Thursday, December 22, 2005
Dream Recall
Has anyone noticed that there seems to be some sort of memory function which only operates within the realm of dreams? Meaning, while you're dreaming, you recognize some place or situation which you've only previously encountered in another dream, and you get that same "familiar feeling" when trying to remember where you've seen it as you do with waking-life fuzzy recollections. It's really quite bizarre, no? (While dreaming) I start going to myself, "Now, did I see that in another dream, or was that something from my awake life?" -- much the same way that i ask that question in reverse when I'm "awake" and trying to remember something!
[The double-edge to this post is that I've only just woken up, so it may not be very coherent, but already my example is almost totally faded from my mind and I caught it just in time to write down...]
I was flying somewhere with my family when we passed over an island (flying fairly low to the ground, a few thousand feet up or so) and my seatback tv screen flashed "NOW PASSING OVER: PAUL OAKENFOLD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT". And I said to myself, "Paul Oakenfold Airport, where have I seen that before?" I racked my brain for a moment (with the "in a dream, or...?" question) until I realized that of COURSE I knew that airport, that's Taiwan's international airport, where I used to live!
Or rather, where I used to live in a different dream I'd had at some point previous.
Now, I'm no stranger to Taiwan, but there is obviously no Paul Oakenfold Airport there or anywhere else in the world. Commercial trance djs don't get airports named after them. At least not yet. However, I definitely "remembered" it as being part of Taiwan, as did my parents, who commented on it. (Only after I'd remembered myself though.) And what's more, I definitely consciously recognized that the memory was from a previous dream, just as in the waking world I might remember that I met my friend for lunch last week (or that I dreamed of aliens on December 12th). I'm not sure whether that referrent dream also happened last night or some night previous.
As soon as I woke up, still lying in bed, I'd already started to compose this post in my head. So by the time I came down here to the computer, I knew I had something to write, but at first I totally drew a blank. It was just barely that I caught it, like snatching your baseball cap by the adjustable plastic bump-strip milliseconds after the wind's just torn it off your head while riding in a convertible. It makes sense that Dream Memory and Awake Memory would have to be turned off while their opposite modes of awareness run...but I'm still quite interested in this seemingly separate memory cache we have. Or is it possible that I simply created this "memory" in my dream, without ever actually having dreamt of the place before?
I'm already late for work but I want to research this some more. Has anyone heard much regarding this subject?
Merry Christmas!
Has anyone noticed that there seems to be some sort of memory function which only operates within the realm of dreams? Meaning, while you're dreaming, you recognize some place or situation which you've only previously encountered in another dream, and you get that same "familiar feeling" when trying to remember where you've seen it as you do with waking-life fuzzy recollections. It's really quite bizarre, no? (While dreaming) I start going to myself, "Now, did I see that in another dream, or was that something from my awake life?" -- much the same way that i ask that question in reverse when I'm "awake" and trying to remember something!
[The double-edge to this post is that I've only just woken up, so it may not be very coherent, but already my example is almost totally faded from my mind and I caught it just in time to write down...]
I was flying somewhere with my family when we passed over an island (flying fairly low to the ground, a few thousand feet up or so) and my seatback tv screen flashed "NOW PASSING OVER: PAUL OAKENFOLD INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT". And I said to myself, "Paul Oakenfold Airport, where have I seen that before?" I racked my brain for a moment (with the "in a dream, or...?" question) until I realized that of COURSE I knew that airport, that's Taiwan's international airport, where I used to live!
Or rather, where I used to live in a different dream I'd had at some point previous.
Now, I'm no stranger to Taiwan, but there is obviously no Paul Oakenfold Airport there or anywhere else in the world. Commercial trance djs don't get airports named after them. At least not yet. However, I definitely "remembered" it as being part of Taiwan, as did my parents, who commented on it. (Only after I'd remembered myself though.) And what's more, I definitely consciously recognized that the memory was from a previous dream, just as in the waking world I might remember that I met my friend for lunch last week (or that I dreamed of aliens on December 12th). I'm not sure whether that referrent dream also happened last night or some night previous.
As soon as I woke up, still lying in bed, I'd already started to compose this post in my head. So by the time I came down here to the computer, I knew I had something to write, but at first I totally drew a blank. It was just barely that I caught it, like snatching your baseball cap by the adjustable plastic bump-strip milliseconds after the wind's just torn it off your head while riding in a convertible. It makes sense that Dream Memory and Awake Memory would have to be turned off while their opposite modes of awareness run...but I'm still quite interested in this seemingly separate memory cache we have. Or is it possible that I simply created this "memory" in my dream, without ever actually having dreamt of the place before?
I'm already late for work but I want to research this some more. Has anyone heard much regarding this subject?
Merry Christmas!
