Recurring dreams - what are yours and what do you think they mean?

[Greekadventure]

I have the same dreams very often.
Mostly I dream I’m on a plane, usually going on holiday. The plane is very basic inside, like a bus and the pilot is often just sitting in front of us.
The plane never actually takes off - it just drives through the streets. I marvel at how the pilot manages to squeeze it and the wings through narrow streets, the wings tips are almost touching walls and other vehicles.
We never really reach our destination, I can sometimes be just travelling or we will head back to the airport.

I think it’s reflective of my career, ‘never quite getting off the ground’ as I’ve done the same job for 30 years.

Doss anyone else dream the same thing over and over?

That I'm trying to pack loads and loads pf stuff but running out of time. And I keep opening cupboards and drawers and finding loads more stuff.
Had it last night for the first time in a while but this time I threw it all away. Not sure what means.

I get the no brakes, teeth and airplane dreams. In my airplane, there is a rear seating area which is cavernous. Like a waiting room in a Georgian hospital building. Then the cockpit area is enormous with windows that resemble a greenhouse. The pilots are really old and mostly walking away from the controls.

One I do get frequently is the huge bay overlooking the sea. It is busy but to get to it there is a huge sea wall. It also drops steeply to the sea the other side. the beach is busy but we walk to the far end which is in shade under the headland. We swim there in the darker water then when we head back an hour or so later the whole beach and car parks are eerily empty.

I get this one a lot too. It's my classic stress dream.

Have heard it's linked to moving on from something, although I often get it before going away (which I find stressful). I also had it a lot when I worked away from home.

I have so many of these already listed, dirty public toilets, teeth falling out and i try to put them back in again, trying to dial 999 but keep dialling it wrong, not being able to walk properly.
I also dream very often that I have a big piece of chewing gum in my mouth and when I try to take it out its stuck to the roof of my mouth and I feel like I'm going to accidentally swallow it or choke on it.

Yes to the toilet dream and also finding unused wings/rooms in a home.

When I was at school I would often dream that we were all being chased by someone and all my friends would get caught but I wouldn’t. However I didn’t like being on my own so I would deliberately get caught so I could join my friends. Years later I deduced that this dream was because I found school work a lot easier than everyone in my class, but didn’t want to stand out and wanted to fit in.

I regularly dream that I've not submitted coursework, or I've not completed a module in something and am frantically travelling to a place to enquire/complete/submit. It's so vivid. I dream as if I'm in that world, so vivid it feels like I'm living a life at night. Last night I was climbing a cliff and looking back down at an event I'd been to. A few times I've dreamed about my best friend who died at 24. She visits and we catch up. Sleeping is the best thing ever.

Bit of a weird one I used to have recurring dreams that people I knew and in my family were imposters and were really like evil demon things. I would always pretend I didn't know and act normal while figuring out how to escape. They always wanted to stop me leaving the house. I feel like it was my mind trying to prevent me exploring it for some reason (I was lucid in these dreams)

Trying to escape a tsunami - different situations and with different people but always trying to escape it and save loved ones.

Quite traumatic. I probably have it 2/3 times a year.

I regularly have dreams about being in the London Underground, getting lost or stuck going down progressively narrower tunnels or discovering hidden areas, sometimes a tube train turns up or crashes through a wall to get to me, it’s very claustrophobic but I usually end resurfacing on Tottenham Court Road.

I have the neglected pets dream a lot too, it’s horrible, I suddenly find them all under my bed or somewhere in terrible states and have to start nursing them back to health, last time some neglected hamster had started eating discarded aspirin and batteries from my carpet and had glowing eyes.

I sometimes have a really nice dream about shopping for makeup and spend ages pouring over incredible eyeshadows and nail varnishes in every shade, I’ll buy some amazing makeup and wake up expecting to still have it clutched in my hand.

The toilet dream is really common and I've had it loads of times.
I have had a recurring dream where I can't remember where I've parked my motorbike, or I find a motorbike and realise it is mine and I haven't ridden it for a long time. I wake up convinced I've lost my motorbike. The thing is, I've never owned a motorbike and definitely don't know how to ride one. Can't even ride a bicycle!

Also in many of my dreams I am a man, or I am seeing things from a male perspective. (Not when I can't find my motorbike!)

Yes I get the finding new rooms in a house one too, usually really squalid damp rooms. And finding external doors that are damaged and won’t close or lock.

Another one I have frequently is that I’m really upset about something and completely lose control, and my friends / people around me are rolling their eyes or ignoring me and I can’t make them see how terrible things are.

I keep having dreams I'm back at secondary school. I dream about the friends I had then who I haven't spoken to in over 18 years. And the dreams almost always turn to panic that I haven't done any preparation for an exam that starts in 2 minutes.

My DH's anxiety dream is not having done any work for exams.

When my son was small, mine was always having trouble with the trains or the car and being late collecting him, or not getting there at all.

Since he was older, I have anxiety dreams about not making it to a (running) race on time, or not being able to find my way around the course.

I occasionally have the losing teeth dream or not being able to keep my car under control.

I have similar relating to my degree which was 30 years ago ! I realize I have not submitted a module, I'm frantically trying to speak to other students on the course regarding what we need to do etc.

Being pregnant but the baby never moving and not being allowed any scans. I think it's because when I was pregnant with Dd she was a really quiet baby and hardly ever moved and it made me super anxious and it's just a hangover from that.

Also very occasionally have one where I know something is 100% true and is really important and dangerous (like reporting a crime in progress for example) and NOBODY believes me or listens.

Oh and I quite often have the being desperate for a wee dream but then I wake up and I am bursting for a pee so....

I had an animal cruelty dream last night. I dreamed that I had a rabbit and it ate a fish from a tank I had, which I didn't mind. Then it started eating a cat. The cat was totally passive while it was bitten in to. I realised the rabbit was hungry and went round trying to find rabbit food, but I was in a holiday town and no where was open that sold it.
I see other people have had animal cruelty dreams. I wonder what they signify. I don't have any pets and am not cruel to my kids, the youngest of whom is 17, so it's not that!

I’ve had the same dream a few times that I cheat on my husband. It isn’t a good dream. I don’t enjoy the cheating at all and I’m always so upset and disgusted with myself and am so relieved when I wake up and realise that I didn’t actually do it. I’m pretty sure it just means that I’m committed to my husband and cheating on him is something that I don’t want to happen.

When I was a child I had a recurring dream that I went upstairs in my primary school and found a really fun place with free food and games. We weren’t allowed upstairs in my school so I think that came from being curious about what was up there.

I sometimes dream that I'm driving a car but realise I'm in the back seat and can't reach the pedals and wheel. I guess that's just about not feeling in control.

Also dream about finding a hidden room in the house. I think this is just because I'd like a bigger house /more storage space!

I’ve had the toilet dream, the pulling yourself along by holding onto buildings dream, the finding new rooms (usually bathrooms, but sometimes bedrooms) dream, the telephone dream, the packing for a trip dream. I’ve had the animal cruelty one, too, but worse, when I had my children I often dreamed I’d had twins, but only been looking after one of them.

I also often dream I’m in a car, which is somehow “pre-programmed “ for the journey, but something has gone wrong, and the autopilot needs to be overridden. But I’m in the back seat, and I’m trying to climb into the front before we get to the traffic lights ahead.

And another, I dream that years ago I committed a murder, but I’ve got away with it, except I realise there’s a significant piece of evidence about to resurface which will bring the whole house of cards down around me. That’s very stressful.

i always thought that not being able to use a telephone in dreams is because it’s the “wrong” side of your brain in charge. Whichever side is responsible for the creative fiction of the dream is not the one that deals with the sensible decoding of language and mathematics.

Finally, in real life, I’ve always wanted to write a novel, and I have notebooks full of scribbling, fragments of plot and dialogue etc. I regularly dream that I have sorted it all out and have it clear in mind and I’m ready to write an incredible novel. But I always wake up and I’ve forgotten it all.

I have the toilet dream too - I didn't realise it was so common. In mine the toilet is usually in a public place or people can get in.
I also have a corridor dream where I'm trying to find a room and can't get there - usually in an old fashioned hotel with wooden doors and swirly red carpet, or something resembling a halls of residence with white walls where all the doors look the same.

Locking a front door with a key but people can still get in and it's always during the night and the people always have bad intent.

I have a couple.
One is where I am walking outside and I can see a plane about to crash in the distance. A few seconds later I hear an explosion and I feel terrified. The crash seems to bring with it feelings of not being able to escape consequence, or that I have to face up to something I'm not ready for but can't escape any longer.

Another is where I'm aware there is a disused room in my house but I never go in there because I know it's haunted. The room is usually very dingy, full of junk and has lots of different steps and levels and I always feel a bit guilty, like it could be a lovely room if I had to energy and time to clean it up. Sometimes I actually see a ghost in the corner and run out screaming, waking myself up in the progress.

My latest one was trying to find the agenda for a work meeting I was chairing, and not being able to, and my boss told me off.

I don't usually have recurring dreams, but I've woken up two nights on the trot waiting for someone to come back and the wait is intense. They haven't come back yet, or if they have, I'm not aware of it. I don't know where they are, but wherever they are, it's not by choice.

I am aware that there are a lot of circumstances around but I can't recall any detail at all other than maybe there's a bridge involved.

I have two major things churning around at the moment.

My elderly mother (86 and I feel that she has suddenly become old) is deteriorating physically and mentally ever more quickly.

A very dear woman friend - we've known eachother for years - is beginning to occupy my thinking more and more. I think we friend zoned eachother years back. I don't think I am able to tell her how important she is to me.

I'm not enjoying this much. I usually have one-off totally nonsensical dreams that are enjoyable and entertaining.

I'm not enjoying this.