You’d be lying if you said you had never once awoken from some skewed version of reality and thought, “what the hell?” Or maybe you are one of those “I don’t dream” people and you truly believe you do not dream. But you would be wrong. In fact, even our cats and dogs have dreams. Studies have shown that animals have the same brain wave activity during sleep as we do. We all dream. The only difference is, perhaps, you are not remembering yours (in which case you may need to focus on getting better sleep). Which begs the question, are your dreams telling you something?
When it comes to dream interpretation, there are two types of people:
1) Those who march on with their morning and forget all about whatever sort of Wonderland they inhabited the night before.
2) Those who start writing down every detail they can remember, log onto DreamMoods.com, and share the information with anyone who will listen.
Regardless of how we approach the morning after, a dream has extraordinary effects on our minds. So, are your dreams telling you something? Why should you care? After all, dreams won’t help you pay those bills of yours. But let’s say one’s dreams could help lead to professional success or a better dating life. Would you listen to them then? An easy answer for most. So consider that your dreams may actually be telling you something really important about how you feel in your waking life. Feelings that you either don’t recognize or have compartmentalized. Imagine your success in both your career and personal relationships depend on your recognition of these feelings.
Well, that’s actually true.
Lauri Quinn Loewenberg, a dream expert, surveyed 5,000 people and found that the most common dream her participants had experienced was that their mate was cheating on them. Other common dreams include: being chased, teeth falling out, or feeling embarrassed. All of these dreams denote some kind of negativity or have implications of insecurity. Have you had any of these dreams or something like it? It could mean that you have a few skeletons desperate to get out of that closet you just won’t open. Those same skeletons could be poisoning your dating life, your friendships, and yes, even your career!
Throughout much of human history, many people believed that dreams were the effect of something supernatural or even divine intervention. Until 1913, when Sigmund Freud published “The Interpretation of Dreams” which viewed dreams as a means for analyzing one’s psyche. In his opening remarks, Freud says, “The dream proves to be the first link in a chain of abnormal psychic structures whose other links, the hysterical phobia, the obsession, and the delusion must, for practical reasons, claim the interest of the physician.” This means that, quite possibly, the mental images our unconscious minds produce can tell us about our feelings and fears as humans.
Today, however, there are some researchers who believe that dreams don’t actually mean anything. They hypothesize that, perhaps, all it is, is our ever-active brains making some noise while we’re in a deep slumber. This point of view relies heavily on the fact that most of the time, lack all manner of sense and logic. While it is often true, anyone who has taken even the smallest amount of time with a dream dictionary will tell you a different story. And besides, who are we to argue with the Golden Siggie.
Regardless of the scientific truth, dreams are a window into your fears and insecurities. Understand that it is not happiness and joy that are the most commonly experienced emotions during dreaming, it’s fear and anxiety. Remember, those negative dreams you’ve had at some point were created by your mind. You created those emotions; most likely you have some hidden weaknesses. Surprise! You’re not impenetrable, you are human. It doesn’t make you a bad person, it just means you have a few things that need to be worked out (like most of us). Because the chances are you’ve been ignoring bad feelings the same way people ignore what’s under the hood of their car. Take your mind for a tune-up and look under the hood once in a while. The insecurities you ignore in your waking life are often encoded in your dreams.
Decoding Your Dreams
Figure out what it is that your dream is telling you and proactively solve whatever it is that may be lying dormant in your subconscious. Your insecurities and negative feelings project onto others even if you don’t realize it. If you are having the dream in which your mate is cheating on you, it may mean you have some trust issues you need to work out. You can actually project those negative feelings onto your partner in your waking life without even knowing it. For instance, you may have developed this trust issue from a past relationship with someone. You must confront this issue before it poisons your future relationships.
You are stronger and better for your life experiences, good or bad, and you need to tell yourself that. Find out who those skeletons are and speak their names out loud to someone or even just yourself (this could be an old boss, ex-spouse, a family member who has passed on, anything). It needs to be said, so you can free yourself of those emotional shackles and move on.
None of us can hide from the truth of our emotions. Even if we choose to ignore them they will find us in a dream, and perhaps, in a friend, mate or even our careers. Often times our emotions hold us back from being successful at work because we don’t feel adequate. Remember that you are worth it. Actor Johnny Depp once said:
“As a teenager, I was so insecure. I was the type of guy that never fitted in because he never dared to choose. I was convinced I had absolutely no talent at all. For nothing. And that thought took away all my ambition too.”
Are your dreams telling you something? Yes, they are. Perhaps it’s time to listen.
Michael is the Editor-in-Chief of New Jersey Digest, COO of X Factor Media, and an avid fiction writer. A Bergen County native, he discovered his passion for words during a long stretch of Friday detentions. Michael loves kayaking, a fat glass of Nebbiolo, and over-editing.
