Recurring Dreams and/or Nightmares

So I finished my BA in December of 2001 right, which, depending on the timing, might be exactly 7 years ago. I did pretty well I suppose, finished with a 3.21 GPA so I wasn't the greatest student but hardly was I horrible. However, and this is where the tide perhaps shall turn the other direction in the form of the opinion of others, I ditched class. A lot. A whole lot. Really. Several classes I'd show up only for the first day, midterm, and final. Well, maybe it was just one class I did, and I probably went to almost half of the class sessions, but still, I wasn't exactly well known by most of my professors. Anyhow. So starting somewhere around a few years after I finished college, I have continuously had the dream that I ditched too many classes, inadvertently show up on the wrong day for the midterm which has already occured, which causes me to fail the class and therefore never complete my degree. This literally happens at least once every 6 months, whereupon a panic ensues within my mind that I have to go back to school, finish that last class, and get on with life. It only ends once I finally stop running about and think, "you've seen your BA in the flesh, this is merely a dream from which you may awaken at any time," at which point I open my eyes in the early morning / late afternoon giggling sheepishly in confused fashion about yet another recurrence of this foolishness. I've never quite figured out the meaning behind this madness, although I can assume that I still feel guilty about ditching too many classes back then. Either way, doesn't much matter I suppose. It happens.

A new chapter has begun in these Duplicate Dreams. This one is not related to school, but rather to work. Two nights in a row I have dreamt of my old coworkers from a job I left, quite happily and of my own volition, close to two years ago. I seek their help in finding a new job, and by the end I'm back working where I once did, not entirely happy about it, but hey, a job is a job right? That is my overall thought process within said dreams that is. Now, since it has been some time since I left that establishment, the passion of my undying hatred toward those fucks may have lost some of its bite, so I can only summarize rather than offer an extended diatribe of why they are of the proverbial Teh Suck. Long story short, great small company achieves increasing success throughout the years, accordingly rewarding its employees with a good work environment and decent financial appreciation. After over 20 years (with me there for about 7 of those), a private equity firm purchases said company and merges it with another. "Nothing will change, go about your day just like normal!" is quickly revealed to be a lie, and The Corporate Nightmare ensues. After spending the next year gradually losing more sleep, patience with loved ones, and finally my hair, I turned in my two week notice only to be briskly escorted from the premises like a wanted man, which was followed up by multiple lawyer letters threatening me with various lawsuits if I so much as scratched my arse the wrong way. Finally a month after quitting they were gone from my life, but never once have I neglected to give them The Finger upon passing by their festering, decrepit tower in my unrelated travels. Again, anyhow. Is it clear enough that I would never, ever go back there, no matter how destitute I may become whilst suffering this bout of joblessness? Good.

So why do these dreams recur? Granted, I think most dreams are just visual incarnations of whatever thoughts may be running about your head on any given night, the contents of which are therefore usually left to chance, simply being something that pops into your head mere moments before sleep arrives, but when they happen more than once, I begin to wonder. More importantly, why are these coming years after the fact? It would make more sense if I dreamt of the job I was recently laid off from, especially given how upset I initally was about that mess. But it would seem that these come later on, well after the affair in question is long since said and done. Maybe these episodes of my life have simply hit syndication, and now I am viewing them weekdays at 11.