As long as I can remember, I’ve been acutely aware of my very colorful and realistic dreams. I suppose it comes with the territory of being an artist … or maybe I just decided to pay closer attention to them.
There have been times that I have had a dream and it actually came to pass. The most profound dream of all involved my family and unfolded over a span of twenty five years.
Dreams are filled with symbolism. As an artist and cartoonist, I think in pictures on a continual basis, so the metaphors and images that appear in dreams are a fascinating conversation that I pay close attention to.
My subconscious – our subconscious, speaks to us on this level every night. Answers to daytime problems, emotions expressing themselves, fears, and belief systems are all revealed in the hours our body takes to heal and detox itself.
Since we are more than just flesh and blood, but also spirit beings with minds and emotions, God has seen fit to provide a way for us to address those very deep issues as well.
The problem is, too many dismiss dreams as nonsense because they don’t know how to understand them. Or they put way too much meaning on those dreams and attempt to interpret them literally and then are confused when the dream doesn’t play out in real life like they expected.
One of my favorite sites to use to gain additional insights into my dream language is DreamMoods.com. From personal experience, they are pretty dead on with the meanings. A symbol may carry more than one meaning, by the way. The one that resonates with you the most is the one you pay attention to.
There are three ways that I handle my dreams. The first way is to write it down in the morning when it’s still present in my mind. Then I pick out the symbols and look them up in DreamMoods.com. I paste the explanations below my dream and then summary it with what I feel is the interpretation or meaning for me.
To journal my dreams has been invaluable in keeping track of emotional healing, or issues that I needed to address that I wasn’t addressing in my waking moments.
Another way of keeping track of my dreams is to share my dream to myself with a digital recorder. Here’s an example of one such dream and the insights I gained from it;
illusions, perceptions dream
(yes, I sound sleepy at first, I had just woke up.)
In the dream, I mention a video that I saw on YouTube. The beauty of blogging about this is that I can share that video with you!
The third way that I handle dreams is the common way. I forget to notice! Then, something will happen during the day that will start bringing the dream back to me.
I’ve learned that just because I can’t remember the whole dream, it doesn’t mean that I’ve lost any value in it. Looking up the meanings to the symbols I can remember will usually give me enough insight into what my subconscious is mulling over, that I can deal with it consciously.
God communicates to us CONSTANTLY. Most of us move through life unaware. Visually, through dreams, through conversations and events. Everything is a living message, speaking of His abundance, His grace, His love, His creativity, His power, His … well, you get it.
Start a dream journal tonight. Find out what works best for you. Writing it down, or sharing with a friend (something else that I love doing) or speaking your dream into a digital recorder (or your smart phone’s recording app). This is for YOUR benefit. You’ll be amazed at what you learn about yourself … and what really matters to you.