I remember...

(in response to an Instagram #8minutememoir prompt by andeecandy. I've been watching prompts for months but finally decided today to take the bait. Set a timer for 8 minutes and write as much as you can with the prompt in those minutes and see where it takes you.)

I remember a lot of my dreams. It's funny how prominent different people are in them, especially people who I have internal conflict or regret about.  One family member shows up in them quite frequently, which is strange, especially if I am punching her in said dream. Or random people from elementary school, especially one friend who was always competing with me as hard as I was competing with her. We were what you would call frenemies. Once we got to high school, friendship wasn't really possible anymore. I remember we had a dance class together and oh, how we competed in that class. 2 ex-gymnasts and friends, each trying to out leap the other. I'm sure it was entertaining for others to observe.

I dream a lot about gymnastics. Or my teeth. They might be falling out or loose or just too big for my mouth. Teeth dreams are a signal of anxiety, or so I've read. In my gymnastics dreams I'm rarely very able. I have a routine but I can't remember it. Or I'm at a meet and I've competed the day before, but now I can't remember how I did it and I've left my leotard in a far away locker room and I'm going to get in trouble when I leave to go find it. Or I'm trying to get the coaches to remember me, which most of the time they don't. I wish that I was able to do real gymnastics in my dreams, to feel the satisfaction of completing a perfect kip, or a cast to handstand. Or even a giant, but I couldn't do those even when I was awake. I was just too scared, and no one wanted to take the time to help me by the time I overcame my fear.

Me, circa 1987

I remember my dreams and I love to share them. Shane endures them as we drink our morning beverages together. It generally takes me a while to get to the point, because there are so many steps and scenes in the dreams that I want to give for background's sake. I'm a big believer in context and background, as is prominently evident in my writing and my speaking. Because background is everything. I have to explain where I've been, in order to show you where I'm at, or where I'm going.

(I cheated and added the last sentence.)

That was fun. It was interesting to see where I went. I had a lot of time to think about where I was going to start because I decided to eat breakfast before starting. I'd love to do these once or twice a week. I can find 8 minutes, maybe.