I've never really bought into the Freudian theories, to me a cigar is pretty much always a cigar! Those theories just seem too convoluted and far-fetched. Besides, I don't believe that every person's mind could or would use the same symbols that mean the same things as every other mind. Seems unlikely in the extreme.
The second possibility (that dreams are how our sub-conscious sorts through the hodgepodge of our thoughts to make it all come out right in the end), seems like it probably has some validity sometimes, especially when an actual occurence is recreated in the dream. But I'm not sure that is always true. Why don't I believe it? Well, because most times my dreams seem to be devoid of anything meaningful at all.
Oh yeah, for me, its that chaotic ride to Oz!I I frequently remember my dreams when I wake in the morning, mostly when there was a particularly interesting or desirable situation going on. My first clue that a dream is going the chaos route is that more often than not, I dream about people I do not know! How is that possible? Now I don't mean like celebrities or people that I have seen but never talked to. Nope, I dream about complete unknowns!! Don't recognize them, don't know them, never seen them. It's like I'm having someone else's dreams. Who are these people??? Why am I dreaming about them??? How do I get them out of my dreams and go back to wherever it is they belong?!!
First of all, its frustrating, because these folks are generally pretty interesting, or funny, or flat-out gorgeous. (Hey, its a dream. I can't help what direction they sometimes go in!) However, the situations don't make any sense at all (with locations I've never been to, or skills I've never had i.e., playing an instrument, etc.) So I wake up feeling somewhat bereft over something I never had anyway!
It hard for me to wake up from the really good ones. I can feel myself struggling to stay asleep. It doesn't work, of course. As I reach a conscious state, I'm disappointed and slightly angry that its back to reality. Still, why should I feel that way....I was dreaming about strangers!!
It really doesn't seem fair. I can never look to my dreams to sort out my feelings...because they are pretty much somebody else's feelings!! I know lots of people. Why can't I dream about them? Its not as if my friends are boring, really! I know some really fun people. I'd welcome most of them into my dreams. It would be really refreshing to dream about someone I know. Maybe you dream about them, cause I sure don't!
Hmmm, maybe I've got something there. Here's an idea, "you tell me your dreams" and I will tell you mine!! At least that way we'd each occasionally hear about people we know! So hey, if you dream about someone really funny from Chicago that you have never seen or heard of, it's probably for me!
I come from a long line of women who think that dreams are more relevant than real life! I don't recall ever having a dream that helped me solve a problem or anything like that, but I do often dream about my kids still being young, or my ex-husband being back (that would be a nightmare!), and the usual leaving the house without clothes on, teeth falling out, and falling. Every now and then I dream something that would make a really good novel but within a few minutes of waking, I forget most of it.
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