Dream, dream, dream...

I have been preoccupied with dreams, lately. Not the ambitious, what-I-want-to-do-with-my-life kind of dream, but the subconscious, rapid-eye-movement-sleep kind of dream. It may have something to do with a recent BBC documentary I watched entitled Why Do We Dream? which made some interesting observations. It may also have a little to do with the section of M. Scott Peck's book The Road Less Travelled that I read this morning, entitled The Miracle of the Subconscious, which suggests that our subconscious mind, from which our dreams emanate, is very important for understanding who we are. But it may mostly come down to the fact that I seem to remember my dreams relatively often, maybe in part because they are often quite detailed and very often a little weird.

In the past two weeks I have had several dreams about babies. In particular, I have had two dreams about a man I am close to revealing that he has a child by another woman. I then had a dream that I was looking after someone else's baby and after placing the baby on a bed, they slid off the bed, luckily remaining unhurt, as I scooped them up as they reached the floor. Then I had a dream that I was pregnant, unhappily so, and upon telling the father, he had no concept of why the situation was anything other than fine. Perhaps my subconscious is trying to tell me something? Exactly what, I'm yet to deduce.

Then last night, I had a dream that contained a recurring theme for me, a situation I have dreamt of many times before, but can't remember doing so for quite a while. I am always in the same kind of vulnerable situation, one that should be private, but other people or a specific person can see me. The situation is always pretty much the same, but it happens in different places and with different people. It always seems to pop into my dreams when I am troubled, or feeling insecure or anxious about a specific situation. Because it is a recurring dream, it always sticks in my mind when it pops up again. It seems to be a way of my subconscious getting my attention. "Hey! It's me! You've had that weird dream again when you feel all awkward and exposed. Remember that one? Yeah, it's a sign that you're ignoring me, again. Sort out what's going on in your head, or you'll be dreaming it again tomorrow."

Having this dream is usually not a good reflection on my state of mind, but at least it's a warning. Apparently, dreams are a way of consolidating our memories and collating our thoughts and emotions, which can lead to resolution. Maybe kind of like a mental filing system. I find this concept intriguing. I certainly know that my vivid and detailed dreams of late are an indication of things playing on my mind that are unresolved and not understood. I quite like the idea that my subconscious tries to make sense of these things while I sleep, playing out strange situations and conversations before me that puzzle me into analysis. It makes deciphering some of my thoughts somewhat easier, to wake up and find my brain has come to a conclusion while my body slept. Now if only I could wake and find that I had also taken the necessary action in my sleep to solve these problems, I would be on to a winner...