Facebook Dreams

Lately I’ve developed a habit of waking up in the wee hours of the morning – around 3 or 4- being up for a while and then falling back to sleep. Today was no exception, except that when I fell back to sleep I had a vivid and slightly bizarre dream – which I actually remembered. (Not always the case with my dreams). I had my laptop right next to me so I started writing immediately. Although in the 10 or so minutes since I woke up It’s already started to fade. I remember the gist however.

I was at a big party/festival/film screening/sporting event. Present at this event were people from every phase of my life; primary school, high school, college and work. It was so strange. At one point I was sitting watching a film with a guy from my high school days. The movie had no sound. I can only attribute this to the fact that last night Superhero was at a film screening of an independent film that a friend of his worked on. Next I found myself sitting with the parents of one of my best friends from high school.

Next the scene shifted and some friends and I were strolling by a field where a soccer match was in progress. We were headed for a huge bathroom, in which it was raining!

Another scene change and some friends from high school and I are in a big tent filled with racks of clothes and we are shopping. No good dream would be complete without shopping! Many of the details of the dream have been forgotten, but I do remember the shopping and the fact that I saw a pretty gold sweater which I wanted to buy, but then stupidly put back. A little while later, I went back to retrieve it but it was gone, so I made all my friends help me to find it. I also bought a very pretty lemon-yellow linen skirt! Never did find the sweater.

The end of the dream I remember only vaguely. While I continued to shop, I was trying to avoid a guy I went to primary school with who was hitting on me. Suddenly the entire party cleared out because everyone had to get on a bus. I’m assuming to go home. Then I woke up. I’m know there was more, but its all gone.

I’ve decided that Facebook is to blame for this dream. I love Facebook (no surprise there, after all I am a techie geek, why wouldn’t I love it?) It does feel however, like the oddest of parties, present at which are an unfathomable mix of people from different times in my life. The boy who unbeknown to him, was the object of my first crush when I was in primary school. The guy who had a crush on me during my high school days and who told me when when we reconnected on Facebook after 15 years that unbeknown to me, I had been the reason for his suffering from a broken heart for many months. Looking back I did know that he had a crush on me, I just pretended to be oblivious to it because I didn’t want to hurt his feelings. He was a friend, but I had no amorous interest in him because he was… well… TOO nice. What perverse creatures we women are! I must say he’s looking pretty damn good now. Still very nice and that no longer seems like a bad thing.

In addition to the objects of several of my crushes over the years are best friends from the various stages of my life. My first ever best friend when I was 4 (I think) and my family lived in England. My primary school best friend, who I haven’t seen or spoken to for almost 20 years and who now lives in Australia with a crew of cute little Aussie off-spring. One of my high school best friends with whom I did a lot of things which would make my mother swoon were she ever to find out about them. We didn’t commit any crimes. We did however chase boys with great dedication. We also went to a lot of parties where, thinking ourselves to be very cosmopolitan, we would order our signature drink (vodka and lemonade) and then proceed to dance, laugh, captivate all around us (we thought) and generally be fabulous.

Present at my Facebook party are college friends, my 13 year old nephew ( My baby!), who has a friends list in the hundreds, a guy I had a couple of dates with about 5 years ago during an unsuccessful foray into the world of online dating, a guy who’s book I bought, and co-workers past and present. Superhero is also present, albeit in a very anonymous fashion. His profile has no picture, no details of any kind and he refuses to use his last name, going only by his first and middle. Superhero is a tad bit shy (read: paranoid) about revealing his identity online.

You can see why I believe Facebook to be the root of the dream. I am constantly being surprised by the discovery of people I have not seen or been in contact with for years. Some I’ve even forgotten that I knew. Maybe someday I’ll have an actual party and invite everyone on my friends list…