The outpouring of excitement and support when I posted the previous comic strip – the first in nearly a year – truly meant the world to me. My current plan is to post sporadically. I know that’s not exactly a lofty goal, but it’s something.
I started taking Sertraline (Zoloft) a couple of years ago and, while it has improved my daily life immensely by removing crippling anxiety, it has had one very strange side effect—My dreams are becoming more like memories. My brain will think back to them during the day and I sometimes have to pause and consider if the the memory was real or not. The dreams themselves are more maddening, long and tedious than anything, and the themes often repeat. There is generally some level of anxiety or frustration. Common themes for me are being lost is a never-ending shopping mall and trying to find the exit, getting lost in a bad area of a city and trying to find my way back home on foot, walking around my childhood school like I never left and still hang out there, or attempting to sort an endless collection of possessions (often LEGO, go figure). Once in awhile my brain will pull out something original or entertaining, and those dreams I’m happy to remember. But as time goes on, the stockpile of dreams residing in my waking brain grows, and it can be disconcerting at times. Interestingly, while dreaming I do think back to previous dreams, and there is some level of continuity. This isn’t exactly what poor Gregg is experiencing in this comic, but it was certainly the inspiration.