Everything you need to know about dreams and more

How many of us lead “double lives” unknowingly? We lead one life in the day when we are awake, and another life when we are unconscious in sleep and dreaming. There are theories abound on how dreams continue themes and issues we face in waking hours.

What does dreaming of #wakeMEup mean?
You could have heard an external sound, which acted as a stimulus, to create a dream image on waking up.

I’ve often dreamed of being swamped with work. What is the meaning of this dream of being swamped with work? While the manifest meaning is pretty obvious, the latent one says to be aware of anxiety in waking life and/ or the threat of being overwhelmed.

What’s the meaning of dreaming of a scorpion? A dream interpretation based on general understanding would be the meaning of threat ad anxiety over coming discomfort.

Here is a picture of a dream of a castle and other architecture. What is the meaning of dreaming about a castle? It may signify a wish to see and visit a castle. If the dreamer had visual stimulus seeing a castle, then this memory may have been recalled in the dream.

Dream of climbing to the top.

What is the dream interpretation? It probably means a waking desire to reach the pinnacle of one’s potential. A dream continues the issue of waking hours. This dream is a wish fulfillment.

Dream = free association

Dream’s definition:
Do you agree with Freud that a dream is a repressed wish that found expression only in the unconscious state? If so, that would imply that analyzing dreams and understanding the intrinsic message, reveals the hidden meanings. Have you had strange dreams that went against your conscious knowledge of your desires? You may have been unaware of your latent (hidden) desires.

Self psychoanalysis by Unconscious Mutterings for Sunday, August 19, 2018 Week 805. Write your reaction to the words on the left of the list. Your first reactions are free associations related to the words. These thoughts reveal the inner state of your mind. Similarly, a dream can also reveal your inner unconsciousness.

Disappointment :: rejection.
Resources :: agreeable co-operation from opposite party.
Steady :: stable.
Team :: disunited normalcy.
Barge :: interrupt
Issues :: problems.
Engagement :: improbability state
Folks :: homely earthy people
Supervision :: watched
Stream :: flowing.

What are your thoughts on this list of words? Join me in the free association exercise. If you are sharing in a post, please leave your link here. Thanks.

Happy days = happy dreams

One for sorrow, two for mirth. 

A long time ago, I decided I would  limit my  crying to a minimal amount. Actually I told myself I wouldn’t cry  because enough has been cried over the decades of self-pity. For every tear that was dropped, I would think of at least one happiness or gratitude, to deflect the negativity of sorrow. My counter for mirth, happiness, joy, positivity and gratitude is more.

When you’re emotionally upset during the day, your thoughts, feelings and actions spill over into your dream. If you want happy dreams, you ought to be happy during the day. What makes you happy? If you had the power to make yourself happy, would you do that at any cost?

If you dream of being happy, it could be a desperate wish fulfillment because you were unhappy in waking life. So this explains why when you dream of happiness, you will wake up and see the usual unhappiness.

Happy days = happy dreams. Go create them!

Dreaming of happy family
September 1 2016 – I dreamed I was having a happy family.

Dream analysis –
In the world of dreams, seeing imagery of a happy family does not mean the same in waking life. It could mean a sad family in reality.

Mood of this dream:

This dream continued into its second night, on September 2, 2016. Again I dreamed that my family was quite normal, and happy, surviving quite well, after weathering past storms..

This happy family dream became a recurring theme for a while. I dreamed again, for the third time, on September 3 2016, about having a happy family. After I awoke, I could not remember details, except that it was a dream about my happy family. Evidently, this theme occupied a large and important portion in my life, so much so that I dreamed about this theme for 3 nights in a row.

On September 9 2016, again I dreamed of my small family having a gathering. This is a recurring dream. It highlights the possibility that a happy family was a wish fulfillment that I desire but did not have in real life.

It’s rare to experience happy dreams on a recurring basis. On a stretch of Friday to Sunday, December 1 – 3, 2016, I experienced happy dreams. I didn’t remember the contents of my dream, but I woke up knowing that I had happy dreams.

Unconscious Mutterings posted a list of 10 words for participants to write about in free association. The connotations or first response to each word reflects the themes that occupy our minds, as we recall them instantaneously at the top of our mind. Having described the word game and fun psychoanalysis, I appreciate the blog owner “Luna Nina” and her choice of domain name, Unconscious Mutterings. For it is the hidden thoughts that rule a person’s behaviors.

The principle behind this exercise is similar to that of the Rorschach Test (Ink Blot pictures). I did a post here on how one ink blot reminded me of dreaming of my favorite childhood toy. (You can read it when you click on the link). Incredible as it sounds, each ink blot in the Rorschach series can ignite recollections of similar objects in free association. The words and images elicit your responses according to what is inside your mind.

Here is Luna Nina’s 10 words for Sunday, August 5, 2018. The first word is her selection and after the double colons, are my responses which are my free associations to those words.

Original :: creative
Vent :: frustrated
Screw :: infinite turning or turncoat (betrayer)
Type :: pigeon-hole
Odor :: smell
Lazy :: relaxed
Release :: emit
Status :: truth
Architect :: designer
Management :: cope

What does this bunch of alternative associations tell about the state of my mind? I’m creative, but frustrated over many attempts to release my inventive ideas while stuck in a rut, like a square peg in a round hole. I’m trying to stay calm and relaxed while the designer in me handles the situation, waiting for the right window to open to show my efforts. At least, this is what I make out of my self psychoanalysis.

Unconscious Mutterings is a fun blog with postings to invite readers to do self analysis. They read a word, write their thoughts on it using free association, and try to understand where they are at, at this point in life.

LunaNina.com ‘s post:

Sunday, August 26, 2018
Week 806
2 hours, 38 minutes ago
I say … and you think … ?

Mayor ::
Caller ::
Escape ::
College ::
Nice job! ::
Game over ::
Hesitate ::
Land ::
Roommate ::
Major ::

My responses:
Mayor – importance.
Caller – curiosity on their identity.
Escape – Lucky to evade harm.
College – youth.
Nice job – praise for a sycophantic.
Game over – defeat.
Hesitate – stop because of second thoughts or doubt.
Land – space to move freely on land.
Room mate – someone physically present to offer human support.
Major – large influence, large concern, considerably affected.

Sunday, October 07, 2018
Week 810

Unexpected ::surprise
Register ::remember
Argument ::quarrel
Calendar ::diary
Breakfast ::first meal of the day
Crossed ::exceeded
Sticker ::
Simplistic ::basic
Jingle ::song
Cornerstone ::milestone

If you want to join us in this exercise, head over to Unconscious Mutterings, to get a better understanding of how her blog is run.

Dream in your language

As dreams continue waking reality, they are communicated in the dreamer’s natural/ familiar language which they use during their day.

Broken dream
Matchmaking and dating agencies usually don’t work. They introduce the same database of people and rotate them so much that almost none are keen to maintain a relationship. After all, they are curious and eager to meet the next match from the agency.

The grass is always green with a new match. Next, the grass is greener with another new prospect. The woman or man who is passed from one match to another, may suffer confusion or worse, relationship indigestion.

Why gender differences in dreams is important to you:
Do men dream? Is it embarrassing for men to admit they dream? Will the man be seen as less masculine if they speak of their dream or nightmare?

Yes, men dream as much as women do. Only they don’t diverge this information. There are differences in the dream imagery and content between the gender. As men have different issues in their personal agenda, their dreams will reflect what they spend time on, in their waking hours.

Women dream on themes that affect them in their waking reality. As women shoulder the nurturing role in their families, they tend to dream of their loved ones. They spend more time on family and have built up considerable quantities of memories in this area. During dream creation, the chances of these memories being activated, are higher than the distant memories of lesser importance.

How your dream of dreaming is important to you

How many of us live life in a blur? Who among us, are lucky enough to be living our dream life? If you’re living your ideal life and your life is your dream, then you’re sleeping, you’re continuing your dream life. It sounds confusing but is actually simple. Your dreamy waking life continues into your dream life.

How your dream of dreaming is important to you
This is complicated. Your dream of dreaming a dream, means you have two levels of understanding. It is like you’re in a complex masquerade.

Your dream life is also a continuation of waking reality. In short, there is no distinction between waking life and the dreaming state.

One night, I dreamed that I was sleeping and having a dream. On one hand, this could mean my inner conscious was telling me my environment was peaceful enough to sleep without concern of danger. On the other side of the coin, it could mean that I was unaware of my surroundings and was ignorant about it in an unconscious state.

Waking reality affects dreams

Let’s break this cycle of negativity! Never go to sleep in a miserable state. As psychology research say, sleep/ dreams continue waking life’s concerns. Likewise, waking reality continues from yesterday, and from last night’s state of psychological impact.

Is it possible that the dead’s scent returns to visit?

My friend Gina had a dream of her deceased grandfather. She was under the impression that he returned home  for a visit. She even smelled his familiar scent, which was sugary, like his cough syrup. Gina said she woke up and immediately went into the bedroom he used when he was alive. She checked for signs of his visitation, but could find nothing unusual. She dismissed her dream as a fake event, or one of nostalgia.

There are a few theories which may explain this dream.

1. Nostalgia for her beloved grand-dad.
2. Old smells which reminded her of the deceased relative.
3. Something happened during the day or recently, which triggered this dream.

Have you ever dreamed of a dead person and their scent?

Language and speech in dreams
The language of love is universal. So is the language of communication in dreams. Speech in dreams is not limited to the spoken words. Meanings can be shown even with silence, gestures and actions. It does not matter what language is used in a dream. Communication is understood, effortlessly, like as if telepathy was used.

In psychology, research says you dream in the language you are familiar in. So if you use English language during your day, you’ll dream using that language, at night. If you speak Spanish during your waking hours, you’ll dream in Spanish.

In your dream, all the characters are likely to communicate in one language. If French is used, then all the characters will be able to speak French.

Men do dream
Men are not that different from women when we discuss about their dreams. They dream about familiar people, objects and themes. They grieve for their beloved dead. Similar to women, they may experience nostalgia type of dreams.

Sick internal organ causes dream
When an internal organ is sick, it sends signals to the brain. Consequently, the  sleeper gets a dream that originated from that internal organ. How does the sick organ create a dream? Signals from the sick organ reaches the brain and create a dream.

Men and women have nightmares
Men and women have nightmares. Men may not feel comfortable speaking about their nightmares so people have the impression that men do not experience frightening nightmares.

Different stimuli may cause same dream.
The dreamer, while conscious during waking life, has associated different stimuli to one response, for example anxiety. So, hearing the alarm clock ringing solicits the response of anxiety. If the dreamer has a bad response to a particular food like milk/ dairy product, then when she dreams of drinking coffee with milk, she may feel anxious because she knows she is lactose intolerant. She may get a stomach upset.

One stimulus can cause different dreams
For example, the stimulus of sound can create different types of dream images. The alarm clock that rings could create a dream where an alarm clock rings inside the dream. The same sound can create dream imagery of a telephone.

How senses influence dreams
While asleep, we are not dead to the world. Our sense organs continue to receive stimuli. Then, these stimulants affect the dream by entering it and making their appearances as related dream imagery.

Dream interpretation is unique
Dream interpretation is highly dependent on each individual’s take on things. Every person has their own knowledge, beliefs, cultural associations, and experiences. This means that every dream symbol or imagery would hold unique and owner specific meanings for each person. Dream interpretation is unique and one analysis may not be applied to another person who had a dream of the same symbol.

Do I see myself in my own dreams?
In a way, I see myself in my own dreams. I know I am present in my dreams. I may not be able to see my whole body image, but I know I  am in the dream. I am self aware that I am inclusive in the dream

Who you dream of
Psychology explains dreams continue your waking reality. This means you and I are likely to dream about people who are in our waking life.

My current favorite subject is on dreams. In my opinion, dreams are a tapestry woven between waking life and sleep. Dreams continue waking hours’ themes when sleep allows the brain to mull over the day’s activities. The brain activates memory cells which bring up old images or fragments of them, to form a dream. A complicated process with causal factors decides which memory cells are alerted. We can try to will ourselves on what kind of dreams we desire to see.

This blog is about dreams, symbols in dreams, and topics related to dreams. Some art using various medium were made to illustrate posts. If you have time, browse around. Thank you for visiting.

What does it mean to dream of being sick? Illness is an inconvenience and threat. Dreaming of being sick means something is not going well in waking reality.

I dreamed that my relative was sick. He was warded in a hospital I wasn’t clear on the name of the hospital. This is normal in dreams when the event wasn’t an actual memory and the brain didn’t have the name of hospital on hand to use in the dream.

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Please visit 55 Common Dreams to read more about dreams.

The drawings were made possible with the gift of doodling by the grace of Art Mater, the Mother of All Artists. Thank you for visiting.