slipped into a dream, woke up in a nightmare

I think it's pretty safe to say that we've all had nightmares. I know that I have, at least. For most of us, they stopped when we were young. However, throughout our lives we will probably still experience nightmares once in a while. I know that for me, "once in a while" means about once every two weeks. Give or take about ten.

Why do they scare us so much? It's just a dream. It's not real. There is no reason for us to be so frightened of something that solely takes place within the confines of our minds. Yet these dreams can be some of the most terrifying things for us. They disturb sleep and imbue the day with a sense of trepidation.

If we're so frightened of something that doesn't offer any physical threat, what does this tell us about our minds? Physical things can scare us, but the things we create with our minds, the scenarios in our imaginations - THOSE truly terrify us. The situations that we find most frightening are replayed in our minds, worst-case scenarios that play to our deepest fears. They tailor themselves to our individual minds, for the most possible scare.

What frightens us most? What we play out within our own minds.

-enna