Childhood nightmares

(what I imagined the pilot light would eventually become)

I don't remember the pleasant dreams of my youth, but I do remember what most of my nightmares were. Most of them involved the pilot light for the furnace which was located in the hallway closet immediately outside of my bedroom door. Although it was just a pilot light, I imagined it would turn my house into the raging inferno you see above.

This tiny little pilot light affected my life in multiple ways outside of the dreams themselves. First, as a young child, I had formulated an escape plan for my entire family, including pets. Since my room was closest to the pilot light, the responsibility of evacuating the entire family, of course, fell to me...that was what I thought, at least.

Also, the fire fed a compulsion in me to check all burners on the stove nightly - a compulsion of which I am still not completely free.

I certainly ascribe to the belief that our lives affect our dreams. To what extent do our dreams affect our lives? Or, are our dreams and our lives indivisible?