User:Jess Nicole Bloom/sandbox

•Do you remember your dreams? If so, are they more vivid at times of creativity? Describe some common themes in your dreams. I find that I remember my dreams more when I'm less tired when I go to sleep. For example, If I am exhausted the night before and barely slept the night before or had a really long day, I am less likely to remember my dreams when/if I have them. If I am less tired and sleep during the night I am more likely to remember what I dream about. Recently, most of my dreams have been about me giving birth. On several different occasions I dream that I am in the delivery room and am pushing but the baby never comes out. It's very realistic because I can remember seeing my pregnant stomach, and hear people yelling for me to push. It's so real to me that when I wake up from the dream, I am holding onto my stomach. In the book it talks about "the Residue of the Day" and how often when it is something we talk about, are preoccupied with, or is the memory of the day in your mind, you will dream about it. Lately my husband and I have been talking about trying to have a baby so this I believe is a big reason on why I have been dreaming about it.

•Has there ever been a time, other than in sleep, when your consciousness was significantly altered? What happened? How did you transition back to consciousness? There was a specific time when my consciousness was altered but not in a significant way. I had a couple glasses of wine at my long time friends wedding reception. It made me feel outside of my body in the fact that the alcohol was making me feel kind of drowsy. I knew I was unable to drive my car considering drinking and driving is something I have never been ok with, and also I didn't want to put myself or anyone else in danger. I ended up drinking a lot of water and taking a Tylenol the next day because I had a headache. Since I never really drink I consider myself to be what some people would call a "lightweight". So the couple glasses of wine that I had altered my consciousness.

•Have you ever been sleep-deprived (have you been jetlagged or have you pulled an all-nighter)? How did you feel? Describe how your circadian rhythm affected your sleepiness, if at all. I have been sleep-deprived before when I decided to work a 16 hour shift at work. I worked from 2pm until 6am. When I left work, I had to be back the next day at 2pm. So by the time I went home my second wind picked up so I was unable to fall asleep until about 9:00am. I woke up at 1pm, so I had about 4 hours of sleep and my body was absolutely exhausted. I felt completely out of it for about 5 out of the 8 hours I was at work the next day. I believe the circadian rhythm affected my sleepiness because I am normally a morning person however, only having 4 hours of sleep and my sleep pattern being messed up caused my body to be completely depleted on any energy or motivation that I would of normally had.