Introduction
Death has been in my thoughts a lot recently.
I have previously discussed the issue of post bereavement hallucinatory experiences (read the post here).
There is another bereavement related experience which I seem to experience quite often.
Some of my other family members have also mentioned having similar experiences.
I frequently have dream encounters with friends and family who have passed away. I'm wondering how common this is?
My Experience
I had a very close school friend who passed away in his early twenties (I wrote about it in one of my older posts) and I frequently seem to have dream discussions with him.
We were both car and tech nuts, so as an example, we might be sitting outside having a discussion about a new car or piece of technology. Other times we are just talking about life in general.
Interestingly the discussion is usually about contemporary events and matters that happened after he died.
Qualitatively the dreams have more clarity and less of an ethereal or fantastical nature to them than usual.
This is not the only person I see either. Though not as frequent I also have similar dreams where I am talking to my maternal grandfather (also deceased).
The basic elements remain quite similar and they often seem to happen when I am at a metaphorical crossroads in my life - when I need to make a big decision or I am going through some sort of stress.
They do seem to be helpful for clarifying my thoughts.
Even when they do not appear to discuss the exact matter at hand directly the discussion seems to be relevant in some metaphorical way.
The weird thing is sometimes I ask them "Aren't you dead?" or "How come I am talking to you here? I thought you were dead."
In those cases either they change the subject or sometimes I just wake up.
The question is never directly answered though.
These dreams are very strange and unlike other dreams (which I tend to forget very easily) these tend to linger in my memory for longer - more like a real life experience.
My thoughts on what is happening
I am not suggesting that there is some kind of supernatural visitation occurring here - I am skeptical by nature.
I believe we are all to some degree a product of those we grow up with and are raised by.
I think these dreams reflect that we incorporate aspects of our friends and family into our own psyches.
It is likely that our unconscious minds create these "avatars" of people who we trusted during our lives to help us to resolve difficult decisions.
Anyway that is my personal belief but I would not be arrogant enough to say that it is absolutely correct or the only interpretation.
I would be curious to hear other people's opinions on this. Have you had similar experiences?
A quick thanks to the Steemit Community
Before I go I wanted to say a quick thanks for everyone who voted for my post "Value Your Loved Ones Whilst They Are Still Around" - your kindness was phenomenal.
Special thanks to @karenb54 and @sgnsteems for their direct donations.
In total I'll have about $250 to donate to charity and I will look into transferring it soon. I just need to decide which charity to donate it to.
Let me know if you have any particular epilepsy charity that you have used before and you know does good work in the comments. Thanks!
Thank you for reading!
