thoughts on dreaming

i've had a great interest in dreams for some time now. i want to remember them, i journal them, i even post some of them here on my blog. they can be pretty fascinating. i often wonder how the inner dream maker comes up with the stuff dreams are made of.

two things have come up for me about dreaming recently. one is the realization that if i have many dreams, as the experts say we do--4 to 5 per night--i don't remember most of them.

i started looking at the dreams i do remember. almost always there is something that seems bizarre or some intense emotion that makes them very memorable. this is "news of difference." so what about the rest of the dreams? i was curious what they were about and if i could remember some of them.

i became aware of waking and knowing that i had dreamed, but not having any memory of the dream. i knew that i had dreamed because i was aware that i had just experienced a shift in energy. every time, it was positive, in the sense that i felt more whole and at peace, as if some little inner tension had dissolved. not that it can only be positive. i'm tending to think now that the negative dreams tend to be more memorable and have stories to them.

this awareness of having dreamed with no memory of content happens frequently once you tune into it.

once i awoke and knew i'd dreamed and sensed a feeling of joy. i had a vague memory of people singing, dancing, and laughing. no story, apparently.

maybe the energy shift is the point, and the images are just by-products. or maybe they're equally valid.

that led me to wonder what dreams accomplish. i'm tending now to believe that their purpose is twofold, in the big picture: to keep our energies balanced and to heal us mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. and sometimes to warn us, and sometimes to entertain us.

this is a working hypothesis, mind you. it can change. and if you're reading this and have anything to add, i welcome hearing from you.