Ending that dream was necessary for me

I was startled awake. My mind must have pushed me back to a reality that I could handle. It was a strange feeling last night as I curled up to try and process that dream.

Have you ever told yourself to "wake up" within a dream?  The dream was very "present" to me as I was experiencing it.  Then it took a turn that scared me when I sensed that my cherished loved one (who is very much alive and part of me forever) was leaving me.  That feeling of her mortality in this dream sequence was something that I had to run away from.  I can distinctly remember yelling at myself in the dream to wake up.  And I did.  There was an urgency or desperation in my desire to wake up from that dream. As I sit here typing, I feel unsettled by the experience.

So I guess it is true that you can wake yourself up from a dream or nightmare.  Anyone else have a similar dream escape experience?

Dreams

For the past couple of weeks, I've been having vivid, sometimes strange dreams. They play out in my mind almost like a movie. One "scene" seems to flow into the next. The "characters" in my dreams are sort of undefined, but familiar. Some of my dreams have been more like nightmares, but there is a kind of storyline playing out during the dream. It's funny that I would have any scary images because I try to shelter myself from anything scary during my waking hours. You won't catch me at a horror movie!

I have always had dreams. Now my dreams are more focused and longer. This period of dreaming seems different to me. I'm wondering if it is somehow tied in to my desire to be more creative. Can my subconscious be "feeding" me raw material for me to work out in my writing?

I'm curious if any of you have similar experiences with your dreams. Do you have periods of time when your dreams take a different direction? Have you found inspiration from your dreams? When I wake up, the images stay with me for a little while. Then I go off to run around the house and forget about them. I think I better keep a pad of paper next to the bed so I can jot down what I remember.

Of course, my techie husband doesn't dream, so he declares that I "think too much" even in my dreams. Considering how tired I am each night, I kind of agree with him. Even in my dream world, my mind is running all over the place :)