Dream On

Dreams can be pretty crazy things, don't you think?  One can have a perfectly normal dream about events that happened during the day or some twisted dream where nothing is how it seems and everything is wrong.  Dreams are actually pretty controversial in the psychology world, as I learned this week. 

There are a few psychologists who say that dreams are our brain's interpretation of our unfulfilled desires (I'll give you one guess who thought this one up).  I can see that.  For example, dreaming about being a famous basketball star or dancer would support this theory.  But what about when I dream about failing a test in school or my baby dying?  I certainly don't desire for those things to happen!  How do we explain it then?  

Another theory is that dreams help us to reconsider and reprocess information that we received during the day and is critical to our survival.  This would explain why we often dream about bad things happening - our mind may be deciding whether the fear is real or immaterial.  The theory says that we dream about our concerns, fears, indecisions, ideas, and desires.  Makes a lot of sense, right?  

The third is called the Activation-Synthesis Theory.  It says that while we sleep, our brain produces random electric surges that access different parts of our memory.  Because our brain has to have order, it weaves the random memories into a storyline that we dream.  This is how we can dream that our old pet dog is green and lives with us in our current house even though he's been dead for many years.   

I personally have had dreams that fit into each of these theories, which leads me to believe that each of them has some merit.  My challenge to myself this month is to keep a dream journal.  Maybe I'll find out some interesting things about myself!