Image via Wikipedia
Why do we even dream? What’s the point?
Can dreams really be so important if so many people can’t even remember them?
Dreams are crazy, bizarre, and difficult to understand.
So, why not just close our eyes and wait for morning? Toss aside the dream journal and call it a night?
The truth is scientists haven’t pinpointed the reason that we dream. We know that sleep helps us to learn, process memories, balance our emotions and regulate our body temperature. But it’s hard to say for sure what exact role the dreams themselves play.
But I’ve got my own reasons to believe that dreams are indispensable:
My world is kind of a boring oatmeal color on the rare days when I can’t recall my dreams.
I have experienced things in dreams that I never could have awake: Levitating, flying, talking to my deceased relatives and friends who I miss so dearly…to name but a few.
I have experienced intensity of emotions I’ve rarely achieved in waking life: states of bliss, peaks of joy and awe, for example.
And even the so-called boring dreams that I sometimes wonder why I bother recording in my dream journal at all, often contain hidden gems, or simply playful, creative, or funny scenarios.
Oh yes, and the nightmares. They’re indispensable as well … tough to confront but loaded with insight and information when I’m willing to take a look.
ZzZzZzZz
What about you? Can you do without your dreams? Are they indispensable? Why? Why not?
ZzZzZzZz If you want to learn more about your dreams, or about dreams in general, be in touch.
ZzZzZzZz Once you experience dreamwork first hand, you might just decide that that’s indispensable, too.
ZzZzZzZz
To learn what your neighbors around the world think is indispensable, start here, and follow the links to Corner Views around the globe.
Related articles
- Looking for Zen: Why Writing the Dream Works (allthesnoozethatsfittoprint.wordpress.com)
All the Snooze That's Fit to Print 
totally agree! love your post, tzivia
dreams have always been so important for me. even when i was a child, they would often help me.
So nice to hear, thank you, Cate!
I wish I dreamed as regularly as I di as a child but sometimes insomnia takes over.
Ah yes, the trials and tribulations of insomnia. Being up in the middle of the night does offer a great opportunity to meditate … which if you do fall back to sleep, will guarantee some pretty spectacular dreams 🙂 If you’re interested see my post on this blog about my insomnia solution! https://allthesnoozethatsfittoprint.wordpress.com/2010/10/11/insommnia-%E2%80%93-gift-to-the-dreamer/
I often solve difficult situations in my dreams and wake up with an answer to a problem. I agree – dreams are very important.
Yes, dreams are our best allies in the face of difficult waking situations! Thanks for your comment!
I agree with Heather, and I know I have solved a problem when I have been asleep by how I feel when I awake.
You are definitely influencing me regarding dreams. Last night I asked my dream for advice, and it told me to “listen” so all day today I listened and had some magical and just pure being in the moment moments because of the advice from that dream!
And I would never have thought to ask the dream if not for you!
Thanks for your guidance, inspiration, and indispensablity(is that the right usage?) And thank you for reaching my ♡ in Cate’s comments:)):)) ,
That’s wonderful! What great advice you got from the dream!
And glad you caught that comment on Cate’s blog, too 🙂 xo
Dreams are my alternate world, and sometimes I really can’t tell which one I love best, the one where I struggle as a mother, as an artist, as a wife, as a citizen, or the one where I can do anything I like, confront people and solve situations and fly at will…
How beautiful to have two compelling worlds to travel between!
Pingback: If only I am awake when dreaming? « VeehCirra
in a sense, sometimes, i wish they were dispensable, kind of when they’re scary, or when they (i don’t know) wear me out already (and it’s just turned morning). but then, i’d like to think they are indispensable for relieving me of tension anyway, in a far further stretched way than i can possibly fathom. i trust that.
{the lady with the smile in her coffee speaking…}
n♥
Oh, those scary dreams are indispensable, too! They wouldn’t bother actin so menacing if they didn’t have something really important to tell you 🙂 But for now I wish you all blissful and sweet dreams…
true, Tzivia, I too experience things in my dreams that I could never experience awake, but they always seem brief flickers – I do wish my day dreams had the same intensity and outcome!
I too love the experience of my night journeys. My question to you is how do you convince yourself to leave the experience to write it down. I just want to continue to be with the journey or fall back asleep so that I can have another experience. Alas, they poof into the clouds if I don’t write them down.
Hi David,
Good question, thanks for asking. Well, I don’t quite leave my journeys behind to write them down. After I wake from a dream I first lie in bed and think about it, savor it, etc. Then, if it’s a dream I want to remember and/or do dreamwork with at a later date, I use the voice memo function on my iPhone (which I keep by my bed set to “airplane mode” so the phone isn’t sending or receiving signals while I sleep) and I record the dream orally. Later in the day I can type up a dream report if I like. Using the iPhone means I don’t have to get up, turn on a light or find a pen to record my dreams, and I’m able to fall back to sleep and experience more! For more on this topic look at my post: https://allthesnoozethatsfittoprint.wordpress.com/2011/01/04/why-the-iphone-is-a-dreamer%E2%80%99s-best-friend/
Pingback: Dreaming is the Poet’s Work (CV) | All the Snooze That's Fit to Print