Art quilt made for charity by Linda Frost - author of 13 Street Studio blog.
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On a lark, I recently pondered what, if any, new trends could be found in my bird dreams. All of the more than a hundred from the past six plus years fell into the following four categories. I've attempted to assign them self-explanatory titles. They are fleshed out a bit below for further clarification.
- INCIDENTAL - In some dreams, despite a storyline with no direct relation to birds or birding, they still make cameos. They function merely as background filler and are largely indistinct. It can even be just a wing flutter, seen or heard, or a concatenating flightpath in the distance. Silhouetted flocks are the most common; sometimes identifiable to Eurasian Starling, Rock Pigeon or mixed blackbirds, etc.. So far, such appearances haven't been more interesting than that. As far as I know this is the first time I've mentioned these kinds of dreams ...and it may be the last. I'm just not that interested in every bird-shaped thing I notice zipping through the dreamscape; and I hope it's safe to assume no one else is either. I could be persuaded to change with enough hue and cry. Occurance Rate - ~5%.
- VAGUE - For lack of a better word, this is when it's impossile to remember little more than a list of species; at best a static image. Most unfortunate is that they are nearly always creepily washed out, heavily shadowed and at least partially out of focus. Yuck! While I love any dreambird's presence, salivating at the opportunity to add to the lifelist, dreams of this ilk are ultimately not satisfying. Despite the discontent over such "duds", I will probably include them from here on; if only in hopes that it helps improve dream recall. Occurrence Rate - 5-10%
- VIGNETTES - "Shorts" if you will. These are full-on dreams replete with characters and plot; a big jump from the "Vague" category on all levels. Often I recall them as a series, each with at least fairly distinct story lines. Due to their short duration, and tendancy for coming in bunches, I am challenged with the recall process. I'm not sure why, but these are by far the most common: Occurrence Rate - 75-80%.
- EPIC - I've scoured thesauri for a better modifier, but am at a loss. There's no rhapsodic extolling of heroic deeds here. They are over-the-top, though; in scale, length, vividness, complexity and grandeur. Consistently "magical". Evincing profound spellbound and awe - both during and after. With these dreams, it is about the "essence and beingness" of birds. For example, the phenomenon of migration isn't represented as it would be in real life, or in the other dreams. It is an immense river filling the dream sky - birds are sometimes oddly-colored, or even emanating a ethereal aura. Fans of Jungian analysis, especially, might find enjoyment in them. "Epics" also include those where the boundary between bird and I blur. And who doesn't want to know what it's like to be a bird? Wish I had these far more often than I do. . Occurance rate - <5%
