By Jacob de Figueiredo

Dreams.

Ever since I can remember, I’ve always been a prolific vivid dreamer, lucid dreaming, sleep paralysis, nightmares, you name it and I’ve lived it. When I was a little kid, I used to constantly be in fear of my bedtime due to the fact I could never be sure as to what messed up world my mind was going to conjure up and throw me head first into. My mum would find me cowering under my bed most nights, claiming that there was some sort of spider crossed with gorilla creature that had grasped my young tender legs and pulled me into his lair, which was coincidently located underneath my bed.

Here are a few dream facts to keep things interesting mid SCAB:

1. Dreaming may be an evolutionary technique that helped humanity survive by allowing us to practice responses to threatening situations while we sleep.  This would explain why dreams are made up of situations far more threatening than our waking lives.
2. Cheese Dreams it’s a myth that eating cheese causes nightmares. However, a recent study shows that eating different types of cheese can effect our dreams in certain ways:

–       Stilton causes dreams about talking soft toys

–       Red Leicester creates nostalgic dreams.

–       Cheddar induces dreams about celebrities.

When I used to work in a supermarket, I’d spend the majority of my working life, staring out the window dreaming that one day I’d finding my calling in life with a job in the big city, as most people would probably do at my age. Then things started getting weird, each day as I would stare and contemplate my life choices and my daydreams would begin to get progressively more specific. I’d picture the shirt I’d be wearing, the exact route I’d take if I were to walk to the station. The laptop I’d own, the shoes I’d be wearing, where the job would take place, what I would be doing. Each day my mind would wander on it’s own accord and picture this event happening over and over again. Fast-forward a year from this exact moment and I’m actually living and breathing this dream. Wearing that shirt, walking that route, having that job, in that exact location.

Weird.

I’m not sure why it happens but dreaming seems to completely consume my conscious and unconscious existence, up until the point now where it’s kinda worrying. Ever since I found out about SCA I’ve had a dream every single night about our school, involving the classmates and mentors. Everyone gets a look in the subconscious mind of Jacob de Fig. The strangest part is that a lot of the dreams give me inspiration that genuinely and profoundly touches me and helps me approach the work I do on a daily basis. There are days where I’d recall a memory to my partner about the school only to be met with a confused response and with me questioning whether or not it actually happened.

All in all, I’m pretty sure this can’t be healthy.  I think it’s time for me to apply myself to the principles of mindfulness to act as an outlet for whatever conflicting forces are going on in my brain.

Bit of a weird one this week, if any of this is relatable or anyone knows what’s going on, lemme know.

Thanks.