Does sleep position affect dreams?

I’m SO sure I’m the first person to ever say this… dreams can be so weird! I won’t get into specifics about the meaning of dreams because last time I checked I wasn’t a scientist or biologist or whatever those people are called who study these things.

My most recent dream was about a surprise attack in a little beachside town on the coast of the United States. I could verify the planes flying over were a foreign enemy using my amateur knowledge of airplanes gleaned from where my house in Nashville is located: right along the flight path of planes taking off and landing. I see all sorts of different aircraft, so that was interesting in the dream. Although the story is still very vivid in my mind, I rather talk about WHY I dream in certain ways, whether it’s positive, negative, or anywhere in between. 

I’ve discovered something about my sleeping patterns. When I sleep on my back facing up at the ceiling, I almost always have bad dreams. I am confident saying it’s a bad dream 99.9% of the time. However, if I sleep on my back with my head turned left or right, dreams are only bad most of the time… call it 60-70%. 

When I sleep on my belly or side, dreams are all over the spectrum, some good some bad. But I just think it’s so interesting that when I sleep on my back, it means I’ll be having nightmares. As they say in the south, I’m fixin’ to research this. Right now I don’t know if it’s something physical happening (I suspect it is, perhaps the way the brain is situated in my head in this particular sleeping position). 

How about you? Have you noticed any differences in your dreams based on your sleeping position? Totally unrelated self-promotion, check out this post on how I would guess a few celebrities sleep, based on their personalities. 

Thanks for stopping by!

-Out of the Wilderness

Kentucky Sunrise

From Nashville I drove up to Louisville recently, before the sun was even up! I will claim I’m not a morning person but years of having a real job has me in the habit of waking up early whether I want to or not. With that said, this particular morning was AMAZING. Not because it was dark when I got up. Not because waking up is fun. It was the sunrise. The early morning fog. The dew on the grass. I was able to pull off the interstate and snap a few photos somewhere in southern Kentucky. Hope these pictures put a smile on your face, reminding you and me of the beauty that is all around us from an awe-inspiring and creative God who’s art can’t quite be fathomed or matched. For more of my photography, check out my FineArtAmerica page here.

And now, here is the Kentucky sunrise…

-Out of the Wilderness

I used to be a hopeless romantic

I was listening to songs off my old iPod recently and I’ll say this first, there are so many great songs that I forgot about! Switching from the iPod to my phone (now using Spotify – click here for my best softball playlist), some songs I’ve just forgot about over the years. So hearing them again has been a fun blast from the past and a reminder of songs I need to find on Spotify. 

But then one came on that reminded me that I used to be a hopeless romantic. Here’s the song. 

Stars are falling, are we falling, too? Such a great song! LP became one of my favorites after hearing that one. She has a couple others that I like, too, but this one definitely transports me to a great place where love is paramount, the relationship that made you feel butterflies, like finding it is possible! I’ll admit I haven’t felt that in a while, which is OK, but at times I miss being a hopeless romantic. Now I’m just a cynical 42-year-old who yells at cars passing by to slow down. 

OK, I’m not that grumpy… yet. 🙂

Are there songs that transport you to another place like this one does for me? Please share in the comments below so I can check out so I can check them out, too! 

Thanks for stopping by…

-Out of the Wilderness

My thoughts on September 11th, 20 years later

I was hesitant to write about 9/11 because I knew the days leading up to it and on that day, we’d be saturated with stories about that horrific day. I can be a contrarian (for instance: I don’t have an iPhone because everyone else does, I watched Friends but not when it was on TV the first time, I absolutely will not watch This Is Us). Also, I didn’t want to just write because I *should* write about it. There are many heartbreaking stories from that day. There are also stories of heroism. 

My story isn’t heartbreaking or heroic. I was just a college student starting a new semester, and honestly I was annoyed with the university staff who were supposed to be helping me get my campus parking pass but they were glued to the TV for a reason I didn’t know yet. I write more about all that here. 

As September 11, 2021 came and went, I’ve felt more rage than in years past. I hope it wasn’t because I had become numb or nonchalant about the attack. But this past Friday night those feelings of anger, rage, and revenge bubbled up again… and I liked it. It was Sept 10th, I was watching CBS’s program covering the plane crashes. They started with the stories from NYC and covered the related events all the way up to the last soldier leaving Afghanistan a few weeks ago, almost 20 years after 9/11/2001. Before I say anything else, I must tip my hat with a heart overflowing with gratitude, respect, awe, and jealousy to the men and women who rush *into* harms way when everyone else is running away. This goes for the heroes on the planes, the first responders that tragic morning of the towers burning and falling, to everyone who has served in any capacity on the hunt for Bin Laden and terrorist groups and the SEALS who took out Bin Laden, to the 13 who passed away as the war ended last month. 

I’m in awe of them. I’m jealous, but not in the envious evil way. I’m jealous because I wish I was like them. So selfless. So fearless. Running towards the danger when our natural response is to flee. 

I know people with this kind of spirit. I have family members who are fighters like this. I’m in awe of them, too. 

This remembrance of 9/11, two decades after the events, has reminded me to be vigilant. Be kind. Love people. But be fearless. Be badass. Don’t flee. 

I hate what happened on that day. So many people lost their lives and I can’t even imagine what it would feel like knowing you’re going to die. Or being in the towers after they were hit, thinking you might have a chance but wondering if this is the end. 

There is a special place in Hell for the demons who carried out these sick and evil things. 

-Out of the Wilderness

Certain songs at certain times…

I don’t mean to be dark or morbid, but in the last few months a few people I know, or know of, have passed away and I don’t necessarily want to talk about that (I wrote more here which you can read if you want) but it was in this time that a few songs rose up off my playlists to connect to me in a way they hadn’t before. They helped to comfort, a bit of sunshine after the rain if that makes sense.

In other words, I love God so much, especially that He created music to be so special. It’s those moments when I hear the perfect song at the perfect time that just make things so much brighter, I feel more able to overcome, or even feel sadness on such a deeper level. It’s important to feel these things, I think. I don’t think anyone would suggest that suppressing them would do anyone any good.

Here are the songs that helped me feel the losses deeper, at the same time providing a glimmer of light in the darkness.

Johnny Cash feat. U2 “The Wanderer”

Robert Plant “Rainbow”

Needtobreathe “Who Am I” (click here for a list of songs with similar titles)

KONGOS “This Time I Won’t Forget”

Bart Simpson “Do the Bartman” (kidding, just wanted to end on a light note!)

Thanks for stopping by!

-Out of the Wilderness