02/25/2003 - 7:53 AM

Growing up, I had two recurring dreams that always stuck with me. One was a Christmas-themed dream, where the giant Santa Claus that sat on top of the mall a few blocks from our apartment in Syracuse would come to life and stomp through the city, a la Godzilla. I call that a dream and not a nightmare because I was never scared, and never in any danger. Besides, crushing buildings with a single step is COOL!

The other dream/nightmare (yeah) was being in the backseat of a car that goes off the road and down either a mountain or a bridge, into more traffic down below. (Students of psychology/psychiatry/dream analysis, get your pads out) It was a pretty common dream for me for a long time, and it turned out to be directly related to a phobia of driving on mountain roads, especially at night or during rain/snow/ice.

The first time I came face to face with the phobia was driving through the Catskills on my way back to Syracuse from NYC. I got to the first mountain, and I froze up. It's as if there was a rock under the accelerator, and I couldn't get the car to go over 45, even though cars were passing me left and right. In my mind, the safest thing to do was to stay in the middle lane, but people were getting pissed off at me, so I ended up getting over, and the death grip I had on that wheel was unbelieveable. (I think my shoulders are tensing up just THINKING about it right now)

Fortunately, I have more or less overcome this fear, although driving, or even riding in, a car in the winter on hilly/mountainous terrain has the same effect on me, but to a lesser degree. Needless to say, my trips up to the mountains usually end in October/early November, and don't pick up again until the end of March.

Anyone else have any debilitating phobias? Come on...share with the class so we don't feel like freaks!

What I'm Listening To: Lisa Stansfield - Never Gonna Give You Up

First Word That Comes To Mind: Reminisce

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