What Your Dreams Are Trying to Tell You
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Where do you go when you fall asleep? A question scientists have unsuccessfully spent centuries trying to answer. There have been several theories; Romans and Greeks used to believe that dreaming was a superpower, taking you to a world between Earth and another godly universe. Another theory by Sigmund Freud states that dreams are a subconscious collection of desires and thoughts and that we as humans are driven by those desires and longings for something missing in our conscious lives. In his book, The Interpretation of Dreams, Freud discusses dreaming as a pathway to the truth.
He says, “The interpretation of dreams is the royal road to a knowledge of the unconscious activities of the mind.” Freud’s method of interpreting dreams was very self-led. He invited people to follow their own thought process, through a series of questions about their dreams, without filtering anything. Eventually, he realized that dreams were repressed desires, their meanings specific to each individual. The typical interpretation of dreams that we see involves symbolism; for example, if you are falling in your dream, it translates to fear or anxiety. While many of these may be accurate, what happens in your dreams may be much deeper than a simple anxiety.
Since Freud’s time, there have been many other theories, but dreaming is still a scientific mystery. We know that while we sleep, our brains consolidate memories and put away moments of our day for safekeeping. That’s why it’s crucial to get plenty of sleep because all of your memories are being sorted during slumber. Dreams occur in REM sleep or rapid eye movement, about 90 minutes after you fall asleep. While some people don’t even remember their dreams, some have lucid or extremely vivid dreams, usually caused by anxiety, sleep disorders, certain medications, or even traumatic events. Some can feel like you are slipping into a parallel universe, seeing faces and places from your past and present in a world that feels all too real.
Personally, most of my dreams are realistic to the point where I don’t realize I am dreaming. Sometimes, something strange will occur when I am in the middle of a particularly vivid dream. I can feel something telling me to wake up, and a few seconds later, my eyes open, and I am back to reality. It’s an unexplainable sensation, feeling so connected to a world that is all in your mind. It has to mean something, right? Perhaps we can create interpretations by writing down our travels’ details and decoding them for ourselves. Maybe dreams are just a way for your brain to process emotions and anxieties while sorting memories, but perhaps they’re more than that. We may never get a solid explanation for the mysterious world we transcend into when we fall asleep. All we know is that our dreams are there to tell us something, and all we have to do is listen.
Strike Out,
Emma Saunders
Boca Raton
Emma Saunders is a Content Writer and Photographer for Strike Magazine. In her free time, she enjoys saving the planet, drinking iced coffee, and listening to Red (Taylor’s Version only) on repeat. You can reach her at emmarose3900@icloud.com
