Dreams

Today’s musings are about dreams and a story comes to mind of a young fellow that was having recurring, alternating dreams.  One night he would dream he was a tepee and the following night a wigwam.  This had been going on for quite some time and he was becoming quite disturbed, not knowing what to make of it.  Finally he went to see a psychiatrist and explained the situation, hoping that he could reveal the meaning behind them.  The doctor told him the reason for these dreams was very simple – he was merely too tense.  (Okay, don’t make me spell it out.)

What about dreams?  Why do we have them and what, if anything is their significance?  (Keep in mind that these are musing and thoughts of the Wayfarer, not scientific research.)  Dreams are caused by many factors, no doubt.  Perhaps they are revelations of what’s been in the sub-conscious mind, or was it something you ate before bedtime?  Are they brought about by some trauma you have experienced or some hoped for expectation?  Many people believe dreams have meaning, and I’m not going to argue that as I believe there are many instances when they do have meaning in our conscience life, but how do we interpret them?

This brings to mind the dreams of Nebuchadnezzar and Pharaoh in the bible.  Those dreams had huge significance and were accurately interpreted by Daniel and Joseph, respectively.  Do these types of dreams happen today?  Many believe so, and I’m not one to debate that.  I tend to agree with that premise, though have no firsthand knowledge of dreams becoming reality.  I have read recently of individuals having had prophetic dreams that concern future events.  Are they to be taken seriously?  I can neither deny nor attest to their accuracy other than to wait and see if they play out.  I’m neither a scoffer nor an adherent to such dreams as I know prophetic dreams have occurred previously and because of that I believe they still can and do happen.

Last night I had a weird dream that seemed real but realize it wasn’t, but what am I to make of it, if anything?  No need to go into details of the dream except to say it was weird in the sense of not likely to occur in reality due to the circumstances surrounding said dream.  It had to do with the death of a young person in the public arena and my being there when it happened, which makes it improbable that I would be involved in such an event were it to come about.  The question I put before you is when such dreams crop up are we to ponder them as possible warnings or to simply ignore them as a fluke?  Is there some other meaning behind them – hmm, what did I eat last night?

It’s interesting how dreams can impact our emotions when we awaken from them.  They tend to stimulate the thought processes as well, giving us pleasure or freaking us out.  We often can’t wait to share our dreams with others and then there are dreams we would never dare utter to a living soul.  Some dreams are too embarrassing to think about and others just totally weird, as in completely absurd.  And as the story I told in the onset of these musings there are the recurring dreams many people experience.

We can’t leave these musings without bringing up nightmares.  Often nightmares are the result of trauma experienced by the person having them.  They tend to leave a devastating blow to the psyche, creating fear and apprehension.  Everyone hopes to avoid Nightmares but unfortunately most, if not all, do experience them on occasion and to varying degrees, it’s just part of life.  If nothing more they get the heart pumping and adrenaline flowing and stimulation is not a bad thing.  Hopefully, we walk away from them without harm.

There is also day dreaming and dreams of the future to follow.  Those dreams are not part of this musing and will be left for another time.

If some dreams are indicators of reality and some are warnings, or have significant meaning, then why not all dreams?  Where does one draw the line in giving credence to dreams?  Are we to take them seriously or merely to be shrugged off as having nighttime visions, with sugar plums dancing through our head?  Don’t expect the answers from this Wayfarer as they will not be forthcoming.  Do your own research if you are curious enough to find out.

This concludes another chapter in Inner Musings and Thoughts of this Wayfarer.  Here’s to sweet dreams to all. 

Shalom