Ask Me Help Desk - Weird dreams

Sometimes I have this weird dream I don't know where it comes from. I dream myself walking on a road, it's pretty dark. Then cars would go by on the left side of me. It's the kind of roads where you will see then you're going from one state to another, very remote. It's very dark out. I just keep on walking and walking until a car beeps it horn at me.

/ \ that's how the road looks like, except, you know, more detailed. And I would be walking on the right side of it. Cars will be in the middle. On both side of the road is thick jungle.

It weird. Please help.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Capuchin

Help you with what?

That was my first reaction too! Seems like a good dream: Means you are on a journey in your life. You are going down the road, and only you can discover where it leads. If you don't let yourself get hung up on the idea that you don't have a destination yet, but are willing to just walk along in a spirit of trust, then there you go. Jesus said, "I am the Way." Not the destination, but the way. So one way to deal with this dream is just accept it, draw something positive from it, and leave it at that. Whenever you have the dream, you could pray, "It's your path, Lord. I don't know where it's going, but I don't have to. I'll just trust you can keep following that way."

However, when you keep having the same dream over and over, that usually means your brain is trying to solve what for lack of a better term could be called a software glitch--it has some issue, and doesn't know what to do with it, is trying to solve a problem but hasn't found the solution, so it just keeps coming back to the same place again and again. Repeating dreams stop repeating when the problem is solved or the situation somehow changed. You can change it on either of two levels: Change your waking life, or change the dream. As you move forward in your daytime life, perhaps choosing a career or a life partner or anything like that, you will find out where the road of your life is going. That may be the answer your subconscious was seeking, and it will then stop having this dream because you answered the question it was asking. Or you can change the dream directly. You can try to train your brain to do something different in the dream, or you can make it a point to remember in the dream that it is a dream, and you are free to dream it in your own way.

I guess that brings up the interesting question (and I'm sure any psychologist would get all kinds of subtle information from you by how you answer): What do you want to have happen in the dream? Do you want one of the cars to stop and pick you up? Do you want to leave the road and walk off into the jungle? What?

The most powerful part of the mind is the imagination, or rather the imagination is the tip of something much larger that floats beneath the surface of consciousness. So you can just use your imagination to clearly visualize yourself doing whatever it is you want to do in the dream (e.g. sticking out your thumb to get a ride, hacking into the jungle with a machete, flying away, finding your own car [a Miata would be nice]). Do this several times. As you are going to sleep, say it to yourself: "I'm going to walk away from the road." Or, "a good person will stop and give me a ride." This is called "incubating" the dream you want to have. It is also sometimes called "dreamweaving."

Alternatively, or in addition to that, you can make a point of having a lucid dream, of making yourself aware that you are dreaming while you are doing it. Lots of good basic exercises to train your brain to do that are available on-line. Just Google "lucid dreaming." I kind of like lucid dreaming. I think that it's good practice, remembering in a dream that it's your dream, you are in the driver's seat, and you are free to choose what happens (and responsible for the outcome). Learning to do that in dreams can help you get in the habit of living like that during the day, too.

No, it's not like that. What you are thinking of is a sunny day, beach on both side of the road, and me walking with a big smile on my face. It's not like that. This is very dark dream, I feel like I'm haunted. I'm walking on the road and it feels like I'm lost, every once in a while, I feel like there is something looking at my every move in the jungle. Remember? I mentioned about the jungle. I feel like I'm walking on and on, there is nothing there. It gets darker and darker eventually.

I've had that dream many times. One time, I even remember myself looking back because I was afraid someone was sneaking up on me... It's very scary.

What important is, this is no sunny and beautiful day! It's not like, it's the road of life I'm walking on.

And yes, I even thought that dream means that the journey of my life is going to be dark. My life is going to be very scary. At least, that's what the dream might mean.

Oh, all right. Thanks guys

I do take it seriously, survivorboi. I did sense from your original post that you found the dream uncomfortable. I was trying to help you re-envision the dream in a more positive way. Yes, it is a jungle that surrounds you, but does that make it bad? People pay thousands of dollars to go on eco-tours to the jungles of Costa Rica, and here you are going there every night for free.

It is your dream, and it is your jungle. As Joseph Conrad would say, the dark jungle is inside your own heart. We all have that, that Shadow. It is a part of us. We do harm to ourselves and to those around us whether we deny the reality of the jungle or fear it. All we can do is accept it.

I stand by my advice: During the day, focus on being in the driver's seat of your life. Do whatever in the world makes you feel passionate and fulfilled. A good holistic counselor might help you feel more at home in yourself. As for your dream life, learning the technique of lucid dreaming might make a world of difference.

What would you do if, in the middle of this dream, you suddenly thought, "Oh, great. Here I am having this dream again. Wait a minute. I'm dreaming right now. This is my dream." If you thought that, you would realize you don't need to just keep walking down the road to nowhere. You can go into the jungle because there is nothing in there that can hurt you. You can even step in front of a passing car. You can't be killed, the worst thing that can happen is you will wake up.