I Don't Sleep To Dream

Are dreams merely a random series of scenes triggered by images we see and interactions during the day OR are they prophetic and could serve as a warning if we really took the time to analyze them? Too many times I’ve been left with images imbedded in my mind. I can still recall dreams I had 10 years ago. I can feel now what I felt while I was in the dream. I used to write them down and analyze them. If you believe Freud, they come from the unconscious. They are manifestations of our hopes, fears and wishes. The unconscious warps and distorts the meaning of its information and prompts us to uncover an unresolved internal conflict. The problem is, that we don’t know what the hell it is.

Ever wake up upset at a person because you just had an unpleasant interaction with them in a dream? Either you’re angry, disappointed, upset, scared, sad (we rarely remember the really happy feelings). The feelings transfer to real life. Especially when the feeling is so intense. I recently had one of those. I still can feel what I felt. I’m unsure if the dream feeling transferred to real life or if I had the feeling all along in real life and it was only felt in my subconscious…

Most of the time we shake it off and say “it was just a dream”. Instead, we should be looking at it subjectively and asking ourselves, “Why is our unconscious warning us about this and what is it trying to tell us?” We should probably listen to ourselves more.

I had a dream a few weeks ago about a polar bear. It grabbed my leg with its mouth and began to drag me underwater. I remember thinking and panicking before my head hit water, “I don’t know how long I can hold my breath for! What if I don’t make it?” Then, I’m underwater. Drowning. Now, I blame the polar bear on my German professor (and I told her so). Our lesson was about the Zoo that day. But the drowning? Maybe I was feeling overwhelmed and felt like I was metaphorically ‘drowning’ in life. I couldn’t get a grasp on things. Maybe I felt panicked because I had no control over things that couldn’t be controlled—like a giant polar bear. I don’t know. This dream was right after the first one I mentioned, about the person that disappointed me. I’m not sure if they have anything to do with each other. Looking back now, it was probably a foreshadowing of the future….

For now, I’ll just keep holding my breath and see how long I can make it before I drown.