You forgot something. How are you going to get it back? What are you going to do about it?
It’s a classic dream with many variations that many people have from time to time or over and over.
It could be that you find yourself at a party of some sort and you realize that you forgot to put on your pants.
It could be that you’re at work and they’ve given you an assignment they didn’t tell you about. You realize the assignment is due and you haven’t even started it.
It could be that you’ve left your baby in the backseat on a hot day and you’re afraid that you’re going to find her dead.
There are a lot of different twists on this dream classic.
In all of them you realize that you’ve forgotten something very important and you’ve got a feeling of dread or apprehension. What are you going to do?
Universal dream type
It’s a kind of a rehearsal dream. Sometimes the thing being forgotten is subtle in your life. For example, you could work for a company without explicitly spelled out expectations. You’re being held responsible for meeting expectations that weren’t listed. Your boss, or other internal or external customers, have expectations for you that aren’t fully listed. You’ve got to guess as to what they are. You can’t be fully aware of them. It’s inefficient, for one thing.
Sometimes it’s as if your subconscious is letting you know the consequences of something are great. Come up with a plan to avoid forgetting it before it’s too late. In the example above, leaving a child in the backseat of a hot car is one of those things.
The meaning of a warning dream can either be direct or indirect. Forgetting the child or not realizing that you had work to do is more direct than, say, forgetting to put on clothes. You might not be inclined to forget your clothes when you go to a party. The cold, the wind on your bare skin, would likely remind you before you get there.
Forgetting your clothes in your dream may require you to do a little more work as far as dream interpretation.
What to do if you have this classic dream
Take steps to make sure you don’t forget something important if it relates to your dream. What it is exactly calls for you to reflect on what your subconscious might be focused on.
You might, for example:
Lay your clothes out the night before.
Don’t rush on that project you’re working on.
Brainstorm on the issue that’s occupying your mind: what else is there to do?
To figure out what the dream meant, look to your recent concerns in your waking life. Some people focus on the harm anxiety can do. And it can. But a little can make you sit up and pay attention to how things are going in your life. What is it that you’re worried about forgetting? What can you do to make sure that you don’t forget?
Also on the blog:
James Cobb RN, MSN is the founder of the Dream Recovery System, a website dedicated to promoting the power of dream journaling and the ability of sleeping well to change your life.
We use some affiliate links. If you click on a link and make a purchase, we may receive a commission. This arrangement has no effect on our opinions.