I woke early, stayed in bed and willed myself back to sleep. And then I had another one of those early morning bad dreams. I wrote about one just about a week ago. This one seemingly went on and on and when I finally climbed out of the dream and realized it wasn’t real, I was relieved. But I can’t seem to fully wake up and I’m still shaken. Maybe it would have been better to simply get up instead of getting that extra bad-dream-laden sleep.
I sat in my chair drinking coffee and thought I saw a cardinal on a tree branch through the kitchen window. I grabbed the camera only to find that it was a leaf. Another illusion. There are some life lessons in that, I think, but I’m still too groggy to process them. What to do on another wet, gray, rainy day when one is shaken by a bad dream? Take that same camera and capture some things that bring a smile to my face.
Jumping Jacks
The fishmonger. Don thinks the fishmonger looks like him, so he is on permanent display in the kitchen.
Riley’s Dish Garden
My parakeet lamp
A sweet lamb
Beautiful teacups
That helps.
What do you do to shake off a bad dream?
Happy Monday.
Good Morning Claudia,
My bad dreams usually come in the middle of the night. When I wake from them I have a terrible time going back to sleep. My best plan of action is to fix myself a cup of hot peach tea, and read for awhile. Of course the next day I am miserable because I am tired. I am still worried about the last bad dream I had.
Suzan
Ladybug Cottage
I know, it’s hard to shake them off, isn’t it?
Good morning, Claudia. Both of us started our Mondays off with bad dreams! I woke up with a start but knew better than to try to go back to sleep–my mind starts whirring and going off in all different directions, so I climbed out from underneath the warm covers (it’s COLD in Wisconsin!!) and started work on my morning blog post–I had it posted before 6 am! That wasn’t being extra productive–it was just trying to stave off dismal thoughts and disturbing dreams on a Monday morning! Hope the rest of your day is nice. xxoo Martha ps…I have the same little fishmonger!
From our Dicken’s Villages! Hope your day went better after that bad start, Martha.
What do I do?
I get on my treadmill and think of my grandchildren and my next gardening season! Then, if possible, I go outside with Phoebe, our Bouvier. Otherwise I knit or phone a friend.
Then later I do what MUST be done: laundry, dishes, meal prep. I have many terribly sick friends these days and they are on my mind at all times. It is tough.
I’m so sorry to hear of your friends who are ill. Doing chores is sometimes a very comforting thing.
My life seems to be filled with illusions recently. Most days I’d prefer to stay in bed myself with my covers over my head. Joanie Mitchell’s song “both sides now” keeps running over and over through my head.
It’s life’s illusions I recall…
I hate bad dreams. I have started a ritual of focusing on the wonderful things I want to manifest in my life right before I fall asleep. It has really cut down on the bad dreams. I hope that your day gets better and that all the cheery things you have in your sweet home help. In answer to your question yesterday, my surgery is Thursday. Oh joy!!
Hugs,
Laura
That’s a good idea, Laura. Although if I’d just got up when I first woke up it wouldn’t have happened. It happened when I went back to sleep. I’ll be thinking of you on Thursday, my friend.
Hi Claudia! I am always glad to wake from a bad dream and confirm I really was just dreaming. I sometimes read to relax and fall asleep again. I try not to think about how much a bad dream frightened me, but try to focus on all the good around me. Unfortunately, I am a person who is very “busy” mentally at night, thinking about this and that, so this happens to me a lot also… I always hope the next night will be more restful… and I am wishing that for you too. Francine
I got up after the dream, it was very hard to shake off that feeling this morning. I got busy with chores and that helped.
Every few years I wake up screaming in the middle of the night…Don’t remember /know why…My dreams are usually OK…thank goodness
Mine usually are, too. The past two weeks have been very different, though.
Fortunately, I don’t have very many bad dreams….that being said…I have had two very disturbing ones lately. I’m afraid to go back to sleep and continue the dream, you know how that happens, so I get up and start my day’s routine in the hope that normalcy will prevail. I’m always baffled as to how our minds can manifest such terrible dreams…they seem to come out of nowhere. Enjoy your day! ;)
I finally shook it off but it took a while.
GOOD MORNING CLAUDIA……I HAD DREAMS LIKE THAT MANY YEARS AGO…..INSTEAD OF JUST GETTING UP IN THE MORNING…….I TURNED OVER AND FELL BACK TO SLEEP……IT WAS HORRIBLE BECAUSE I NEW I WAS DREAMING, BUT I COULDN’T WAKE UP………NOW I JUST GET UP WHEN MORNING COMES…….TAKE CARE………RIZZI
Oh, I hate it when you are aware you are dreaming but can’t stop the dream!
Sorry about your tough wake up, I think you are missing one of your favorite subjects, Scoutie she will knock you out of that crazy mood right away.
Hugs sister,
Mere
Scoutie has been on the blog so much lately that I thought I would hold off this time.
I guess I am lucky. I don’t dream at all. About 15 years ago I was critically ill and in the hospital for 42 days and from the day I came home to this, I have not had a dream????? So, I guess that can be a good thing.
That starts the day off bad tho for you. I love your little lamb.
Have a good day.
Judy
Maybe you have dreams but you just aren’t aware of them?
I get my best and deepest sleep early morning. I toss and turn for a long time most nights before I fall asleep. And I do have the craziest dreams in the a.m.! Some are more vivid than others, so I usually come downstairs, m ake coffee and look up the meaning of whatever I dreamt on this website called Dreams A-Z. It is a good resource. xo
This one was vivid!
I know what you are talking about. It just happend to me last week. Awful! Usually after a cup of tea I feel better. If I have a day of I do serious house cleaning, which seems to clean the mind simultaniously. I wish you a good night’s sleep today. Regula
I cleaned and went grocery shopping, sent off a package and paid a bill. And the sun came out for a while. All of that helped.
Claudia I hate those bad dreams. They can make a day really start off badly! I agree distraction is the best thing and taking photos of things you love is a wonderful way to start the day. It is grey and rainy here so I need some brightness…I think I’ll do some decorating of the plate racks today. Hugs, Linda
I hope the sun came out for you today, Linda. It came out here for several hours. What a difference that can make in my mood.
I do hate the bad dreams. I try to go to sleep and make myself dream of happy things. It is always worse if you have a bad dream about someone you love. I just try to do happy things all day and sometimes I forget about the bad dream. Thank goodeness they are few and far between.
Hope your day is better, have chocolate!
Sue
I’m drinking hot chocolate as I write this, Sue!
I don’t have bad dreams often, but when I do, they’re in the middle of the night. I wake up scared to death and then it’s hard to go back to sleep.
I love your jumping jacks…you have such lovely collections!
Thanks Melanie. I think it’s time to get some more jumping jacks (it’s really Don’s collection!)
Hi Claudia,
I had a similar Monday morning. I went back to sleep and woke up clenching my jaw. I wanted to rid myself of my sadness, but couldn’t shake it off. When this happens to me, I break up my day into 10 minute increments. It may sound strange, but I will do something mundane for 10 minutes. I’ll usually do a task such as cleaning my kitchen or something mindless. It seems to work for me. The weather in San Diego is crisp and sunny. I’ll probably take my furry friend for a walk. If it is too cold to walk, sometimes an exercise tape helps to shake off the blues.
How I wish I was in SD with my husband! He’s loving the weather there.
I had the most horrifying dreams the two weeks following my surgery. I know they were from the pain meds I was taking. I usually wake up from a bad dream in the middle of the night and turn my light on, snuggle up to Charles, pat Frida for a while and then go back to sleep. If I can’t, I’ll get up and wash my face with a warm washcloth and read for a while.
Normally, I would snuggle up against Don but obviously, that can’t be at the moment!
Hello there! I don’t know how I found you, but I am here and love reading your blog. Your jumping jacks are so adorable! And I had to laugh at the fish monger. Your felted sheep is adorable and I just ordered a kit and it is on it’s way to me in the mail. I can’t wait to get my hands on it. Your teacups are so pretty too.
I can relate to the bad dreams, I have certainly had my share of them. Usually when I have them, I can almost always relate them back to something I have ate. Certain foods cause me to dream bad dreams. {Such as walnuts, seafood, red wine, and also I have to ask myself if I have been on any certain medications lately or if I have been traumatized by something} I always try to search for the origin to keep myself sane. Lately I’ve been having bad dreams about some of my family members, but I traced that back to the origin of them all just visiting me for a week lol
They say when you have bad dreams or nightmares, it is your brains natural defense to clean it all out in order to stay sane. {I don’t know who “they” are, but I heard that years ago and I believe it}
Mine usually are directly related to chronic worries or fears. Maybe, as you say, it’s my brains way of working things out? Thanks for visiting, Sandra!
I hate when even after you wake up those dreams stay with you To shake it off I usually get in the car and drive. I pick up a coffee and drive the lakeshore and think of how big the lake is-how small I am …and that my dream can be washed away by the serenity I find in the water. I know- a bit goofy…but that’s me- xo Diana
Doesn’t sound goofy at all, Diana. If I was near the water, like I used to be in San Diego, I’d go for a walk on the beach. That always helped me to put things in perspective.
I hate when that happens….and it has happened if I have been awake and then went back to a deep sleep. I just try to shake it off and realize it was a dream. You did the right thing by getting busy and your mind off of it. I hope you don’t have anymore…~Hugs, Patti
Exactly. I was awake and then went back to sleep. Hopefully tonight will be a breeze.
Hi Claudia,
I guess what’s bad about a bad dream is that it sometimes flashes back before my eyes during the day. I like the way you shake it off by finding something pretty or something that makes you smile. Here’s to a more peaceful night’s rest.
hugs
Sissie
Thank you, Sissie. A toast to an easy sleep!
Claudia,
I’m new to your blog but really enjoy reading your posts. Wish I was disciplained enough to keep up with mine. Not even sure I can remember how to log on again. About your bad dreams; I know it’s silly, but when I have one I turn my pillow over to the other (cooler) side and remind myself that there are better dreams on it! That ususally works for me? :0
That’s a neat idea, Tracy. Thanks!
Rarely, I have a dream that is so terrifying that I can’t let myself go back to sleep as I’m afraid I’ll dream it again. I have to turn the lamp and sit up and read. Those are usually middle of the night nightmares so I don’t get up and get busy. I hate those dreams. They don’t seem silly at the time, not at all.
Get yourself a book on dream interpretation. Sometimes the meanings of dream symbols aren’t nearly as bad as they seem. I totally understand how the overall feeling a dream can imprint upon you is tough to shake and can set a tone for your day, though.
Distracting myself is always the best cure for a bad dream, Claudia. I find a walk outside around the house does the trick — in any season it clears my head! xxx