I am someone who prioritizes spending time in her bed before and after sleeping. My bed has become a sanctuary where I harbor my time alone to reflect. I often enter REM sleep with vivid dreamscapes rushing through my mind. After I wake up, I record anything I can remember in my journal.
Growing up, dreams were really important to me. Every night I would lay my head on my pillow hoping to fill it with visions of my favorite things as I let my imagination run wild. The nights I would have nightmares, I would seek refuge in the safe haven of my parents’ bed. I’ve noticed that as I’ve gotten older, I’ve had a harder time remembering what I saw in my sleep after waking up.
I’ve always been into journaling. Writing has been a huge device for me to process my thoughts and feelings throughout my whole life. Starting a couple of years ago, here and there, a dream would affect me more than usual, so I would write what I saw in my Notes app. Coming to college prompted me to hone in on my routines more than ever before. Thus, I focused on mindfulness and got back into journaling. As I’ve become more interested in my dreams, I’ve filled the pages with visions of my subconscious.
I dream about my friends a lot, especially my roommates. I think it’s only natural to dream about the people you’re surrounded by everyday. I imagine endless adventures we take around our lively college town. But the most recurring people are my family. My mom, dad and sister who are back in my hometown and my twin brother who is off at college in another state. It’s interesting that in my dreams, I’m always with them inside or outside my house.
For the most part, I sleep peacefully in a whimsical state. I’ll be imagining myself wading on the west coast with my closest friends or taking a family vacation of the past. These are usually stages of my life that I want to reexperience or something upcoming that I’m looking forward to.
But my dreams aren’t always as lighthearted. Most of the dreams I’m left remembering are the ones that frighten me. That’s why most of my journal consists of nightmares. Some of my smaller fears come and go on different nights, like spiders or tsunamis. I’ll even wake up in a sweat over a heavy haunting I don’t dream about often–like revisiting the death of my dog from years past. But recording recent dreams has allowed me to make connections between many of them. It’s interesting that I’ve recorded countless nightmares involving blindly having to find my way in the dark.
Analyzing this means more to me than simply looking at it as a fear. It reminds me of how important my family and friends are to my life and of how the community I’ve found keeps me grounded. My bad dreams are built upon small or lasting traumas that I’ve dealt with and internalized. I believe that just recording and reflecting on them can open the doors in understanding how to navigate my past and heal.
It bothers me that most mornings, my visions escape my memory as soon as I rub my eyes open. Oddly enough, I find myself remembering them more when I sleep for a shorter period of time, or during abnormal times of my day. This is why I’ll have journal entries at 4 p.m. after taking a disoriented nap.
I wish I knew more about the psychology behind everything I dream of. I enjoy analyzing the reasons I see what I see, but I often feel as if I’m missing something more. Something very intriguing to me is dream therapy. I would love to see a therapist who wants to look into my mind and will help further process my imagination.
In the meantime, I’ll continue to take five minutes in the morning to write what I remember. Our dreamscapes are places of creativity and inspiration, and I’ve found so much value in treating mine as a lens to my everyday life. If you’re looking to get more in touch with your psyche, I recommend starting your very own dream journal.