Dad,

How many times has someone told you about a dream, and half way through their in depth analysis of what happened while you were sound asleep, you realize that you are just not interested?  You weren’t there, you aren’t talking about anyone that you know, and you aren’t even talking about a real place. You should listen, because it is important for the other person to be heard, but I think that we need a few guidelines to make the experience a little less painful.

1. If someone is telling you about thier dream – don’t follow up with one of your dreams. Just nod, or say, “interesting,” or something. Just accept that they wanted to say something about thier dream and don’t try to turn it into a big dream dialogue or anything.

2. Dream descriptions should take no longer than 30 seconds. Probably more like 10 or 15 seconds. The details are vague, at best, for you; imagine what they must sound like to others.

3. Remember that talking about dreams is totally for the benefit of the speaker, not the listener. Other people don’t relly benefit from hearing about our dreams, so don’t assume that they want to hear it. Just say what you need to say about it and move on.

Just some basic guidelines. take it or leave it.

Bryan.