Dreamed last night that in the second half of a Flood Football game, players floated in inner-tubes
A dream from 2011, remembered and shared online, ~ Anonymous
Recently had a vivid dream where I was dining in a small outdoor patio in Boston with my brother and sister, while a few other parties ate at nearby tables. After some time, everyone noticed the sky darkening and a huge wave of seawater approaching rapidly from a distance. Although we were close to the top of a tall building, dread sank in my stomach as I realized the wave was already close to our height. Immediately, I grab our things and rush inside the door separating the patio from the indoor restaurant.
Everyone, including my siblings, stared in shock and confusion at the tsunami, slowly rising from their chairs but still frozen by fear. The first wave hit before we know it, and it’s like the entire ocean has suddenly appeared before us. Since it already crested before reaching the patio, this wave wasn’t quite big enough to go over our heads, but it still knocked everyone off balance, battered the patio, and threatened to drag people out to certain death.
In between waves, each one becoming larger and more violent, I would open the door and attempt to grab as many people as I could, including my sister. An elderly man and his wife got knocked very badly against the door, but other people inside helped me pull them to safety. Everyone else in the indoor part of the restaurant watched this unfold in horror.
My brother was the last one remaining outside, but the screen door is shut tight due to the force of the water slamming against it, and everyone panicked. I went into a state of absolute focus trying to pry the door open. All the while, his back pressed against the door as he stared fearfully at a gargantuan wave bearing down on him.
To everyone’s relief, the door eventually popped open and we pulled him inside before the last wave crashed against the building. My sister hugs me, soaking my clothes, while I breathed heavily, listening to her say: “It’s okay, I’m so proud of you.” I can barely speak from the terror of it all, distantly wondering about the safety of the rest of our family. ~ Anonymous
I am told we have to leave in a hurry, not even time to make coffee. We gather a few belongings and are driving North. People are fleeing because of a predicted heat wave. 3 weeks of intense rain have just ended, things are green and the ground is wet and water flowing like we haven’t seen in years. Now it is predicted to all dry up within the week. It feels so wrong, I am aching for this to be a false prediction. I arrive at the house of a friend in Southern Oregon, where a large group is preparing to drive to Portland. I only want to go if I can fit in their car, I am worrying about the extra gas everyone is using to drive away. I am looking at the weather app trying to decide if it is safe to return to Northern CA. It feels good to see old friends in the group and a part of me really wants to view this as a vacation, an opportunity to connect with loved ones. ~ Anonymous
A friend has a sea anemone garden, they’re all dying except for the tips. I encourage them that they’ll grow back. Then, a tsunami hits Cornwall.
A mutual surf friend disappears, days pass and there’s no sign. Everyone’s crying. They’re never found. Everyone’s crying and thought each other were going to die. A baby’s swept away as it hit the hospital when her mum gave birth. She turns up 3 yrs later.
I wake up in panic and upset. ~ @masa_kepic via Twitter
The not-so-distant future where rapid, intense weather events happen frequently due to climate change, and there’s Mad Max-esque storm chasing marauders who vigilante patrol the streets in GIANT TRUCKS. I hope we run out of fossil fuels before then. ~ @tmartillo via Twitter
I was to present virtually at the national conference of social workers, pitching for either funding or a longer presentation about my research around “climate distress.” I didn’t prepare for the talk and was running late. I logged in and knew I was being projected on a large screen in a conference room. I said something about climate distress, how we used to call it eco anxiety but the term has evolved. [side note, I have no idea if “climate distress” is a phrase that’s in use]
I noted that I had written my dissertation on increased climate distress during PMS for women, then corrected myself to “people who menstruate.” [good job dream-me catching my exclusionary language]
I asked for a show of hands if people who thought climate change wasn’t real, then a show of hands for people who experienced climate distress daily. I raised my own hand as a model. “We’re careening towards making the planet inhospitable for all of life, of course I’m distressed every day,” I said.
I panicked about whether I had used up my 5 allotted minutes and if I said what I was supposed to say.
~ @ChristinePsyD via Twitter
I have been chosen by a very renowned climate scientist to give a speech on their behalf. It is spontaneous but I am ready. I face a large lecture hall that is in constant motion – teachers are directing whole classes of kids to move from one side of the room to the other. People keep asking me questions. But I am undaunted, my presentation is fluid and emergent and right on.
The auditorium is filled with pictures of different mushrooms and these are important to the scientist’s work. I am asking the audience to reflect on their sense of belonging in the natural world, and their level of grief. There is a theory underlying the lecture about how these two experiences entwine, but it is overall very positive – there is a sense of active hope pulsing through the words and the crowd.
~ Anonymous
Woke up at 8:34 1/22/23 from the craziest dream ever about climate change
First dream was me in the Middle East or United Kingdom or somewhere that wasn’t the United States. Horrible earthquakes cracked the crust of the earth and allowed for it to become quicksandy and lava started to rise out of it creating a hellish landscape . I tried to climb a building up but everything was just sinking . I ended up falling into a crowd of people and just being consumed by the lava.
Second dream was me in my car parked in front of a house. I was looking out the window for like 20 minutes at the grey sky. It got continuously more windy slowly but surely. By the end of it the wind was so strong like a tornado I could barely make it inside the house. There was however this big yellow glass box that looked designed to withstand this exact situation. I crawled over there and was safe from the extreme weather.
Dream three: The ground shattering and opening up below us.
Dream four was billions of people being funneled into a giant room. It was similar to a giant rocket league arena. I think it was like that big yellow glass box but a lot bigger . Able to hold the earths population. At the end of the dream the entire face of the earth was different. It was all completely icy and the only habitable part was a giant plateau with a city on it
~ Anonymous
The Climate Dreams Project 