Mock-exams: A Hypnagogic Nightmare

Yes, I have given this post a title. And as you all (=myself) know by now, this indicates the presence of elaborate dream journalism. As per usual, this is true and all, but in this case it just so happens I was completely baffled by the partly horrifying and partly awesome visuals I got while trying to stay awake during mock-examinations.

As I was falling in and out of the early stages of hypnagogia I was experiencing tons of altered realities that built on the classroom situation I was currently in, as well as completely other short-stories, most of them things I can't even  recall. One of the things I do recall, however, is holding my exam paper up in the air in an attempt to remove the temptation of resting my head on my hands (This was what I did IRL). As I did this, however, the paper suddenly seemed to fold back. Not anything special though - just the way it normally does. The thing is, however, that it was so vivid, so remarkably realistic and believable, which in turn caused me great confusion as I opened my eyes and saw the piece of paper in my hands, still standing perfectly upright. At some point, it seemed I could not separate dream from reality. And so when my desk suddenly vanished, leaving all papers and pencils floating in mid air I was almost positive I was turning insane.

Falling asleep during class, especially when the classrom is perfectly quiet, makes me feel horrifyingly "exposed", especially since I'm a victim of brutal hypnic jerks. If someone laughs, I'm always a 100% sure it's because of me, even though it's usually not.

And now, especially after these incidents which took place during exams on both wednesday and thursday, I've been getting really intense visuals much more easily in almost any kind of situation. Thursday night, for instance, I was at a MGMT concert in Oslo, and I found that the music was very much enjoyable if I only allowed myself to close my eyes and watch the visual journey that unfolded itself on the back of my eyelids. I thought to myself "So many great images and ideas for any kind of art; films, images, photos, or sound - all but figments of my imagination". I guess this must be the reason "imagination" is derived from the word "image".

As a sidenote, I have started taking multivitamins and omga-3 capsules just this week. This could, or could not have had an impact on the intensity of closed-eye visuals, especially those of the hypnagogic state. And let us never forget, placebo is a hell of a drug...