Should You be Keeping a Dream Journal?

By: Nadia Diaz

Record even the smallest details in your dream journal. (Credit: artrev.com)

Running through the tall grassy meadows filled with dandelions and chrysanthemums, my hair was blowing in the wind and carried by the bright sunlight. Suddenly, a huge dark cloud descended over the meadow and with it, the wind picked up strength.

But then my eyes shot open, realizing it was all just a dream.

Dreams occur during the REM stage of our sleep, usually when brain activity is high and signals are sent to the spinal cord to make our bodies minimize movement during the sleep stage.

Keeping a dream journal is an interesting and unique hobby to get into.

Waking up daily to write what one has dreamed can be beneficial.

The dreams could be interpreted to mean something or, they might not even mean anything at all. It all depends on how the individual wishes to interpret the dream.

The beliefs of Sigmund Freud were that dreams are based off of the unconscious part of the brain; thoughts that one may not even be aware of.

Freud also believed that dreams were the unaccomplished wishes that an individual has.

Keeping a dream journal and writing down the smallest details that may not seem significant, such as how well your sleep was, or any feelings you may have felt, is more important than you actually think.

There could be a pattern that can start to show that can relieve what is going on in one’s life.

Dreams can sometimes explain things about ourselves. As time goes on, when writing in a dream journal, it’s possible that one can make connections between dreams and real life circumstances.

A dream journal may not work for everyone; each individual is different and therefore, can have a different experience.

A possible outcome of keeping a dream journal over time is that it can lead to lucid dreaming.

This is a state in which the individual is aware of the dream that is occurring at the moment it is happening.

How interesting would it be if one could have a lucid dream and be able to control anything that goes on?

To keep a dream journal, one must stay on track in writing your dreams as soon as you wake up. In my personal experience, keeping a dream journal didn’t work out so well due to other factors, such as a busy schedule.

Also, not taking the task seriously enough can cause you to lose track of your dreams.

But you can always start the process again in keeping a dream journal even if you don’t have any dreams. To start out, you can just write about the quality of your sleep.

Imagination is something that can stem from a dream. A flow of creativity can emerge from recording dreams, and if you really want to get the creativity stirring, you can even title the dreams.

Dream journals can be a creative and interesting writing experience for many who wish to view it as a fun concept for writing down dreams.

All one needs to do is either keep a journal or a pad on the side of your bed with a pen.

When you are about to start an entry, you should write the date and time it has occurred, and when you’re about to start writing about it.

Write down what you dreamt, everything you can remember, even if it is the smallest of details.

You can even add little notes in the margins or whatever you are thinking in the moment, whether its about the dream or other things wandering around in your mind.

There is no specific time or date when to start a dream journal. The perfect time is now to start writing down your dreams.