by flipper 30 Replies latest jw friends
All the time - probably 5 out of 7 nights. I was in from age 12 to 45 and been out for 8 years.
My dreams are usually assembly/meeting/field service, and I'm horrified to find myself there and trying to find a way out.
Last night I dreamed about my brother, who is still in and very staunch. I was furious with him and threw a bottle of mustard at him. I'm guessing that anger is because off the shunning.
http://scottleblog.wordpress.com
The Odd Life of Jehovah's Witnesses
marking...
But I just skimmed the OP lightly - sounds like a nightmare, not a dream...
I had a dream last night where I was back at the KH but I cannot remember anything else, like why I was there and what was going on. Seems like I have at least one JW related dream per week.
Thanks for the input and your dreams everybody ! Very interesting.
LIFE IS TOO SHORT- Very interesting dreams you have. From how you've described it I feel although you & hubby may have been in a good amount of " physical light " or sunshine , brightness at Bethel, the fact you dreamed of such darkness though indicates the emotional, psychological, and spiritual damage and darkness you were experiencing within yourself being at Bethel in such a morose, controlled state in a high controlled environment. It went against your free spirit ! Your dreams show you desired to be free of the restraints of the controlling WT society beliefs and injustices. Be happy now that they no longer control your decisions and every move !
CULT CLASSIC- Exactly. You are right 10 elders WOULD be a nightmare ! Very good point you mention about feeling TRAPPED in the JW cult in our dreams and scurrying around trying to find freedom and an exit out of assemblys ! I've had similar dreams as that over the years as well. I think it's our inner self yearning for freedom of mind and expression escaping the JW cult.
PERFECT 1- THanks for the link to your thread ! I look forward to reading it carefully pouring through it ! I'm glad you made a thread on it !
ON THE WAY OUT- Thanks for your observations ! I agree I do wish I could get some of my active JW family to stop , especially my daughters and my parents - however I realize they are pretty trapped within the JW cult. I do get pissed off at the WT society because I do deeply know whhat they are up to in the scam they are trying to pull over all JW's eyes. I dislike how they treat me and my wife , it's not fair and I'll never stop trying to change that. So, yeah, it's an ever ongoing process it seems. Good analogy, OTWO.
NEW YORK 44M- So you have these dreams once or twice a week ? Wow. I used to have them more often as well. I'm glad some of my JW dreams have slowed up over the years, however- sometimes I still have epic doosys like the one in this thread. Like yourself in my dreams I'm not wanting to be in service or not wanting to do aNY of the JW stuff they wanted me to do. I guess it's our way of dissconnecting even in our subconscious thoughts and mind from the cult. Hey man, anything that works, right ? LOL !
BLUE PILL 2- Hey welcome to the board Blue Pill ! Nice to have you here ! Indeed- don't feel alone my friend. It's been a rough ride for all of us exiting the JW's as it just permeated and saturated everything in our lives unfortunately. But the further we get away from it it does get better in time- I promise. Just know we are here for you. O. K. ?
NUTHOUSE ESCAPEE- I know the feeling of frustration you mention in trying to convince JW relatives to leave the cult. I've had dreams like that also where I'm begging former friends and relatives to listen- and they just give me a blank stare like I'm crazy or something. Then I wake up frustrated. What's totally strange in real life though is this - THEY are the crazy ones, not us ! So we need to keep reminding ourselves of that !
FINALLYSOMEPRIDE- Good for you ! You are one of the lucky ones who haven't dreamed JW crap ! I wish I was you !
COBALTCUPCAKE- Nice to have you on the board Cobalt ! Interesting dreams you've had. I have felt anger as well in my dreams due to being shunned. I mean, how can we NOT feel anger ? It's so damaging and unnatural to experience that treatment . Like yourself when I've dreamed of escaping out of a kingdom hall or meetings it leaves you exhausted after waking up like it was so real ! Then I'm relieved after waking up and say to myself, " thank god it's just a dream ! ". Thanks for posting your link ! I'll have to read it carefully when I get a little more time. Take care.
ZIDDINA- It certainly WAS a nightmare ! These days most JW dreams I've had ARE nightmares ! It's so disgusting and debilitating. Not to mention horrific.
MR FREEZE- So you have at least one JW dream per week also ? Nice to know we all aren't alone isn't it ? Hang in there guy
Even with bad dreams, I am kind of jealous of you guys. I never ever ever remember my dreams.
I know I do dream because I can think about it for a few moments when I awaken. But even then, I could not write down what I dreamed as it instantly gets fuzzy. By the time I get out of bed, the memory is gone.
ON THE WAY OUT- I have a theory on perhaps what the reason may be for you not remembering your dreams. Like yourself- as you know I've worked nights and early morning hours for years - about almost 30 years now. I used to be like you- I could nEVER remember my dreams for years and years. In researching I found out that because I was getting constant broken up sleep and only getting 4 to 5 hours a night for 5 days a week, it affected mt ability to get the REM deep sleep when a person remembers his dreams.
What changed in December 2010 for me was I started working less hours and only had 2 nights a week when I didn't get 8 hours of straight continuos sleep at night. The other 4 or 5 nights I'd always get about 8 or more hours of continuos sleep. So might that be one of the reasons you have not remembered your dreams ? How many hours of continuos sleep do you get at night and how often do you get it ? Might be something to consider especially with the job you have. Inquiring minds want to know ! LOL ! Peace out buddy. Mr. Flipper
Flipper said:
You should be mORE worried that we are bringing youin for charges of "circumstancial fornication " with your wife before you were married ! " Then the elders took me into a back room right there at the assembly and on my JC committee were Ted Jaracz, my Dad, my older brother , and 10 other elders ! I find my son and he says he will be an eyewitness on my behalf and tesify to support me to verify my innocence.
Uh, if your son was around to serve as an eyewitness to what happened while your dating your wife before you were married (and he's the son of the both of you), then you've got some extra splainin' to do, LOL!
I've only had one and it is recurring.
I, for some reason, am living back at my parents house. Its Sunday morning and I reflect on my agreement to return to just the Sunday meeting since I was living in their household. I'm annoyed that I have to get ready. My mom calls to me and tells me I'm running late and to get dressed. I dont see a way to avoid this. I get dressed, eat breakfast and am at the meeting. I reflect at the meeting about a time when I was not going to meetings at all and long for that time again. At least, I think, I'm not going to the KH three times a week, but it is still frustrating to me that I had broken away completely from JWs and now am sucked back in to at least 1 meeting a week. I sit there, annoyed, half listening to the WT study. And then I wake up. It actually takes me a few minutes of being annoyed to realize that, no, I'm still not going to the meetings. Then I relax, calm down, and return to sleep.
Interestingly the common theme here does not seem to be Armagehddon or mean people (flipper excluded maybe) or injustice... most of these seem to just be stuck, trying to get out, and having trouble figuring out how to do it. I think its clear that struggling through the process of finding an exit left the largest impression on many of us.
I have my share of 8-hour sleep nights. I would say that I get the full night's sleep 4 nights a week.
Experts say varying things. Here's another thought:
We don’t remember dreams well because while dreaming the neural connections that would normally produce memories don’t fire in sync with each other, but rather, in disharmonies.
Memories are known to be formed in the hippocampus. After forming, memories are moved to other parts of the brain, probably the neocortex. Although the exact mechanism for this shift from hippocampus to neocortex is not fully known, we do know that how frequently and how strongly neurons fire causes the connections among neurons to strengthen. Caltech researchers found that precise connections were strengthened and made during sleep when people were not dreaming, but were out of sync during dreaming and thus unable to create strong memories.
While I consider myself highly intelligent (stop laughing now), I also think my own thoughts are kind of scattered about and disorganized at times. It would be a result of being a burnout- too much partying when younger. (I was not a JW.) I read enough and probably have decent neuron pathways, but they work so hard while I am awake to try to organize that once they are in disharmonies, they take a break.
