My face goes cold as I try to catch my breath from the impact of the exam proctor’s voice announcing that I was five minutes late, and therefore could not take my AP Literature exam. Before I figure out how I am going to salvage my lost college credit, my eyes flutter open to my 8:00 a.m. alarm clock. I jolt up in bed, mind racing before realizing I took my exam months ago.
My head brimming with thoughts of the dream I just had, I pick up my journal and my dark purple pen off my desk, and start pouring every detail I can remember onto a blank page before it can escape my mind.Â
This little practice has become a staple of my morning routine. As someone who has vivid yet fleeting dreams, crafting a summary of what I experience in my sleep has helped me make more sense of what I dream of, as well as learning more about myself.
Benefits of dream journalingÂ
A journal acts not only as a bound stack of paper, but a sounding board of your mind at it’s subconscious level. People often forget what they dreamt about within two minutes of waking, but writing down your dreams helps solidify them into real experiences that you can go back and reflect on. Detailed descriptions of your dreams in a journal are like a screenshot of your brain.
Your dreams have a plethora of untapped insights into your mind. Writing them down and remembering them can allow you to find patterns within them that explain feelings and thought processes that you haven’t been able to make sense of yet.
Reflecting on what I just experienced through sleeping makes my dreams make more sense when they are transcribed into my own words. I also find out that my dreams teach me lessons that I can apply to my everyday life, now that they are cemented into my head.
For me, recording my dreams on paper allows me to take a few minutes to reflect on my feelings between slews of deadlines, lectures and other college stressors. Seeing recurring patterns within my dreams allows me to pinpoint different emotions I have trouble processing, and also encourages me to prioritize introspection.
How to start your own Journal
I always start my journal entries by making a bullet point list of major events in the dream, followed by my surroundings and the people I saw in the dream. I then proceed to write down my thoughts about the dream, including if I have had similar dreams, whether they apply to my life at all, and why I think certain events in the dream have occurred.
Dream journaling is not restricted to just a pen and paper. Recording your dreams can be achieved through drawing its setting, or recording a voice memo on your phone if you do not have the time in the morning to write and want to reflect on your dream in tandem with getting ready for the day.
It can be difficult to fit dream journaling into your morning routine, so start little by little, beginning with five minutes every morning in your Notes app. It is also crucial to do it as soon as possible after waking, so you can ensure the accuracy of your journal entry.
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