Dreams

In this blog I am going to explore Dreams. In Particular , do they have meanings? In my previous blog I explored the importance of contacting your unconscious in creative working. I believe dreams can also be used in a similar way to enhance creativity.

I will come off the fence straightaway. I am certain dreams are a way we have of sending messages to ourselves. I know they often seem ramshackle or random, but I ask you how would you send messages without sound?

Here are a few facts. During a good night’s sleep we will have around six dreams; they are usually between 5 and 20 minutes long. Mostly we do not remember our dreams. Bit of a pity for many men as men can experience long (sometimes 30 minutes) erections during the night. If we wake during a dream (which may frequently happen in the early hours , we do remember that dream. But note that we can very quickly forget it. Practice can enable us to wake up more during dreams, and help us remember them; if you are interested in dreams, keep a note pad handy or some other means of recording them.

We dream during REM sleep (Rapid Eye Movement sleep). So research shows we dream even if we do not remember them. Anyone who owns a dog , or knows one well, will know that dogs, too, dream. I have never owned a cat so I cannot speak for cats. If we do not dream, or our sleep is continually interrupted to stop dreaming, we become irritable and unable to concentrate during waking hours.

It is possible to control dreams from within (a lucid dream) but I cannot think I have ever achieved it. Perhaps I have not tried hard enough.

I do use the concept, though, in my humorous A Good Trick:

‘for a successful outcome you would have to control the dream from within,

a high-skilled, self-management of a lucid dream …’

Different specialists have different ideas about why we dream and do dreams mean anything. Freud definitely believed dreams reveal things to us, ideas he developed during his work on psychoanalysis. He believed we dream about things we either love or hate. His work on dreams is extensive; his works on humour is less lengthy but refers constantly to his work on dreams. Other ideas are that we are laying down memories, perhaps moving memories from short-term to long-term memory. Dreams, it seems to me, frequently mix elements that have happened recently with events that are long past. Some dreams are quite common. These might be appearing naked in front of a group of people, or going on stage but you have no idea of your lines, running away from someone or something.

We all know that feeling of: ‘I had such a weird dream last night.’ You feel sure it must mean something, but have no idea what. And here your unconscious can come galloping to your aid.

Sit quietly and interrogate elements in the dream. It is useful to write down the interrogation, hard copy or PC will work equally well.

For instance, suppose you dream you are walking along a beach, the sea is calm, you meet a friend from years ago and walk on. In your quiet state, interrogate your friend.

You: What are you doing here?

Friend: Thought it might be nice to see you. You pleased to see me?

You: Yes.

Friend: Very?

You: I miss you.

Friend: I miss you too.

You: You don’t look any older. (Q: Do you look any older?)

Friend: You loved me.

The trick then is to investigate your inner feelings this might throw up. And why are you having these feelings signalled now?

When you have successfully analysed your dream you will get a satisfied feeling; you will know you have got there. But if you have not, you can interrogate other elements. In the ‘dream’ above, question the sea.

You: Why are you here?

Sea: You love the peace and quiet. The sound I make. I remind you of your childhood.

You: Happy memorised. Sunny memories.

Sea: But you were such a skinny boy.

So now investigate these elements. Memories, childhood, sea sounds, skinny boy. If you do this honestly you may draw up things you like to remember or things you do not like to remember. But all these memories are part of us. And why now?

Persevere with the practices outlined above and you will get better and better at your explorations. You may also uncover pertinent messages and be able to make decisions about future action. It may be, of course, that your dreamwork simply assists you in decision making in the same way flipping a coin does.

This blog, though, is not just about dream interpretation. It is about the possibility of using dream elements in creative work, here, writing.

I set about putting these ideas together in the featured poem, Follow Your Dreams.

In this poem you will see The Poet is conflicted about his thoughts on dreams; The Poet sheds new light on the poem’s meaning with the final dog image.

Some of the ideas exampled above are taken from this poem. Including the hard-edged reference to Freud’s gallows humour. Some images came from dreams, others came from my unconscious while writing the poem. Some ideas are used elsewhere. I had a series of train dreams, and these gave rise to a poem Last Trains. Dodgem cars, supermarkets, burning guys have all been used elsewhere. The idea of sea washing away the past, the offer of the beach seems ripe for use, but I have not gone there yet.

But I shall at some point. And with other dream ideas.

… Sweet dreams . . .