I had the fun of doing an author tour as part of CBCA Book Week (the last week of August). During this tour I facilitated several workshops along with a number of author talks, and a signing. One of those talks was in the library of my home town, with the title ‘Dream to Live’ (playing on the thought ‘Live the Dream’).
When I mentioned how a recurring dream had become the inspiration for my first historical fiction manuscript, an attendee made the observation that Buddhism links repeated dreams to a past life. This was an interesting remark, as the previous day when I had been doing workshops on characterisation in another town, several attending students also mentioned how they obtained their best inspiration through dreams.
In reflection, it occurred to me that many belief systems, including Christianity, place great spiritual significance on dreams and their meaning. Later that week, I participated in an author signing for a customer VIP night at a Brisbane bookstore and overheard a conversation on the same topic – dreams and their meaning.
In today’s modern world, more often than not, we place very little value on dreaming, in particular the meaning of dreams. It just doesn’t sound very ‘scientific’ unless coupled with the social sciences, such as a study in psychology. Yet, I have to admit that dreams have played an important part in my life, particularly my writing journey. Perhaps not in an especially profound sense, but I began to consider the experience of others and how they might perceive dreams. Could I have my time back, I would have liked to have asked the attendee who made this initial remark what their personal perspective was on dreams. I believe it would have been an interesting conversation.
This isn’t a question I’d usually ask, but as I’m one of those annoyingly curious people, I’m going to anyway. 🙂 How about you? How do you see dreams? Do you hold to the ‘too much pizza’ logic? Is it merely an abstract conglomeration of the events of our life? Is drawing meaning from dreams a bit ‘new agey’ for your liking? Or have you experienced uncanny moments of insight, guidance or inspiration through dreams?
I’d love to hear your thoughts.
HI Adele. It is interesting how much emphasis is placed on dreams A very wise counsellor once said to me that the emotion that the dream evokes is the key. Often a dream will bring up an emotion which relates in some way to things in our lives. And we start work there. I have found that to be true a number of times.
And I believe God shows us things in dreams as well – both sleeping dreams and day dreams…
So good we have him in control!
Interesting thought to link the emotion to the dream, Pamela. And yes, there are those daydreams, too. (Some days I have micro-naps that slip into the daydream zone. Whoops.) I find it fascinating how wired our society appears to be, in that we’re okay with meaning behind dreams in a social science sense, but not so comfortable with spiritual meanings. I think that’s what struck me most about the attendee’s remark at the author visit. It certainly gave me something to reflect on. Thanks for your thoughts.
Some dreams are from too much pizza, some are from anxiety and some are from God. Dreams shouldn’t be ignored. Most should be meditated upon at least for a few minutes.
Ineresting blog Adele, thank you. Love.
Thanks for you insights, Rachel. I like the idea of taking a few moments to reflect on dreams. Appreciate you taking the time to stop by. 🙂
Enjoyed your post, Adele. My dreams are a variety. Some seem random (pizza?). Most of them, I believe, relate to unresolved issues – ie my brain at work on the issue. I also get ‘God dreams’ occasionally. I used to get a recurring nightmare, prayed about it and felt God’s presence and felt I knew what it was about. I never had that nightmare again after that.
Poor old pizza gets a tough deal when it comes to dreams, right? 🙂 Thanks so much for dropping by and sharing, Jeanette. I can relate to your term ‘God dreams’ and know many others who would say they’ve experienced this as well. Fascinating about the recurring nightmare. I’ve heard counsellors speak of writing down or drawing images of such dreams, as they can have a deeper meaning and by recording them in some way, bring understanding of the underlying issues. It’s so reassuring to sense God’s comfort in such moments. Appreciate your thoughts.
Great post Adele. I’ve had dreams that can be put down to pizza or the movie I saw before going to bed – EEK! Some also seem to be just defragging the day’s events. However, I believe God has also spoken to me many times through dreams. Sometimes it can be as simple as popping someone into my mind I haven’t thought of in a long time and knowing they need prayer. I remember one occasion when I dreamed about a lady I hadn’t seen in a while and then later that day she contacted me out of the blue and asked if I could help with a financial need she had. If I hadn’t just had the dream, I might not have been as receptive, but I really felt God was putting her on my heart for a reason. Other times, it’s more profound and needs more prayer to work out what it means. I’ve also had inspiration for some of my creative endeavours. For example, I’ve written a song based on a recurring dream. Next time we have a cuppa, will have to tell you about that recurring dream 🙂
I think the important thing is to remember that dreams can have different origins and sometimes it is just our own mind ticking over. But it’s good to be aware that God can also speak to us in dreams and to be open to what He might be saying to us. For me, it’s always a good way to get my attention 🙂
The good old ‘don’t watch scary movies before bed’ scenario, huh? 🙂 Amazing how our brains just keep on going over those things we really don’t want to recall! That’s why I’m quite fussy about what I put in my brain, especially in relation to the visual images projected through movies. Figure that once it’s in, you can’t get it out! I know of so many instances similar to the example you gave, where someone you’ve not thought of for a while drops into your head and then you find out later they were needing support at that time, or bump into them soon after. And wise word on the various origins of dreams. Certainly can be many and varied stimuli for them, I think. But now, back to that recurring dream … Do tell …? 😉
You can only pry it out of me over a cuppa 🙂
The kettle is always on … 😉 (Okay, that’s not true. Like now. It’s not on at all. But I digress …)
The Bible is full of dreams- warnings, encouragements, directions! The novel I’m currently working on is the result of a dream God gave me in 2003, & I’ve written several short stories inspired in this way. It is one of the functions of the prophetic gift to and through us, I believe. The most comprehensive book I have ever read on the subject is ‘The Divinity Code’ by Thompson & Beale (available from Koorong).
It sure is, Rhonda! 🙂 And also another novel birthed out of a dream. Great to hear! You mention the prophetic in relation to dreaming, and this has been a documented link over history. I’ve had a similar type of experience, though it wasn’t a dream. I refer to it as a sense of ‘knowing’ (vision, maybe?), but what I saw/sensed was exactly (quite specifically) what happened in the ensuing period. Thanks also for the reference. I’ve heard of that book but haven’t read it myself.
For me, dreams are an expression of a natural brain process – a way of committing events and emotions to memory, an important way of working through things that concern us at a subconscious, intuitive level but I also thing they can have spiritual significance. I had a series of dreams over several months about an exploring an old house, and discovering all its hidden rooms during a time I was allowing God to work through my personal identity and esteem and past hurts.
My first book was also based on a vivid dream which extended into a waking reverie (one of the those narrative dreams that you don’t want to end). However, it was clearly in another world and nothing to do with so-called ‘previous lives’ 🙂
Appreciate your insights on dreams and their significance for you, Jeanette. Fascinated by that ‘house exploring’ dream, and interesting the correlation between your healing journey and the issues you were processing at that time. And I can very much relate to vivid dreams that demand to be turned into a story. As you know, that’s how my first hist-fic emerged. Thanks. 🙂
I’ve had a number of dreams that have been premonitions of things to come – usually bad things! Water in my dreams seems to be a bad sign.
That’s interesting, Lynne, especially the link to water. Thanks for taking the time to share.