What lovely connotations just the word 'dreams' brings to mind!
Songs, poems, and pleasing metaphors all contribute to the
mystique of dreams and the dream world.
What is a dream? A message from your subconscious? A pre
-cognitive vision? A stress related replay of anxiety filled
events? A comfort to those who are troubled and in need of
encouragement? An answer to a problem that has plagued you?
The answer is all of the above and more.
The best reason why you should pay closer attention to your
dreams is this.....your dreams are a highly individualized message
that is directed specifically to you! Everyone dreams, but no one
dreams as you dream. What has significance to you in your dream may
be meaningless to someone else. In fact there have been instances
where closely aligned groups of people (such as families) experience
dreams that share similar meanings.
Here are some things you can do to help yourself begin paying closer
attention to your dreams and the messages they contain:
1. Become more aware of how you dream. Do you dream literally? Do
things sometimes happen just as you dreamed them? Or do you dream
symbolically? Rather than dreaming about actual people and places,
...do your dreams substitute certain symbols or icons instead?
Sometimes just sorting this out can bring new meaning to dreams.
2. Familiarize yourself with some traditional dream symbols and
interpretations. You can do this by purchasing an inexpensive book
or by visiting and book marking some web sites that specialize in
assisting in dream interpretation. Don't rely on these guides too
heavily! Use them only as a 'jumping off' point for you to better
recognize the symbols and trends in your own dreams.
3. Keep a dream journal. This is possibly the most important step.
First, when you write your dreams down....just minutes or even
hours after waking you will find that this helps you recall more
details of the dream. Secondly, keeping a written record of your
dreams will allow you to return to each dream to see if recent
life events help you determine the significance of these dreams.
Finally, a dream journal also helps you to identify any dream
trends or related dreams, i.e. dreams addressing the same issue
or dreams with the same scenarios.
4. Sharing your dreams. This final step takes a little courage
and a little time. But once you have found a thoughtful and
compassionate person or persons to discuss your dreams with, you
will be surprised at the relevant interpretations that can come
forth just by verbalizing your dreams and dream occurrences. This
is an act that is as old as ancient times....primitive peoples
and Indian tribes respected dreams and visions and held them in
high regard. Many important decisions made by the tribe were
based on the dreams of the elders. These peoples often prayed or
meditated for dream resolutions to very real life problems. Dream
sharing can be done with a group of real time friends, or now
through modern technology, it can be done on various newsgroups or
mailing lists or interactive web sites.
By using one or more of the above described methods you can make
your dreams more meaningful, improve your dream recall and as a
result extract greater meaning and satisfaction from your dream
states.
