Oddbean

The crazy thing is that this is actually kind of a common dream variant. I've seen others describe it too. It's something that can come up in our common pysche. I have it to, for like two different classes. It's not that vivid, but literally 15 years after graduating college I still occasionally have a "fuck, did I not realize I had an <xyz> class this whole semester?" dream.

I had a slightly different experience. I actually got a lot out of college and university but it really, REALLY was dependant upon how much effort I put in too. (Cue PoW of comparisons here). Deep research and reading around the subject were encourage by the academic staff and that was, in hindsight, a good thing. But I can certainly identify with the dreams aspects. To this day, I still dream that I have not completed or passed a certain module or exam only to wake up reassured that I actually did complete the full Degree and later the Masters. I guess it was all quite intense at the time and that affected one’s mindset. However, my main take home from the entire experience is that there are others who were genuinely and equally passionate about their subject and actively imparted their knowledge onto others but also everything was open to individual interpretation as well, rather than pure teaching indoctrination. For that I am grateful and I don’t feel it was a waste of time and money.

Great story, Guy. Same here, Lyn. My variant is that I wasn’t attending a required class and ran out of time to officially withdraw and reschedule it for a later term. Mind you, I *never* withdrew from any class during undergrad or grad school but, evidently, my brain considers this to be an excellent dream metaphor for… something. I’ve been out of school for decades at this point and I still have this nightmare every few years. It’s absolutely terrifying: The feeling of “oh fuck, I missed something major,” or did not take care of something when I had the time, and now it’s too late. As a meditator, I can tell you that your dreams are not always “trying to tell you something.” Sometimes, as with waking life, thoughts come into your mind OUT OF NOWHERE, and you drop them, or consider them in context, or ruminate about them holding onto them for way too long, etc. However, in the dream world, your mind doesn’t have that capacity. A neuron triggers, or an area of the brain releases a hormone, and your subconscious mind tries to give a reason for the consequent emotion. “Ah! I know what this feels like… like… fear…like… like… oh, like when you were in school!!Here’s what that looked like:” But, dreams, like all thoughts, are just a mental activity coming and going in empty space of consciousness. If dreams like these bother you, or if your thoughts bother you, I recommend meditation. If you’ll indulge the following digression, Sam Harris’ app #WakingUp is the best available at the moment. (Happy to provide a referral code for the intro 30day course.) I’ve sat multiple times in Thailand and India for 10-45 days and Sam’s app, done consistently for 10mins/day is as life changing as any of the more intense Satsangs I’ve done.