The initial obvious answer is that it's completely subjective, but is it? I feel like there is an entire "subgenre" of vivid dreams that do nothing but amuse or perhaps test abilities in a way that brings little meaning in and of itself (and certainly not to others). And as much as I value communication about dreams and open-mindedness about possible meanings, there seems to be both the white noise akin to a TV channel that has nothing to air (and is therefore static/nonsense that is at best barely remembered) and dreams that, while vivid, don't even try to connect dots or impress meaning upon the dreamer. So without the design of any import or emotion, could they mean anything outside their amusement value?
For example:
I had a vivid dream last night of several people and children playing/hanging out in a grassy yard on a sizable corner lot of a suburban home (felt like a neighborhood get-together). A few people were playing with an over-inflated bean bag that we managed to seal the seam up so it acted almost like a bouncing ball while still sounding/feeling like the kind you use as an informal chair. Inevitably since the bean bag was being (mis)used like a ball, it went bounding into the street and down the paved decline toward busier parts of town.
After a moment of watching it and kids whining, a woman said, "I'll get it," but wasn't hurrying, merely strolling like she had all the time in the world to retrieve it. I considered just hanging with the others and letting fate take its natural course, but then changed my mind and hurried after the woman at the fastest maintainable pace (the hurried jog of someone who had once been a distance runner). I quickly passed the woman, waving and saying something similar to her earlier, "I'll get it," and out of the corner of my eye saw her turn back.
I followed the inevitable path of the "ball" just in time to see a car passing through the intersection clip the bean bag, deflecting its direction and sending it down the right side of the curb/side walk (for my fellows who drive on the wrong side of the road, heh, in this dream it was with the flow of traffic so like the system used in the U.S.). And while the streets weren't as bad as areas like in San Fran, the declines were steep enough to make it impossible for me to catch the ball before it crossed yet another city block intersection that was becoming increasingly busy--again, narrowly missing being crushed and bouncing a couple times yet making it safely to the other side (and I also took quite the risk in judging the gaps, dodging cars and racing after it while still being slowed by the traffic). It seemed like at least another block before I caught up enough to search for it--I also remember it being near or in a market-type area that was basically flat, so perhaps it was the leveling out of the street that allowed me to catch up.
The ball's progress has been mostly hidden from me because of the traffic and now other people (thin crowds), so I began asking around, and one (bearded maybe?) man at a shop, nodded and said they had found it. He pointed me to a small box, and I knew what I would find before I opened it: a scuffed and deflated "skin". The seal we'd made over the zipper to hold air had given out, and someone had removed the stuffing, perhaps so it could be easily carried/stored. I knew the kids would be disappointed in its state, but at least I had tracked it down. At this point the dream got fuzzy as I was waking up; I think I thanked the man but cannot remember if I kept it in the box or removed what was left of it, if I went searching for the fuzz/styrofoam bits or if I just wrote that off, because I think by that point, my consciousness was writing off the dream as nonsense. Thoughts?
For example:
I had a vivid dream last night of several people and children playing/hanging out in a grassy yard on a sizable corner lot of a suburban home (felt like a neighborhood get-together). A few people were playing with an over-inflated bean bag that we managed to seal the seam up so it acted almost like a bouncing ball while still sounding/feeling like the kind you use as an informal chair. Inevitably since the bean bag was being (mis)used like a ball, it went bounding into the street and down the paved decline toward busier parts of town.
After a moment of watching it and kids whining, a woman said, "I'll get it," but wasn't hurrying, merely strolling like she had all the time in the world to retrieve it. I considered just hanging with the others and letting fate take its natural course, but then changed my mind and hurried after the woman at the fastest maintainable pace (the hurried jog of someone who had once been a distance runner). I quickly passed the woman, waving and saying something similar to her earlier, "I'll get it," and out of the corner of my eye saw her turn back.
I followed the inevitable path of the "ball" just in time to see a car passing through the intersection clip the bean bag, deflecting its direction and sending it down the right side of the curb/side walk (for my fellows who drive on the wrong side of the road, heh, in this dream it was with the flow of traffic so like the system used in the U.S.). And while the streets weren't as bad as areas like in San Fran, the declines were steep enough to make it impossible for me to catch the ball before it crossed yet another city block intersection that was becoming increasingly busy--again, narrowly missing being crushed and bouncing a couple times yet making it safely to the other side (and I also took quite the risk in judging the gaps, dodging cars and racing after it while still being slowed by the traffic). It seemed like at least another block before I caught up enough to search for it--I also remember it being near or in a market-type area that was basically flat, so perhaps it was the leveling out of the street that allowed me to catch up.
The ball's progress has been mostly hidden from me because of the traffic and now other people (thin crowds), so I began asking around, and one (bearded maybe?) man at a shop, nodded and said they had found it. He pointed me to a small box, and I knew what I would find before I opened it: a scuffed and deflated "skin". The seal we'd made over the zipper to hold air had given out, and someone had removed the stuffing, perhaps so it could be easily carried/stored. I knew the kids would be disappointed in its state, but at least I had tracked it down. At this point the dream got fuzzy as I was waking up; I think I thanked the man but cannot remember if I kept it in the box or removed what was left of it, if I went searching for the fuzz/styrofoam bits or if I just wrote that off, because I think by that point, my consciousness was writing off the dream as nonsense. Thoughts?
