The Weird Dream We Share

One of life's mysteries.

This dream arrives rarely, but many people will recognize it.

My personal version always involves an English class, but whichever topic you recall, the ensuing drama is roughly the same.

Here’s the dream’s scenario: You’re back in college and one morning, while preparing for final exams, you suddenly realize that you completely forgot about one of your classes!

You were enrolled in an English (math, history, whatever) class and but actually attending class somehow slipped your mind.

The panic worsens.

How could that happen? How could you forget a class – you know, those things held several days a week – for an entire semester?

And then the real panic arrives. What can you do now? The exam is looming. How could you possibly explain this blunder to the instructor? What can be done in an hour (perhaps less) to earn a passing grade? And do you even recall where the classroom is located?

Well, the good news is that at some point, you have an out-of-body experience and think, “Wait a minute. I haven’t been in college in years. I have done a bunch of things since college. There’s no way I have an upcoming exam.”

Calm returns.

According to my less-than-extensive and highly unscientific research, this is a fairly common dream. It doesn’t happen frequently to the same person, but many people share the trauma.

I don’t know why. I’m sure there are plenty of theories regarding symbols and causes and those may be weirder than the dreams, but the event itself is evidence of our shared humanity.

Bounce this around with other people and you’ll probably hear some other dream themes: being back in past jobs, being drafted, being trapped in an airport – I’m sure the list is endless.

Just remember this: you always wind up in a safe place.