Anxiety dreams

I think everyone has these at times -- the dreams where you have a test you haven't studied for, in a class you haven't taken, or you have to give a speech and you're naked and don't have any notes.

When I have these kinds of dreams, they are almost always about performing music. I had one the other night: I was supposed to play a difficult solo piece with an orchestra, and I hadn't practiced it even though I could have, so I felt not only anxious but guilty. I had blown it off, thinking I could do it, but now I was with the orchestra at some vast performance venue, and we were milling around while waiting for a rehearsal, and I was in a panic. I was also worried about my cello, and I looked inside through the f-holes and saw that the sound post was not only leaning, it was oddly shaped, like a twig, skinny at one end. Then it fell, and the bridge fell, and though in the dream I started crying I was also relieved that maybe I wouldn't have to play.

This dream also fed into my anxiety about my appearance, because in the next part, I was examining my shoes, remembering that when I had picked them out, they were a sort of gold color, but now they appeared to be an orange-ish red patent leather, and when I slipped one off I noticed it was the wrong size (too small).

I've had many other dreams like this.

I've also had some real-life experiences that were too close for comfort, but I'll keep those to myself!