In Focus

I love to read. I enjoy fantasy and paranormal themes. I want to get as far from reality as I can when I’m reading. I’ve always had a vivid imagination. Reading the words translates into pictures in my mind. It’s almost like I’m watching T.V. My dreams are the same way.

For as long as I can remember, I have always had intense, realistic dreams. I can feel whatever it is I am touching, I can smell things, I even feel pain. I joke to others that I dream in high definition. It’s a blessing and a curse at the same time.

They say you forget about your dreams shortly after you wake up. I don’t. I remember almost everything. Some mornings I have to sit in bed for a minute and process everything I dreamt about to make sure I am really awake and that it maybe didn’t happen for real.

I know the majority of what I see in my dreams is based on things I have seen and done. Recently, I have been watching one of my favorite animes and also reading. These characters have popped up in my dreams constantly because of this. Some days I am just part of the group, and other days I am one of the characters. It actually has been really cool. It’s like I am writing fan fiction in my dreams, interacting with these characters in real-world situations.

Most of my dreams are quite enjoyable. I dream about going with friends to anime conventions. Or they are getting married. I even dreamt about a party on an island. What’s not to like?

The nightmares, on the other hand, are terrifying. I can feel the sting of the knife and the heat from the fire. I’ve always found it interesting how the subconscious translates my physical pain, usually from my Crohn’s disease, into the dreams. I recently had a dream where I was fighting a dragon that threw me against a wall. When I woke up, I felt it. My body ached and I was drenched in sweat. Nothing a hot shower couldn’t fix. I just have to take the bad with the good. Thankfully, this doesn’t happen often.

I was explaining this to a few friends recently. None of them really remember what they dream about. They got a good laugh about the situations my dreams have put them in. I’m not saying anything that happens makes sense, it just happens. I mean, who gets called for jury duty just to end up rescuing a lion and a tiger?

I have started a dream diary to keep track of the craziness. After reading it, I can start to pick out where this stuff comes from, most of the time, whether I read about it or it’s something a friend likes to do or it is a past experience. It’s interesting how it all melds together.

Who knows what the next “episode” of what’s in my crazy mind will be. But, I look forward to the nightly escape from reality...the next adventure...