Have you ever wondered if we can connect to other people when we dream about them? Every time I have a vivid dream about someone, I tend to think about them all day, trying to figure out if the universe is sending me a message or something. Is that person okay? Are they in danger? Or are they just thinking about me and letting me know through my dreams?

I tend to think that the latter is true. I don’t really have proof that this is the case, but it’s my personal feeling about the matter. I usually have the most intense dreams about people I don’t see anymore. I have friends from high school that I have lost contact with, except for their occasional visits in my dreams. Some of these dreams are pretty strange.

Wouldn’t it be neat it the person you are dreaming of is actually dreaming about you at the same time? What if you had the same dream and never knew it? I know I’ve written about this topic before in my old Strange Thoughts column, but it’s something that I keep returning to. If only I could contact some of the long lost people I dream of and ask them if they’ve dreamed of me. And I’m not talking about sex dreams here, people. Just regular old dreams, where you know that the other person is there, almost as if they’re physically in the room with you.

There’s got to be a way to prove my theory here. I’ve just got to find out how.

On a different note, I’ve been thinking a lot about people and what makes them who they are. I know that we each have our ways of doing things and opinions that may or may not mesh with those we associate with. At times, these things are obvious to others. But sometimes, we don’t really get to know the people we see everyday.

I’ve always been intrigued by the things that makes us “us.” Basically, the things we like to do or the ideas that really make us passionate. What we find interesting also connects us to one another. So it’s more than just a passion or fascination. It’s something that brings us closer to others. I think that this is what life is about, for the most part, providing us with different ways to connect with other people.

I’ve been shocked at times to have the most engaging conversations with people I’d never approach. Sometimes, if I am attending a get-together for a friend of my husband’s, where I don’t know everyone there, we’ll both be talking to someone that has a lot of the same interests that we do, but you’d never know it by just looking at them. Or sometimes I’ll start talking to someone at work and find out that they’re really passionate about something that I’m also interested in. But I’d never have guessed that we were so similar.

I guess it all comes down to sharing moments with people, and learning to see them for who they really are, rather than who you think they are. Because these two things can, and often are, very different. It takes some time to get to that stage where you really know someone. But when you reach that step, it’s definitely worth it. For once in your life, you see that you’re not alone in the world. Other people have the same problems and ideas that you do. They cry, they laugh, and it’s all part of who we are.

Sometimes I wish I had spent a little more time listening to others when they were trying to tell me things. I look back on moments when people were revealing parts of who they were to me, and I just didn’t get it. I was too young and to naïve to think that others may have larger problems than my own, which in retrospect weren’t really problems at all.  And I can’t get those moments back. But if I could, I would listen a lot more.

To those who tried to confide in me when I was younger, I apologize for interrupting you or shutting you off when you may have been seeking a kindred spirit or just a friendly ear.