Monday Musings #18

Dreams are funny things.

Sometimes they seem so real that it’s like we lived it out. But other times, they’re so ridiculous that we laugh at the memory of them.

By definition, dreams are “a series of thoughts, images, and sensations occurring in a person's mind during sleep”. Dreams usually occur during periods of high activity in the brain (also called REM stage of sleep) and although they can last for any length of time, most are immediately or soon forgotten. We are more likely to remember our dreams if we are woken up during that Rapid Eye Movement stage.

Another interesting thing is that we put more weight to those dreams that confirm something in our real lives than if a dream contradicts it. What if some of those dreams we dismiss as rubbish could actually be really important?

Do you ever wonder what your dreams mean?

The neurologist Sigmund Freud developed the theory that dreams are manifestations of one's deepest desires and anxieties. This is why when my friends and I talked about dreams the other day we decided to look up the meaning to some of our dreams.

“Dreams are often most profound when they seem the most crazy” – S. Freud

Some of the most common dreams include:

Being lost / trapped: this usually happens when in real life you are in conflict in deciding between choices in your real life and accompanies the trapped feeling you have in your waking life

Failing a test: this could happen because in your youth, you spend an awful lot of time in school or that you feel unprepared for something in your life

Being chased: these dreams can be quite terrifying especially if you don’t know what exactly is chasing you; this can mean that you feel threatened in some way in real life or this can actually be a replay of a real-life event

Many of us will also have recurring dreams which could indicate a threat or something that hasn’t been resolved.

One dream that I have frequently is falling down the stairs. It’s so weird because every time this happens, my legs tend to spasm (crazy I know) and then I wake up as I’m just about to make impact with the ground. It always feels SO real.

Researching this, I’ve found a few things out: dreaming about stairs usually relates to progressing and moving forwards or backwards in life. Falling means that you may be overwhelmed or insecure in that time of your life.

Personally, I have no idea how to take this – on the one hand, it is so interesting to read about and sometimes, the interpretations are so timely but on the other hand, does this really mean anything? 

Maybe it is just the way I am or how we are as a society but I find that I kind of pick and choose bits of things that I like or suit my situations. Linking back to what I said near the beginning of this post, perhaps there are things that we are dismissing that actually are significant?

What are your thoughts on this? What interesting dreams have you had?

Love,