Strange Dreams, What Do They Mean?

Over the years I have had many dreams that seemed completely pointless, but upon their completion, I woke either drenched in sweat or feeling some powerful emotion for an unknown reason. Dreams are rarely remembered by me, save for those of a more explicit (non-sexual) nature that I will choose not to discuss here, at least for the time being.

One such dream instance has left me wondering for many years, and I continue to have this dreams with little changes here and there, but overall, the dream is the same. Here it is:

I wake up in my own bed, a familiar house though not one I live in now or have lived in prior. I walk through the house past two children, one boy and one girl, as they play, and I hear a familiar female voice call through the house for me. It is my wife. I do not see her face at any point during the dream. I travel to the kitchen, where a cup of coffee and a complete breakfast await me, all of my favorite items: yogurt, cereal, bacon, eggs, and steak.

I eat my breakfast whilst reading a newspaper, and my wife leaves for work while I am reading the headlines. I skim through the paper and find my name in the pages for some sort of achievement, though I can never remember what it is. When I have finished with the paper, an alarm goes off and I go to the door to get my coat.

I remember this front room very vividly: The front door is perched on a rise above two steps to either direction. There is a coat rack to either side. Along the western wall, there is a bench with an assortment of shoes and a briefcase, and on the eastern wall in a set of tools I do not recognize, a box of some sport, and a second briefcase.

I go to the eastern wall, grab the tools and the box in one arm, and the briefcase in the other, and I leave. As I close the door, there is a flash of light and everything fades to black. Then there is a light... my porch light at home. I come to the door and open it, bringing in my tools and the box, but not the briefcase.

As I close the door and hang my coat on the rack, I find myself turning to an empty house, with no furniture of any kind, no sounds whatsoever, and an eerie dusk-like lighting in the front room. I carry on as if nothing is different, returning the box and the tools to the spot where there was previously a bench on the eastern wall.

I travel through the house, turning every light on and off in each room only to find them empty, and when I get to my bedroom, I walk in, open the window, and jump out. Just before I hit the ground, there is another flash of light and I am waking up at the beginning again, with the memories of before.

I travel through the dream a few times, each more apprehensive then the last, and on the last time through before I wake, I stop before leaving in the morning, drop the toolbox and the other box, open the other box (though I cannot see into it), close the box again, and then go back upstairs and go to sleep.

This dream has haunted me for a long time, and I have no idea what it means. Obviously my mind is trying to tell me something that I cannot quite grasp. Does anyone have any ideas what it might mean? Are there any people who are familiar with this type of dream? Has anyone had similar dreams?

I just keep having the cat gun dream...

Laser Cats

Sorry L.I., but I don't get it at all. If it's an attempt to lighten the mood, let me just say I am not a cat person. But seriously, do you have any idea why a dream would keep coming back? I'd figure the brain would settle after the first time around, but... this one just keeps coming back.

Hi Strive-
What I get from this dream is that you are visiting the same place over and over again because you are looking for something very specific to you and it might be an emotion or a feeling and not an inanimate object, When you return to your home and it is empty it means you are striving for normalcy but can't find it. I believe that when you fall through the window it signifies that you are starting the cycle all over again.
But that's just me.
I've been tormented by night terrors for years and they recently put me on cyproheptadine. It's called the nightmare drug and it really worksl I take three every night and don't wake up crying or freaking out or feeling like I am strangling in the covers.
Amazing they can make a drug that controls our unconsious.
Anyway, I'm going to read this post again in a couple of days and see if I get the same thing from it.

I could see that. I don't understand however the significance of the box. Perhaps it is supposed to represent the factor of the unknown variable. And why I can never see my wife's face or remember what the kids look like. Maybe they aren't central to the dream as people, but more as archetypes? I don't know for sure. I've looked at it so many times and always come up with "I'm lost. I just can't figure it out." so the outside perspective is highly appreciated.

I've been thinking about this and I believe your inability to see your loved one's faces is because this is your fight and yours alone. It doesn't matter how long you live with a BP or how many books you read about it, or how many initials you have after your name. If you aren't there, you don't get it. The fear, rage, panic, confusion, massive guilt and sorrow. The day by day, or hour by hour battle for 'control'. So maybe this is why it must be your solitary journey.
Maybe you just need something benign to obsess abouot right now. (Hope you got that the way I meant it.) I'm going to read it over again and come back to this.

Okay, maybe have a better handle on it now. In dreams, our past, present and future all collide. The two coatrack thing is giving choices of what face you need to put on to go out into the world. The toolbox is obvious-how can I fix myself? I am stumped by the white box. Perhaps it holds an answer that is just out of reach? The fact that this is a frequent dream that keeps recycling may be because you don't get the message yet. Dreams are often just a series of symbols, as this one seems to be, so you can't expect to make sense of it. If you are in a healing, learning, growing phase, it will fade soon.
I worked as a physic for eight years and dream walking was part of what I did. The flashing light holds the most signifigence for me. I see it as a warning that until you fix whatever is bothering you so much in real time needs to be addrressed.
I have about a dozen locations that I visit a lot and things are different each time. But since taking the nightmare pills, it has all calmed down a great deal. Hope this helps a little.

Actually... that helps a lot. I'm very grateful for your input. Thank you.

Anytime, kiddo, anytime. PM me if you feel the need.