Recurring dim flashlight/malfunctioning light dreams

[user1016]

Since as long as I can remember, I seem to keep re-experiencing the same recurring dream from time to time. It's not extremely common but it's frequent enough that I remember each one.

The dream is always the same, I'm in a dark area, which ranges from most commonly, our old dark brick mansion, to my grandmothers awfully eerie Edwardian/Victorian era house. I either pull out my flashlight and turn it on, only to find that it produces light so dim it would contest the incandescent Maglite Solitaire in a darkness competition. Shaking and banging it about doesn't seem to help the pathetic flicker it produces so I also often try the light switches too, and the lights flicker a tad, and barely come on, with but the darkest tan/brown glow, and nothing more. It's enough to only just illuminate the room, but barely.

Sometimes I'll be with people and I loose them in the dark. I had one recently that took place at my old high school; I going to some kind of parent teacher meeting with my mother, and when we left the classroom, the extremely long hallways and staircases are pitch dark, she will wander off saying "We've got to go this way" and then I end up completely losing her, and can't get my bloody Maglite Mini or Led Lenser to turn on properly. Another common one is that I'm in my old mansion and in my old bedroom, feeling happy to see it with my old long lost treasured items still preserved but so dark they are but silhouettes. I try and get the lights or a flashlight to come on, but only get an incredibly dim brown incandescent glow.

They don't seem to come across as scary or threatening to me, but if I'm completely alone, there is sometimes a slight sense of anticipation that something is going to happen (perhaps something I can attribute to playing too many scary video games with scripted events such as Amnesia: The Dark Descent). Generally however, I feel more frustration at my flashlights lack of reliability than fear.

Oddly enough, no-one else I know has experienced these kinds of dreams, yet my dad has experienced the same kind, and my brother has also had them from time to time. Does anyone else have these kinds of dreams with the same concept; lights or flashlights being dim, not turning on or working properly?

 

[Imon]

:laughing:

I know exactly how you feel.
Also before someone brings it up this thread is going to be ripe pickings for some Freudian psychologist. :p

While my dreams have never involved dim flashlights they were troublesome dreams nonetheless (and few things are as troublesome to a flashaholic as a dim flashlight). I've had some dreams in which I'd take a swing at someone and my arms would turn to jello or they'd feel really heavy and my arms would move in slow motion.
Or I'm sure some of you guys have had dreams where you've tried to run fast but either your legs become really heavy or they turn to jello and you start to run in slow motion.

I suppose the dim flashlight dream is like the flashaholic version of those types of dreams.

 

[user1016]

:laughing:

I know exactly how you feel.
Also before someone brings it up this thread is going to be ripe pickings for some Freudian psychologist. :p

While my dreams have never involved dim flashlights they were troublesome dreams nonetheless (and few things are as troublesome to a flashaholic as a dim flashlight). I've had some dreams in which I'd take a swing at someone and my arms would turn to jello or they'd feel really heavy and my arms would move in slow motion.
Or I'm sure some of you guys have had dreams where you've tried to run fast but either your legs become really heavy or they turn to jello and you start to run in slow motion.

I suppose the dim flashlight dream is like the flashaholic version of those types of dreams.

I think that's precisely bang on the money. I've often had those dreams of trying to throw a punch in either a vain attempt at self defense or to commit a pure act of bullying (Why does our mind make us do these things in our sleep!?) yet my punches are slow, and weak. The running one is an interesting one for me. I used to dream about running and my feet would drag along the ground behind me and I'd end up on the ground itself eventually, however as of a few years ago, I suddenly began having the opposite. Whenever running in my dreams, I'm able to move incredibly fast with the slightest effort (imagine the sensation of your legs moving up and down whilst riding a bike along a nice smooth straight piece of road and somehow rocketing up a 45 degree angle road at a pace of a good 10 metres a second).

 

[Chauncey Gardener]

It's been years, thankfully, but I used to dream the bad guys were coming, I was trying to load the pistol, but had the wrong caliber ammunition. Man, that was stressful!

~ Chance

 

[TEEJ]

Its your Mom's fault. Tell her she owes you for a lot of therapy. ;P

:D



Fear of impotence is the primary driver from what I have read about this. Not necessarily THAT impotence, but the general term, as it applies to life in general.

As mentioned above, common versions include running, but feeling like you can only move in slow motion/as if in water or other source of drag, or that something(s) you are doing are not working right/being ineffectual, etc. Even a scenario where you can't seem to make yourself act when you know action is required, etc, supposedly fall into this category IIRC.


The opposite might be dreams where you can fly, etc. I did see evidence that fear of falling can be fear of success, as in, don't climb too high, you might fall, etc.


Of course, dreams are primarily the brain's attempt to do some organizing and cubbyhole maintenance, so a lot is simply circuits firing along the lines of anxiety/experience, etc, from your day(s). Dreaming that you can't punch or run, or are being chased by Zombies can simply be the circuits that parallel working along the lines of memories of difficulties at work or homelife, etc...where you might have felt overwhelmed or harassed or stressed about an impending deadline, etc.

Your imagination fills in some details, and the results are dreams.

:D


Of course, if lately you had been chased by Zombies a lot, when you fall asleep, you might actually dream about being chased by Zombies...of course, your legs might be rubberier than during the day, etc.


:D

 

[HighlanderNorth]

Its your Mom's fault. Tell her she owes you for a lot of therapy. ;P

:D



Fear of impotence is the primary driver from what I have read about this. Not necessarily THAT impotence, but the general term, as it applies to life in general.

As mentioned above, common versions include running, but feeling like you can only move in slow motion/as if in water or other source of drag, or that something(s) you are doing are not working right/being ineffectual, etc. Even a scenario where you can't seem to make yourself act when you know action is required, etc, supposedly fall into this category IIRC.


The opposite might be dreams where you can fly, etc. I did see evidence that fear of falling can be fear of success, as in, don't climb too high, you might fall, etc.


Of course, dreams are primarily the brain's attempt to do some organizing and cubbyhole maintenance, so a lot is simply circuits firing along the lines of anxiety/experience, etc, from your day(s). Dreaming that you can't punch or run, or are being chased by Zombies can simply be the circuits that parallel working along the lines of memories of difficulties at work or homelife, etc...where you might have felt overwhelmed or harassed or stressed about an impending deadline, etc.

Your imagination fills in some details, and the results are dreams.

:D


Of course, if lately you had been chased by Zombies a lot, when you fall asleep, you might actually dream about being chased by Zombies...of course, your legs might be rubberier than during the day, etc.


:D

Before reading your post, I had already decided what dreams I was going to mention, but then you brought up all three of them! Inability to get away, falling and ability to fly.

I used to have the dreams where some kind of monster or scary being is trying to catch me, but I cant run fast because there seems to be this horizontal gravity force that mysteriously prevents me from picking up speed. Some times I couldnt get going at all. But I dont have them anymore.

I used to dream that an evil force or monster or bad guy was nearby, just out of view, but I couldnt quite see it. But I knew it was there anyway, so I would try to run, but couldnt run fast because of the aforementioned crazy horizontal gravity force. But now, for some reason when I'm in one of those dreams where I know this evil being is nearby, hiding in the dark somewhere out of sight, I try and seek it out instead of running from it. I vigorously run into the dark places where the evil being is supposed to be, and I look around for it, pulling back curtains, and opening doors but I dont find it. I'm usually very afraid of what I'm doing at the time, and I feel like maybe its a mistake to seek it out, but these days I always seek it out anyway. To be honest, I dont remember ever finding it though. Its almost like it was never there to begin with.


But I also have these dreams where I acquire a small flying machine, but I cant ever remember what the machine looks like. Its the size of a small go cart with no wings, but it lets me fly for awhile, but after having this wonderful, liberating feeling of being able to fly, the dream will change and it wont fly anymore at some point. But I dont read too much into that, because I have some silly, irrational dreams that change up a lot, and the different aspects of the dream will alter and become something else, or the people will become other people, etc. Some of my dreams are just plain weird.

But I dont remember most of my dreams anyway. I'll occasionally have a dream that seems so wonderful I'll wake up with a huge smile on my face, as if I just had some life altering epiphany, but then I wont remember what the heck was going on in that dream! Thats really frustrating at the time.

I used to have falling dreams occasionally, but I'd wake up right as I hit the ground. Later on though, I'd hit the ground in the dream without waking up, but I'd be ok.

 

[dudemar]

They don't seem to come across as scary or threatening to me, but if I'm completely alone, there is sometimes a slight sense of anticipation that something is going to happen (perhaps something I can attribute to playing too many scary video games with scripted events such as Amnesia: The Dark Descent). Generally however, I feel more frustration at my flashlights lack of reliability than fear.

Oddly enough, no-one else I know has experienced these kinds of dreams, yet my dad has experienced the same kind, and my brother has also had them from time to time. Does anyone else have these kinds of dreams with the same concept; lights or flashlights being dim, not turning on or working properly?

What a trip. I had the same kind of dream last night where my flashlight wouldn't work. I woke up, logged onto CPF Cafe and the very first thread at the top of the forum read "Re: Recurring dim flashlight/malfunctioning light dreams"

First I would like to reassure you you're not alone. It is a recurring dream for me, and it happens every month or two. Last night's dream consisted of me being stuck in a dark shipping crate with other people. I pulled out my trusty 007 and flicked the switch to high output. All I got was a flicker followed by a dull miserable beam. I turned it on and off several times, same thing. Like you I wasn't scared, but extremely frustrated that my flashlight wouldn't work properly. I remember thinking to myself "the batteries have a fresh charge, why isn't it working?" For the rest of the dream I turned off the light in frustration. Then I woke up.

In my past dreams I used an HID and got the same non-useable beam. Thousands of lumens on tap only to find I had the same output of a 2D mag on used batteries. No matter how many times I turned it on and off I got the same thing.

 

[user1016]

What a trip. I had the same kind of dream last night where my flashlight wouldn't work. I woke up, logged onto CPF Cafe and the very first thread at the top of the forum read "Re: Recurring dim flashlight/malfunctioning light dreams"

First I would like to reassure you you're not alone. It is a recurring dream for me, and it happens every month or two. Last night's dream consisted of me being stuck in a dark shipping crate with other people. I pulled out my trusty 007 and flicked the switch to high output. All I got was a flicker followed by a dull miserable beam. I turned it on and off several times, same thing. Like you I wasn't scared, but extremely frustrated that my flashlight wouldn't work properly. I remember thinking to myself "the batteries have a fresh charge, why isn't it working?" For the rest of the dream I turned off the light in frustration. Then I woke up.

In my past dreams I used an HID and got the same non-useable beam. Thousands of lumens on tap only to find I had the same output of a 2D mag on used batteries. No matter how many times I turned it on and off I got the same thing.

The shipping crate dream sounds like something I swear I'd dream about, surprised to see that this happens to others. I do wonder what inspires it though, perhaps exposure to dodgy flashlights at some point? Generally, I've not had a problem with lights going out, although speak of the devil, there were a few times in the past we've had blackouts. Naturally I'm never more than 3 feet from one of my beloved torches, so I'd grab my trusty maglite 4d and click it on, nothing would happen.

That feeling of clicking and seeing zero light emit from it was pretty much identical to what happened in some of the dreams. Then when the power would come back on again, the maglite would start working again, bloody thing! During the recent Tornado, clipped one of my Fulton MX-991/Us onto my belt as I went outside to remove a fallen antenna and got back inside. A few minutes later, the lights went out so on came the Fulton a few seconds later. It did a great job for about 15 minutes then developed a stuttering flicker like a candle nearby to someone who sneezes so violently it sets off car alarms.

 

[user1016]

Before reading your post, I had already decided what dreams I was going to mention, but then you brought up all three of them! Inability to get away, falling and ability to fly.

I used to have the dreams where some kind of monster or scary being is trying to catch me, but I cant run fast because there seems to be this horizontal gravity force that mysteriously prevents me from picking up speed. Some times I couldnt get going at all. But I dont have them anymore.

I used to dream that an evil force or monster or bad guy was nearby, just out of view, but I couldnt quite see it. But I knew it was there anyway, so I would try to run, but couldnt run fast because of the aforementioned crazy horizontal gravity force. But now, for some reason when I'm in one of those dreams where I know this evil being is nearby, hiding in the dark somewhere out of sight, I try and seek it out instead of running from it. I vigorously run into the dark places where the evil being is supposed to be, and I look around for it, pulling back curtains, and opening doors but I dont find it. I'm usually very afraid of what I'm doing at the time, and I feel like maybe its a mistake to seek it out, but these days I always seek it out anyway. To be honest, I dont remember ever finding it though. Its almost like it was never there to begin with.


But I also have these dreams where I acquire a small flying machine, but I cant ever remember what the machine looks like. Its the size of a small go cart with no wings, but it lets me fly for awhile, but after having this wonderful, liberating feeling of being able to fly, the dream will change and it wont fly anymore at some point. But I dont read too much into that, because I have some silly, irrational dreams that change up a lot, and the different aspects of the dream will alter and become something else, or the people will become other people, etc. Some of my dreams are just plain weird.

But I dont remember most of my dreams anyway. I'll occasionally have a dream that seems so wonderful I'll wake up with a huge smile on my face, as if I just had some life altering epiphany, but then I wont remember what the heck was going on in that dream! Thats really frustrating at the time.

I used to have falling dreams occasionally, but I'd wake up right as I hit the ground. Later on though, I'd hit the ground in the dream without waking up, but I'd be ok.

I have these falling dreams too, or more or less, "impact" dreams. Something might be about to fall on top of me and is whooshing down towards me at a ridiculous speed, or I'm falling from a high structure, and just as I think "this is it" I wake up the moment as I hit it. I think the shock and anticipation of it wakes me up.

 

[Imon]

Damn!

I shouldn't have read this thread. I had a dim flashlight dream last night and of all my lights it had to be my HDS Clicky!
Strange how dreams work ... I read this thread and now I get a dim flashlight dream. :candle:

 

[user1016]

I used to dream that an evil force or monster or bad guy was nearby, just out of view, but I couldnt quite see it. But I knew it was there anyway, so I would try to run, but couldnt run fast because of the aforementioned crazy horizontal gravity force. But now, for some reason when I'm in one of those dreams where I know this evil being is nearby, hiding in the dark somewhere out of sight, I try and seek it out instead of running from it. I vigorously run into the dark places where the evil being is supposed to be, and I look around for it, pulling back curtains, and opening doors but I dont find it. I'm usually very afraid of what I'm doing at the time, and I feel like maybe its a mistake to seek it out, but these days I always seek it out anyway. To be honest, I dont remember ever finding it though. Its almost like it was never there to begin with.

Now that I've thought of it, I do recall having very similar dreams! I don't know quite how to describe it, but it's very similar. I'll be in a dark place, and there's someone, or something nearby, and I'll be moving extremely quickly from room to room, flinging doors open, wardrobes etc, half expecting to see something in there, and indeed it's somewhat frightening although my dreams self continues on with it, half unafraid. Things seem very "close up" in these dreams to me, like I won't just open a door, I'll open it, fly in, open wardrobes, really get my head in there as if to intimidate whatever is inside, perhaps an exaggerated fight or flight response? I'm almost expecting to open something and literally come directly face to face with something and be millimetres away from it, which would absolutely terrify me in person.

I always thought to myself, if I was in a dark space, maze or house with some other living being that I found frightening, I have two responses, one being to try and hide somewhere and hope I don't get noticed, the other, referenced in the dreams, would be to rely on a surge of adrenaline to fuel a running rage to search for whatever it is and extricate it, not sure why the darkness seems to have such a maddening effect.

Damn!

I shouldn't have read this thread. I had a dim flashlight dream last night and of all my lights it had to be my HDS Clicky!
Strange how dreams work ... I read this thread and now I get a dim flashlight dream. :candle:

Interestingly enough, I note a distinct similarity in dreams with people. A lot of people seem to have common ones about being back in High school and trying to find their class apparently, not sure if this is common with anyone here, I still dream about being back at mine quite frequently, though the dreams are often quite dark in either a physical or metaphorical sense.