Do your dreams stay with you?
I keep a dream book to help me reflect and record my nocturnal adventures.
You can too. Start a new practice in a book exclusively dedicated to exploring your subconscious’ amazing moving picture shows. I log and date each entry easily look back to find patterns and themes. I draw a lot of information from my dreams too. Read on to see what creating a record of dreams might do for you.
Plant a seed of something. Maybe a question you want an answer to. Perhaps it’s a place or person you long to visit. Maybe it’s a feeling you want to experience. You are the director, producer, set designer and all of the actors. Embrace the opportunity to make more of life during what was once just more time passing by.
Embrace haphazard. Don’t worry about what or how you can recall. Rare is the sequential story recalled. Record all sensory impressions in whatever order they may occur. Make side bar notes of what things might mean for you.
Try audio recording. Often mumbled pre dawn voice memos are my only clue to reconstruct a graphic image for my dream archive. Voice memos are helpful but sketch and written words are all I keep. The spoken word audio I find to be too messy as an archival tool. I will listen back to aid recall and transcribe what is present, then erase the voice memo. The exception is when I get a song. Those are precious and I will keep that audio clip or make a more finished musical clip from the idea.
Dream Sketch Journal is built to support the wildly unformatted structure of dreams. Primary schools teaching writing will have large stacks of paper with an equal division for word and image. I find this format supportive of the way I think. Wanting a Dream Journal formatted this way but not finding it I built this book.
And what if there are no dreams?
Have your Dream Sketch Journal a pencil in easy reach. Start now and see where it leads. If you have poor sleep this tool might be helpful to bring attention to stillness, reflection and open you to future revelation.
Philosophers, sur realists, poets and kings have used dreams to unfold their future. English author Jonathan Swift, asked for dreams to furnish his livelihood as he wrote many popular books like Gulliver’s travels from his nightly adventures. What might tonight’s dreams have in store for the world? Take time to unpack free flowing radically raw and uncensored always amusing sometimes good council.
Here’s something to try
Make notes, start asking for dreams, your writing notes or symbols before sleep is a great place to invite lucid dreaming. Take stock of your day. Take five breaths, state three things you are grateful for as you settle in for the night.
Ask a question or request a dream theme to activate tonight in sleep. Though mind and body are resting there is still conscious awareness and presence. Uncover this ancient revelatory practice to reflect and enrich waking life.
Order an extra one too. They make a terrific gift. If interested in connecting further on this topic join me to get invitations to future programming on this topic.