More Than a Review is please to host Alexis Jacobs as a guest blogger today. She shares some interesting thoughts about our dreams and gives you ideas of what to do the next time you are experiencing a lucid dream. We would love for you to share some of your most vivid dreams.
WHAT YOUR LUCID DREAMS CAN TEACH YOU
My mother once told me that having a lot of strange dreams could be a sign of a tumor lurking in your brain. After a brain scan or two, she realized that wasn’t true in my case. But from as far back as I can remember, I have had lucid dreams – those clear, vivid night visions that blur the border between dreams and reality. In them, you’re physically asleep, but mentally awake in a very detailed setting that looks and feels real. Many people have this type of dream as children, but somehow lose the ability as they get older. That’s a pity, because lucid dreams especially are far more valuable than they may seem. As a writer, I have learned that these dreams can be a fantastic source of self-knowledge, inspiration, and not to mention story ideas.
All dreams bubble-up from the depths of our subconscious mind. That’s why you should practice paying attention the next time you find yourself in a lucid dream. As soon as you realize you’re dreaming, try asking yourself, “Why am I in this place?” “Is there something I’m supposed to see or learn?” It could be an empty office building at night, a dark countryside, someone’s house, or even a city street. It doesn’t matter. Just try to explore the place, talk to anyone there, and read whatever signs you see. With practice, this will become second nature in time.
It’s also important to take notes from your dreams. One night, I was dreaming about being at a crowded event, when I heard a woman calling out two names. I got up and started running around, asking if someone had a pen and paper. I finally got them, but then realized I couldn’t take the note with me out of the dream. So I told myself to wake up in three seconds, jump out of bed, grab a pen and paper and write down the names. And that’s exactly what I did. I still don’t know what was significant about those names, but I’m determined to glean as much data as possible from these dreams. You should do the same. Write down any names, words or sentences that you come across. You may be surprised what you learn. But if nothing else, you’ll get a better glimpse of what’s really hidden in that part of your mind where we house our deepest fears and desires. You may also begin to see a pattern – something that points to a bigger picture, or a bigger purpose than you can see as yet.
Lastly, for writers, your lucid dreams can offer a wealth of unique story ideas – the kind you might never have thought of in your waking life. That’s another reason to write them down. Once in a while, I have the type of lucid dream that shakes all my preconceptions about reality. In those ones, I’m always someone else – a poor, barefooted, orphaned 14-year-old girl living alone with her twin in the early 1900s; a doomed Russian man working on a secret project for Karl Marx; a rich young guy in 1940s Boston; or a brown-haired boy living with his single mother in a bedroom town. At those times I have no concept of my waking self, as I do in my regular dreams. These ones are the most mysterious and disturbing, yet, I love them for the ideas they bring. And there’s one other gift these types of dreams provide. They have also taught me what it feels like to be in someone else’s shoes. For a writer, this is a very valuable gift, because it can help you to build strong characters that readers can empathize with, and that are memorable and real.
So the next time you find yourself in a “waking dream”, put on your journalistic hat. Don’t try to control the dream, as some people claim you should do – because then you may go off-track and miss what your dream is actually trying to show you. Just drop your defenses. It’s hard, especially if the dreamscape is a nightmarish one. But you may learn something that can help you grow as a writer, while teaching you to face your fears. As Carl Jung once said, Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes. Then wake up, my fellow dreamers. Just do it while you’re asleep.
Alexis Jacobs is a New York City author who was born in England of West Indian parentage, and raised mainly in Canada. She currently heads the NYC Writers Circle, which is the largest writers’ meetup in New York City.