Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Dream time

Whilst we were away on our fantastic trip to France earlier this year I had a dream and in it I  dreamed about my father: why I do not know. In the dream he was caught up in some celebrations/party and was pushed, causing him to fall down several steps and I watched helpless from afar. My brother appeared and as we walked along I burst into tears: “Why are you crying” he said? I was unsure at first and then I realized that I wanted to be there for my father in his final suffering and be a gentle presence to him: and I grieved for not being able to do that.

I dreamed that dream in January and he came to stay with us for 10 days in March and then we went to stay with him in Ireland in June for another 10 days. We returned to Oz in July and Dad died very unexpectedly in September: it was only when I reviewed my journal of our French sojourn that I remembered my dream and was able to reflect on how that "Dream" had panned out.

I was thinking about that as I read an article on dreams and was intrigued to learn that although we know a great deal more about sleep and what happens to our brains when we dream, what dreams "are" still remains largely a mystery. The best that I could discern from the article was:

  • REM -Rapid Eye Movement - sleep does not correlate with dreaming! You can dream during REM sleep, and you can dream during non REM sleep.
  • Dreaming is a time of "Story Telling" and many creative people use their dreams in their creative lives.

And that's just about it! Apart from that, when we close our eyes we enter into the world of the unknown: but it is a familiar world and it is our world. When I discussed this article with others we all agreed that we should keep a dream journal and try and capture some of the "magic" that happens during the 30% of our lives when we sleep. When I think of the dream that I had about my Dad, it makes me feel very happy.

Perhaps I won't unlock any secrets from future dreams, but I think that there is a possibility that some of them will surprise, renew and be creative forces for good in my waking life.

Sweet dreams!

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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I've always been fascinated by the world of dreams we dwell in. I keep a steno pad by my bed so I can write them down.