On Remembering Weird Dreams

Recalling dreams is rare, but I remember two from last night.

In the first, Sarah Palin announced that she has “resigned” as the running mate of John McCain two days before the election, a belated “October surprise.”  I haven’t the slightest doubt this dream was triggered by this article from CNN.  I also vaguely recall McCain later saying he is conceding defeat and will resign from the Senate after the result becomes official.  This no doubt was triggered by the poll numbers which continues to show bad news, Fox News’ protestations notwithstanding.  What was my response in the dream to these events?  That the “October surprise” was more like a “November disaster” akin to the Thomas Eagleton disaster and McCain’s departure from the Senate after a failed presidential run was an appropriate end to a man who gave his life to serving his country.

The second dream is more like a nightmare–and one which doesn’t seem to end.  Never in my life have I had dreams repeat and continue, but I swear this dream has to the point where I sometimes have trouble distinguishing dream and reality.  It goes something like this:  I find myself in school in a building that resembles the high school I went to–except it’s bigger.  I am panicking because this is the last week of classes with exams coming up next week but I think, although I am not sure, I have not done any work in two classes–math and English.  In fact, not only have I done no work, I haven’t attended since like the second week.  What is odd–and what makes it an annoying dream–is that I can’t even remember whether I was still taking these courses or whether I dropped out–so my panic doesn’t have so much to do with being time pressured as it does with not knowing whether I should be panicking.  The dream never ends well:  I wake up from the nightmare panicking.  When I was in law school, it took me a good, long moment to realize no, I need not panic about about not panicking–at least about knowing what courses I was taking (exams are another matter…).

Speaking of weird dreams, I recall vividly another that I had about two years ago.  This one’s weird because I knew I was in a dream when I was dreaming it.  I was being chased by (I think) someone with a knife.   I was running hard (which, by the way, doesn’t mean I was going fast) and I was getting exhausted.  Soon, I realize I’m dreaming and I can get out of my exhaustion by dying because that would make me wake up.  So I turn around, run full speed to the guy chasing me (somehow, I now run faster), and at the moment that I would otherwise have “died,” I wake right up.  It is only one of two moments in my life that I experienced death.

So any shrinks out there, what do all these dreams say about my psyche?