Recurring dream

The dream is a once or twice a year thing. It's never exactly the same, but the theme is: It's late in the semester, and I've barely done any of the work in the course. In fact, I can hardly remember attending any of the classes. Is there a project due as well? Then I wonder if I'm already past the drop date for pulling out of the course entirely. It's one of those dreams that induces an anxiety that will sneak up on me at odd times during my waking hours the rest of the day. I think it's the only one, really.

I suppose that since I have spent a majority of my life to date in school, it shouldn't be too shocking that this dream still pops up from time to time. But recently a coworker of mine said he had this dream again, and this guy is easily in his fifties (with a daughter in college to boot). This strongly implies that I'm going to be having this kind of dream throughout my working life. What bemuses my coworker is that "it's not like college was particularly traumatic or anything!" Agreed. So why the residual anxiety?

Contrast this with an anxiety dream that has vanished: the "I'm in public in my underwear" dream. I reckon that the frequency of this dream correlates to when a person is growing, changing, and thereby anxious about his physical self. Eventually, most people (I think) grow comfortable and confident with that aspect of themselves and the dream is purged. So there is definitely an age aspect to it.

This concept was best encapsulated during a conversation some years back, when my Grandpa Clyde was still alive. He was talking about how when he was a young man he and his friends would skinny dip out at the lake. This amazed and alarmed my younger, pre-teen cousin Matthew, who asked, "You didn't have any clothes on?"

"That's right," Clyde affirmed.

Matt, still incredulous that Grandpa didn't understand the grave risk he had taken, asked "But what if some girls came by and saw you?"

Clyde quipped, "Well then they got a treat!"