How to Dream Better
After reading a book about the power of dreams, I’ve transformed my nightly 8-hour expanse of nothingness into a rich, intuitive skill.
Since time immemorial dreams have guided the human experience. Dreams have a unique ability to reassure us, throw us off our game, and even outright scare us. They are also notoriously difficult to interpret. They speak in riddles, symbols, and games. Your mother isn’t your mother, it’s your new boss. You probably have sex with interesting people. Yeah, the world of dreams is like your own personal metaverse, the O.G. metaverse if you like. But with experience and the right attitude, you can turn this insight into your own initiative superpower.
I used Ann Faraday’s “The Dream Game” as a guide to get started. Her approach is simple: ask and you shall receive. Our mind is a wonderful tool, give it things to do! Right before you go to bed, offer a brief incantation [1] and make sure you have a pen and paper handy. The instant you wake up, write down what you remember. Now comes the fun part.
Interpreting Your Dreams
Because dreams involve so many different elements, Ann recommends breaking them down into settings and symbols. Using her guide below is an example of a dream I had multiple nights in a row.
Dream: I’m staying with a friend of mine. Her apartment is appallingly messy. I bring her soap as a gift. She takes the soap and tosses it aside.
Symbols: The messy apartment represents a problem of some kind. The fact that it’s a place they live (the house/home) means it’s a personal problem. Soap in a messy environment represents a solution to something.
Theme: Rejection of the soap, aka rejection of advice given to a solution.
Interpretation: My “gift” is a solution I’m proposing to a friend’s problem. The rejection of the soap is telling me that they don’t need me to solve their problems. They like their messy apartment.
Suggestions on Interpretation [2]
After a few days of this, you’ll find your groove. Below are Ann’s tips to help aid the dicey prospect of interpretation.
1. Write out the day’s events before the dream
I noticed that dreams most commonly referenced something that happened recently — so having a quick note in your dream journal of the day’s proceedings is useful.
2. Number your dream journal to record multiple dreams
I wrote “D1, D2, D3” with blank spaces in my dream journal. This also is useful if you’re having trouble remembering your dreams — your intention makes them stick.
3. First, interpret literally
Ann is pretty insistent on this point and I’ve found she’s right on the money. If you dream about your car breaking down, check your car’s maintenance record. If you dream of your fire alarm going off, check it for batteries, etc.
4. Take note of puns and symbols
For example, I dreamt about the Joker from Batman which stumped me for a few days. Until I realized the character represented a pun. The situation the dream was referencing was quite literally, “a joke.” So dreams where you were choking on food, might represent biting off more than you can chew, etc.
5. Give it time
You’d be amazed how often I realize the meaning of a dream that happened, days or weeks in the past. Sometimes you can’t get perspective on a dream until you have that space to think about it, or another dream comes with a similar message. If you have a particularly frustrating dream, give it a few days to see if the meaning becomes clear.
6. Ask
This tip comes directly from Ann. If you are having trouble interpreting a dream, ask for another dream to clarify the first. Or go into a nice lucid dream state (like when you wake up all groggy) and see if you can “go back” into the dream to learn more.
Photo by Kahfiara Krisna on Unsplash
Vivid Dream = Significant Message
Not all of your dreams will seem important. Some of them might comment on a frustrating work situation, others might nudge you to reconnect with an old college friend. But sometimes you have a VERY vivid dream that you recall clearly upon waking. These are the humdingers of the dream world. Ignore them at your own peril.
Case in point — last year, I received a job offer that I was pretty excited about. That night, I asked for a dream about the prospect. Cue the dream, or shall I say nightmare. In the dream, the job interview goes sideways and I’m left with the following statement, quoted directly from the dream.
“You shouldn’t take this job.”
I woke in a cold sweat, unable to go back to sleep. The night before, I was excited about this job, only to crash and burn in the wake of my brain’s colorful interpretation of my request. In short, I WTFed all morning, unable to shake it off. I had a mind to reject the job then and there until the sands of Morpheus lifted and I formally accepted the position.
I decided the nightmare was the sign I was looking for. If I didn’t want the job, I wouldn’t have been upset. But a few months later, the dream came true. The job wasn’t great. Could I have avoided all of that if I had not taken the job? Looking back, I wish I had at least asked for another dream or sign to interpret the situation.
What Dreams Mean
Your dreams are from you to you. They are there to help guide, reflect, call attention to, and highlight. You have free will, you aren’t controlled by your dreams. However, if you interpret wisely, you may just find a personal roadmap to some of life’s most interesting and frustrating questions. I wish I had paid heed to mine, but I’m also comforted to know that help is around the corner. How do I know? I dreamed about it.
[1] Ann recommends something along the lines of: “Hey dreams, I’m ready for you. But please no nightmares, or else I get scared and won’t be able to interpret you.”
[2] Ann Faraday, “The Dream Game”