Dreams

As you know, I pay attention to my dreams and, in fact, work hard to retrieve them--something that's gotten harder, frankly, with aging. DEAR AGING, WHY YOU GOTTA BE SO HARSH?

Anyway, this morning I woke up wondering why I bother to remember, because truthfully most of my dreams are mildly to hugely unpleasant. Like last night I dreamed this.

Random Dream Person who I Don't Know in Real Life: I've been meaning to tell you this for awhile, but you smell bad.

Me: I do?

Random Dream Person: Yes, you do.

Me: (with growing horror) Have I always smelled bad?

Random Dream Person: Bingo.

Really? These are the dreams I'm so desperate to remember? I think I'll get a new hobby.

How I know I've really gone around the bend

I spent the night dreaming that Angelina Jolie and I were having an intense conversation about her daughter Shiloh. "She's very cute dressed as a boy," I told her, "but it confuses people."

Movie stars these days! Good thing I'm around to straighten them out.

Dreams

Every morning Son #4 tells me about the dreams he had the night before. I used to be the same way. I dreamed. And when I woke up I related my dreams to my mother and friends the same way some people relate anecdotes. I loved my dreams. I felt enriched by them--even the mundane or bizarre or scary ones. I looked forward to having them each night as I rolled into bed.

And then! I stopped dreaming. Or at least I stopped remembering my dreams. And I have missed them mightily. I feel connected to the part of me that writes when I remember my dreams, and I would love to have access to them again.

Any suggestions on how to retrieve dreams?