jessamyn is standing there for the censorious or critical part of yourself, perhaps the dream is depicting you criticizing your own efforts, pointing out your own mistakes to yourself.

posted by Miko 10 April | 12:16

Perhaps. That's a very interesting interpretation indeed. Thank you for that insight.

posted by keijo 10 April | 12:19

I haven't had a Meta* dream in a while. But I've been getting the classic ones recently.

I have an interesting twist to the recurring "I have no pants" dream though. Always in my dreams when I am naked, or top/bottomless, it doesn't really worry me. Throughout the dream I become more and more anxious based on other people's reactions to the fact that I am naked or whatever. I've been having variants of that dream for as long as I can remember.

posted by gaspode 10 April | 13:46

Interesting, 'pode -- one thing I read about the nakedidity dream was that the 'typical' dream has to involve shame. In other words, if you just dream you're naked, but you feel fine about it or don't even take notice, that wouldn't be considered a dream of this type. The key component is the feeling of embarrassment or shame, not the fact you're naked.

posted by Miko 10 April | 14:01

wait, i'm a large chaste black man?
whadawha?

posted by ethylene 10 April | 14:07

Well, we were chaste. You had two daughters you looked after. Nice man.

Gaspode, clearly you are a wanton woman! (joke)

posted by rainbaby 10 April | 14:22

maybe so, rainbaby, maybe so.

posted by gaspode 10 April | 14:26

now i'm a nice man with kids
couldn't i be a unicorn?

posted by ethylene 10 April | 14:40

You could, but in this case you weren't. You were very attractive and kind of a bad ass, if it makes you feel any better.

posted by rainbaby 10 April | 14:58

In my native language you say literally "to see a dream" not "have a dream".

It's the same in my native language as well.

posted by dhruva 10 April | 21:56

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