"Dreams are free, so free your dreams." - Astrid Alauda
I have always been fascinated by dreams. Each of us have them and each of us know when one occurred either last night or the night before. But for the life of me, can you always remember everything that happened in your dream?
In a book called NIGHTLIGHT, written by The Lucidity Institute, they write that "the first dream of the night is the shortest, perhaps 10 minutes in length, while after 8 hours of sleep, dream periods can be 45 minutes to an hour long. We all dream every night, about one dream period every 90 minutes. People who say they never dream simply never remember their dreams. You may have more than one dream during a REM (dream) period, separated by short arousals that are most often forgotten. It is generally accepted among sleep researchers that dreams are not recalled unless the sleeper awakens directly from the dream, rather than after going on to other stages of sleep."
So I wake up after each dream in order to remember them?
No wonder I toss and turn at night.
Psychology Today reports more recently dreams have been viewed as mere "mental exercises of the brain with no function at all." Think of it as the mind's attempt to make sense of random neural firing while the body restores itself during sleep.
Maybe it is a lot of random, meaningless brain waves firing in nonsensical patterns. As powerful as the brain is, it tries to interpret or put these random firings into some sort of logical sequence. Similar to making sense of events during our waking hours but only while asleep.
Yet in those random firings we might find something new and daring.
During the light of day, we think and attempt to put various thoughts together. It works pretty well, but distractions and other sensory input can cloud our thinking and judgment.
But in the randomness of dreams, combinations and bits of information we may not find in the daylight can come together. We can find new possibility, new ways of doing what the old can not.
That is the great thing about dreams, they can give you new ideas.
- If your dreams show you living and running along the beach, you can set that as a goal and realize it.
- If you find in your dream an accident happening, maybe its an indication to drive more defensively.
I do not mean dreams are a crystal ball to future events.
What I do believe is dreams can be a way of seeing your life from a different perspective. You can use your dreams to find a new way of doing things, to think differently or to create a better you.
Now if I could only remember that dream from last night...
Stay inspired my friends!
