Lucid Dreaming

Because I am a psych major, a fair amount of time has been spent on the nature of dreams. Some believe dreams are nothing more than the random firing of neurons in the brain while you sleep that create the meaningless images you remember when you wake up. In ancient civilizations, dreams were believed to be messages from the Gods. Dreams have also been thought to represent your secret desires, wishes, fears, and anxieties. I'm not sure how I feel about dreams, but I do know that when I won't give time to thoughts in real life, they are sure to make themselves known in my dreams. Perhaps dreams are a way for the things you won't allow into your life to have some outlet for expression. Freud, as kooky as I believe he was in many points of this theories, may have hit something when he discussed dreaming.

I remember the first time I ever had a dream in which I was flying. It was in high school and I was taking a summer class to occupy my time. In this class, I became friends with someone who is still one of my best friends. He influenced the way in which I view the world and challenged me intellectually. I dreamed that I was flying over the neighborhood where my church is. I had had "floating" dreams before, in which I run really fast, jump several hundred feet in the air, and slowly float to the ground, but I had never had an actual flying dream. When I finally did fly in my dreams, it was incredible. I felt good for days simply because of that dream, and I guarantee my dream was influenced by my relationship with my friend.

I used to dream that I was trapped while sleeping. While dreaming, I recognized that I was in a dream and that I needed to wake up. Many times I was paralyzed and despite the fact that I wanted to scream and scream for someone to help me wake up, I laid there and couldn't form the words. I hated those dreams. They scared me, and they used to happen several times a week. I don't get them very often anymore, fortunately. Because of those dreams, however, something very interesting has developed. I've discovered I can tell that I am in a dream. I've discovered that this is called "lucid dreaming" and has been defined as "dreaming while you know you are dreaming." I've never experienced anything like it. When I have the thought "This is a dream," I then alter the dream any which way I want. The dreams in which I lucid dream become so incredibly vivid, emotionally charged, and unforgettable. The content of these dreams seems to be pretty boring. I don't have action packed chases and I don't fly. Usually I just inspect things around me to discover how real they seem, but that is the cool part. When I know it is a dream, I can look at it in such a different way. I've been lucid dreaming almost every night for the past couple weeks, and I remember all of them when I wake up. I almost anticipate going to sleep now.