All I Have to Do Is Dream...

Dreaming is something that appears to puzzle scientists. We are constantly doing research on sleep as well as how dreams effect our sleep. For instance, recently a group of scientists performed an experiment wherein just upon entering REM (the deepest period of sleep and also when you dream) a group of subjects was jolted back into a regular sleep and not allowed to enter REM over a period of about 2 weeks. The students became increasingly agitated, irritable, could not concentrate, began to hallucinate and once they were finally allowed to enter sleep their body over-compensated and they entered REM much more easily and remained in it longer.
It's clear, then, that we need to dream, and almost all of us do dream on a regular basis but the difference is that most of us forget our dreams upon waking or very shortly after. A study showed that within 5 minutes of waking 50% of dream recollection has diminished and at 10 minutes the number grows to 90%.
For myself, I know that I tend to sleep well unless stressed and lately, even with stress, I have managed to put myself at ease and sleep very well. I have, however, been having increased dreams and recollection. I've have three dreams in two weeks about being pregnant and being very upset about it. I've had a handful of dreams about high school and people I knew then, a few here and there about an ex boyfriend harassing myself and Erik and trying to cause dissension between us and then of course the random dreams that make no sense but when I wake up they make me laugh and wonder what sort of subconscious message they were trying to convey.
Some of them, especially the abstract ones, I look up online. I see what people think they mean or what the symbolism might be saying about how I am feeling.  For instance, the pregnancy test in my dream supposedly represents being presented with a new challenge or goal and fear of failure and being pregnant represents something similar. In a way I could say that is true. There are many new challenges before me in the near future. I'm taking more classes, I'm volunteering, I've taken a roll as a key caller, I'm going through my first Big D. That's alot to think about I guess, or maybe its nothing more than the fact that everyone around me either just had or is having a child and I don't want to yet and am afraid that the whole "when one woman starts having babies everyone else follows suit" thing will come true and I'll have a baby before I'm prepared.
Regardless, the extra sleep is always appreciated even if I do feel trapped in a cartoon-like world of random-ness and irony each night.

<3s
Fae