Dreaming Awake

 Last night I had several dreams. Or one very long dream. In one of those dream episodes I found myself in a multi-story building. It was still under construction.

As anyone who has had dreams will confirm, we often dream about our day to day affairs. We dream about things from our past. We dream about anything that has left a lasting impression on our psyche.

Well, last night's dream was no different.

I have worked in the construction industry for many years. I started as an unskilled laborer doing job site clean up and rose up to become a highly skilled tradesman. I started performing work that paid just a little above minimum wage and moved up to skilled work that paid top dollar.

For this reason it's not surprising that in many of my dreams I find myself in construction sites. I lived that life for many years.

So in this particular dream I found myself in a building that was still under construction. I remember walking through the halls. I remember seeing the unfinished walls. I remember seeing the structural steel still exposed.

In this particular dream I was to be trained. I was supposed to attend a class session where I was going to learn to weld.

During my apprenticeship I took welding classes but not enough classes to make me a certified welder. In my dream I was supposed to attend a welding class that was going to be held on the eighth floor of the building. It was early in the morning so I had plenty of time to arrive to class. I got into the elevator and began to ascend . I found out that the elevator was not fully functional and would skip some floors.

I rode the elevator and lost track of the floors. I ended on the tenth floor. I knew it would take a long time for the elevator to return to the ground level and begin its ascension back up again so I decided to take the stairs down to the eighth floor.

I walked throughout the floor looking for the stair well. As I walked around I saw the iron workers engaged in their trade. I walked around looking for the stairs but I couldn't find them. The clock was ticking. I realized that it was ten o'clock. I didn't worry too much because I still had an hour to go. The class was to start at eleven o'clock.

As I walked along a hallway I became aware that I was in a dream. The hallway was carpeted but the walls and ceiling were still unfinished. As I walked along the hallway I suddenly became aware that I was in the astral. I remembered about giving a little jump to see if I floated, to confirm that I was in the astral if I floated, but I decided to not do it. I have had many astral travel experiences in my life. I know when my consciousness awakens. I know what astral projection experiences (lucid dreams) are like. I decided to not do any of the things I normally do when I become aware I'm in the astral, such as giving a little jump, such as exploring the astral. In this instance I decided to simply go along with the dream and continue searching for the stairwell.

I didn't find it.

Eventually I realized it was already eleven and I did not find the location of the class. 

Shortly afterwards I woke up, I had returned to the physical world, I was laying in my bed.