BellaOnline Forums Religion and Spirituality Dreams My Starving Pet Dreams

It seems I have these dreams that my parakeets and cats are starving to death because I forgot to feed them or because we went on a trip and I forgot to put food out for them. I always feel awful that I wasn't paying enough attention to such an important responsibility.

It seems I have the dreams when work takes over my life, and I don't leave enough time for 'home life'. I probably think of home life as less important, but really, it is just as important ...

If you don't want your dreams to turn into nightmares ....don't ever watch Stephen King's "Pet Semetary"...That gave me many sleepless nights, bringing back every pet I'd ever had die in my entire life.... ....

I've never had a dream like yours, forgetting to feed them, but I've had many that involve a fire and I couldn't get them out!!

I'm sure I must have "pleasant" dreams sometimes, but I never seem to remember them like the traumatic ones...Hmmm, maybe I need some Prozac.. <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

I really have to stay away from scary movies, I'm very impressionable <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> I'll have nightmares for weeks if I do.

I don't have a lot of fire dreams. Hmmmm, I think fire would say you feel out of control, that something powerful is sweeping over you and you're helpless to stop it.

In contrast, it seems my dreams are more that I *should* be in control but I neglected to do what I was supposed to, so therefore it was my own fault that bad things happened to things I care about ...

I think you're right about my fire dreams, Lisa. I've also had them about a fire on my school bus, and not being able to get all the kids out. Those dreams were getting pretty frequent when I was driving a wheelchair bus. I'm sure my fear of fire is why I've never lived in a two-story house. Add in the fact that my granddaughter sleeps like she's in a coma....the place could burn down around her. <img src="/images/graemlins/frown.gif" alt="" /> ...so to try to keep my phobia down to a manageable level, I've gone over an escape plan with her and I do some very thorough Emergency Evacuation drills on my bus. My kids are special ed. but some are just Learning Disabled, not physically handicapped, so they play an important role. And I'm very careful not to push off my own phobia onto them. (not easy...I get very intense talking about it)..

Isn't that interesting! So fire is a huge symbol in your waking life, never mind in your dreams. Did you ever have a fire happen to you when you were younger, or did you witness a fire? I wonder how it became so embedded on your thoughts.

I have a huge phobia about stairs, but I know where that comes from. My mom fell down some stairs when I was in high school and had a concussion, and when my son was an infant my ex slipped with him on some stairs and my son fractured his skull. In both cases they ended up OK but I definitely am very, very upset if anybody plays on stairs, I always keep them clear of anything, etc. I can get extremely upset if someone starts to roughhouse with me on the stairs.

I've never been involved in a serious fire, but there were two close calls that I think started the ball rolling for my phobia. About 25 years ago, a fish aquarium dripped onto an extension cord and shorted it out. It melted a hole in the nylon carpet, but no real fire. Then about 20 years ago, an extension cord caught the curtains on fire. Luckily, I had just walked in the house seconds before it happened and had a friend with me who put it out. I think those two things hit me as an "omen" or warning....so now I'm very careful to fire-proof everything....It makes my granddaughter crazy. She's 13 and just this year I let her use a lighter to light a candle. Poor kid didn't even know how to work the lighter... <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> ...no such thing as kids playing with matches in my house...no sireee...locked up tighter than a drum....

I sure can understand your phobia about the stairs. I'm glad your baby was alright. Sometimes I think these kinds of phobias are actually kinda healthy...they don't really interfere with our daily lives and might just serve to keep our families safer.

Yup I definitely agree that if you have a healthy fear of something that could cause harm, and take steps to avoid it, that it's much better than thinking "nah, I'll never have a fire here" and not have functional smoke alarms and an escape plan and so on <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> The scout motto - be prepared!