I dreamt of Ireland...

Last night, I had a dream I was in Ireland. It's not the first such dream and I certainly hope it won't be the last. The Irish dreams come when I'm stressed out and fractured. They make a welcome change from the much more common dreams of violence, frustration, and longing that manifest when I am in the stressed state.

If I could somehow dream the dream more often, I'd be even more relaxed and unfocused than I usually am. It's a welcome change from rising from a dream already fatigued with a day's worth of activity freshly remembered.

Dreams of far away places are uncommon for me. I'm always surprised when I wake up remembering JUST being someplace else. If I think about it during the dream, it even surprises me in situ. A sort of thought like "What am I doing in Ireland? I have to do laundry tomorrow!" is typical.

In the dream, I was sitting in a pub with a woman, close to a fire. I don't remember ever actually looking at the woman, so I can't describe her. We were having conversation: the sort of conversation one has on a really good date, where each topic leads into another without pause and each of the participants is excited to talk or listen.

And I was content. That's basically the only information I remember. I don't remember the woman, I don't remember the conversation, I don't remember the reasons why I ended up in the pub. I think it was raining, because I sat in the chair watching the fire and being thankful for the warmth.

Maybe it's my brain's way of giving me something for all my troubles: "Here, you've been a good boy. I'll let you have a fantasy." I have been in pubs in Ireland, but never ones with a fire. And not with a chatty woman.

Dreams are commonly believed to be allegorical: the fire hydrant is your dad, the alligator is your wife, etc. My dreams are almost never that abstract and even my allegorical dreams are blunt: here's the girl I like and she's holding an hourglass!

So while this dream may be all about penises and sex and unresolved issues, I just don't think so. I do feel a sense of longing towards that situation, but probably just because its comfortable and cozy. I tend to gravitate towards those situations in life, too.