I have extremely vivid dreams. They feel like I've been dropped onto a movie set. They're full color, and typically, involve lots of action. It's rare for me to have a nightmare. As in years. If I read a book or watch a television series that really draws me in, I'll probably dream about it.
This is an example of a typical dream. I’m telling you about it because it is one of my favorite dreams. I woke up feeling super proud of myself for handling this situation in this manner, even though, wow totally bizarre.
It was a combination Game of Thrones and Walking Dead dream. I was fighting zombies with my zombie fighting crew. I had a really large sword which I used to decapitate zombies with one swing. There was a bunch of running from zombie hordes.
In the fateful battle, I saved my crew but took a bite to the shoulder in the process. I knew the risks. I knew the result. I handed my partner my sword and gave a rousing speech about struggle and perseverance.
"Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night's Watch, for this night and all the nights to come." ―Jon Snow and Samwell Tarly recite the Night's Watch oath, by George R.R. Martin
Then, I knelt in front of a stump and laid my head across it (think when Ned Stark executed the deserter from the Night's Watch).
I closed my eyes. The wind blew back my hair as the sword stuck. My breath caught as the edge of the blade sliced through my neck.
And I woke up.
So, to answer the question a lot people have wondered about—no, you don’t die in real life if you die in your dream.
This is an example of a typical dream. I’m telling you about it because it is one of my favorite dreams. I woke up feeling super proud of myself for handling this situation in this manner, even though, wow totally bizarre.
It was a combination Game of Thrones and Walking Dead dream. I was fighting zombies with my zombie fighting crew. I had a really large sword which I used to decapitate zombies with one swing. There was a bunch of running from zombie hordes.
In the fateful battle, I saved my crew but took a bite to the shoulder in the process. I knew the risks. I knew the result. I handed my partner my sword and gave a rousing speech about struggle and perseverance.
"Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night's Watch, for this night and all the nights to come." ―Jon Snow and Samwell Tarly recite the Night's Watch oath, by George R.R. Martin
Then, I knelt in front of a stump and laid my head across it (think when Ned Stark executed the deserter from the Night's Watch).
I closed my eyes. The wind blew back my hair as the sword stuck. My breath caught as the edge of the blade sliced through my neck.
And I woke up.
So, to answer the question a lot people have wondered about—no, you don’t die in real life if you die in your dream.
Wow! My dreams never so interesting. They usually involve me looking for my high school locker or being late to work.
ReplyDeleteAh, but you didn't die. You only felt the bite of metal through flesh, a crack in the doorway to that great dark room, but you woke before passing through.
ReplyDeleteNicely written post. Cool, weird dream. Question: how did you feel, if you remember, as sword met flesh? Were you frightened (you said you don't have nightmares, but the image would qualify as one to a lot of people) or removed and observant, or what?
Lol, Michelle. I have dreams like that. It usually involves me forgetting a class, so I spend the whole dream worrying that I won't graduate from high school.
ReplyDeleteObviously, high school scarred my psyche if I'm still traumatized 22 yrs later.
Hi Rick,
ReplyDeleteSo this is based on my memory, which is probably skewed given how memories change and evolve with the stories told about them.
I remembered that I held my breath as the sword came down. When it hit my neck I exhaled... then, I woke up. I thought about how if I had really died, that last exhale would've released my soul.
I wasn't frightened in the dream. I was more proud that I was doing my duty. If I didn't die, I would've become a zombie and ravaged the world by infecting others. It took strength (even imaginary, dream inspired courage) to give myself over to being executed.
In real life, I wonder if I could've done the same. I hope so.
I've died many times in my sleep and I'm still here, too!
ReplyDeleteI have very vivid dreams as well, but unfortunately, I've had many nightmares. Not as many as of late, but I had them constantly as a child and teenager to the point where I'd get insomnia. I also woke-up from one dream one time that was so vivid, it took my mother an hour to convince me that it wasn't real.
E.B., I think if I had nightmares as realistic as my normal dreams that I would avoid sleeping too. I don't know why I have nightmares so rarely. My scary dreams are the ones where someone I love dies. I had a horrible dream a couple of years ago in which my father died. I woke up sobbing and called him right away to make sure he was okay.
ReplyDeleteIn the past I've had dreams about people dying and they've died a few days later ( my maternal grandmother passed right after I dreamed about her going to heaven which was a house in Phoenix, AZ). The house (heaven) wa beautiful, so when my grandmother died, I felt comforted by thinking od her living Iin this mansion. Weird, huh?
Still, I can't and won't give up the skeptical side of my personality that scoffs at my superstitious side. I am perpetually at war with my own beliefs. I question everything.