Do you remember your dreams?

Sometimes mine go on forever and stay with me in detail after I’m awake. Other times just a fleeting image – or nothing at all – remains when the alarm jerks me to consciousness.

Last night I dreamed I had arrived at a conference hotel and became trapped for a while in an oval-shaped elevator with sheer porcelain walls from which I couldn’t escape.

Eventually I did get out and things moved on from there. The dream shifted to a scene in a hotel room that appeared to be a barracks. The room held a group of attendees and a conference instructor who definitely acted the part of a drill sergeant.

The instructor/drill sergeant (now to be known as DS) went around the room, getting up-front and in-your-face close to each conferee and barking out unfinished statements – details of the conference – for each of us to answer in turn.

DS: The opening session begins at…
Answer: Noon!

DS: Last session ends at…
Answer: Six! 

DS: Lights out tonight is at…
Answer: Ten!

DS: First meeting tomorrow is in…
Answer: The kitchen!

DS: We assemble at…
Answer: Nine sharp!

(Now, my turn.)

DS: Breakfast will be prepared by…
Answer: Anyone but me!

Needless to say, DS did not find my response amusing. Luckily for me, maybe, at that moment my (real) alarm clock rang.

I woke up laughing.

You may not have found that answer funny, either. What I think is hilarious might not make you crack a smile. What terrifies you may not even make me blink.

That’s because dreams – like humor – are subjective and based on our experience and we all bring something different to the table. Or the bedroom.

They say dreams tap into our subconscious and can be interpreted to reveal our deepest fears and desires. You may or may not believe in this.

But when you wake up, do you ever recall what went through your mind while you were sleeping?

When you read a book or watch a movie that contains a dream sequence, do you like to know beforehand that the character is dreaming (or having a nightmare)? Or do you like to be surprised?