So I was about 2 when this happened and I was living in England. Our house had a backyard with a bunch of foliage and there was a path behind the gate that went parallel to the back of the house. My first memory was a dream of me being in my backyard playing alone. Instead of there being other houses and backyards on the other side of the path there was a wall that was covered in ivy and there was a painting of a man (like 50 years old and looking very serious) on the wall in front of me. It was a little spooky, but I remember looking at the picture kind of quizzically, like I was wondering why it was there.
This is particularly memorable because it was a little weird and spooky, but I was really calm in my dream. I also remember it because it was a dream and I thought it was strange that my first memory was a dream, but when I talked to my dad about it he said his first memory was also a dream.
I'm sure my personality is very different from how I was then, but I am still a relatively calm person like I was in my dream.
One of my earliest memories is also a dream. I don't think it's my very earliest memory, because I can't remember exactly when I had the dream, but I know it was somewhere around ages 3-5. My preschool teacher used to call me cindy lou who, like the character in the doctor seuss book the grinch, because i looked like her a little. One night, I had a dream that I was cindy lou who, only in a cartoon form. My dad and I were line drawings in a line drawing house, and we were standing on one of the higher floors. These monsters appeared, and we got very scared, but right as they were about to catch us, the floor fell through and we would be on the floor below. Then the same thing would happen on that floor... and the next floor... and the next floor... until I woke up. I had this dream a few times when I was around that age, and it was always the same, but as I got older, it would get longer-eventually my dad and I would run out of the house and the ground would fall behind us. It's weird to me, because it's the only recurring dream I've ever had in my whole life (that I remember, anyway). Probably a lot of the reason why I remember it is because it was repeated, and also because it was a very scary dream to me.
One of my earliest memories was a dream as well. I was three years old and was I getting into bed to go to sleep. I fell down the small gap between my bed and the wall and I found myself in the world of Sesame Street. I was terrified that The Count would try and hurt me. The rest of the crew on Sesame Street was really nice. I also feel that, even though I am a different person from how I was back then, I have retained some qualities from my childhood.
-- Edited by SWISH7459 on Tuesday 20th of October 2009 11:36:35 PM
One of my earliest memories was also a dream, and I think I also remember feeling very calm. I think it is really interesting that so many peoples earliest memories are dreams, but we hardly remember dreams now. Maybe it is because we spend less time in REM sleep now, whereas at 2-3 years old, we spend a quarter of the night in REM sleep.
I think we tend to remember the more traumatic dreams of our childhood. Or for that matter, our entire life. One of my earliest memories involves a roller coaster ride through what I swear seems like the perfect representation of hell, complete with Edvard Munch-esque "scream" figures, muted brown and blacks and grey tones that remind me of that scene in the Saw series where the corrupt businessman is drowning in a pile of liquefied pigs.
At the same time, I remember dreams from last month that were more traumatic--dreams where I've essentially lost control of myself or my bodily functions tend to be most traumatic for me.
I'm surprised you were calm in your first memory ever. Most first memories I hear involve temper tantrums or other various childish behavior.
Some of my earliest memories are of me playing in my backyard. I had 8 avocado trees and I used to climb them all the time. I don't really remember any dreams as a very young child though. I remember having a few nightmares but I have absolutely no idea of when those would have been.
