Have you ever looked at something ordinary and all of a sudden realized how abstract and strange it really is? Like, a twig. You're looking at it...squiggly little piece of wood...and then you realize it's fallen or broken from a larger lump of wood and now it's just sitting on the ground, getting shuffled around, snapped, and tripped over. And what is a twig? And why do we call it a twig? And how long will it take until it's dried and withered to dust? Will the twig be on earth longer than you? And more thoughts might continue...or maybe they will cease altogether as you simply behold the twig.
About a year ago, I had a similar awareness-process about dreaming - a subject which we all know I am fascinated by! All of a sudden, I couldn't believe that we require hours out of each day where we not only cease standard consciousness, but that we engage in bizarre adventures which we quickly forget upon awaking. Because I sleep about 8 hours each night, 1/3 of my day is spent in some other reality...yet waking reality is the only reality in which I know myself. How bizarre. Who am I during the other 1/3 of my life? What am I doing? That's a lot of life which is unaccounted for! I decided to investigate.
A few months ago, I began the daily practice of not only recording my dreams, but also my sleep habits. I've learned so much about myself in this process, but my friends are surprised to learn this little fact about my life: sleeping has become scientific work for me. I wake up every two hours or so, turn on my little light, and scribble furiously about what was just happening in my brain. It's to the point that I can now predict what sort of dreams I'll have at any particular day in the month because I've been charting for long enough to see the pattern. Oh yes.
In fact, when people say they remember a dream, I smile. A dream. Like there's only one! Last night, I recorded 9 dreams. And there's several that I'm forgetting.
People ask me how I can possibly enjoy a good nights' sleep, considering I wake up and write throughout the night. Surprisingly, I've never slept better! The reason for improved sleep is that I'm aware of my sleep cycle and I'm able to observe the habits and natural body patterns of the cycle. Once you understand this about yourself, you'll be able to work WITH it, instead of just sleeping and waking randomly.
For fun, you'll also able to chart certain dream phases. For example, I've been going through a "post-death" phase in my dreams. This means that I have a lot of dreams in which I die and then experience an afterlife. Sometimes, I even experience reincarnation. So I'm exploring that "reality" right now. It's been strange.
Perhaps there is no objectively useful information that comes from charting the gibberish content of your dreams. Perhaps it's a waste of time. However, I've felt huge benefits from becoming more aware of my thoughts and mental experiences. Plus, the discipline required to maintain a rigorous journaling schedule is impressive. While the rest of the world falls helplessly into sleep, people like me are having ever-increasing adventures - no matter how real, imaginary, bizarre, or meaningful those adventures might appear. In the end, it will offer you a philosophical position from which to view waking life, and you'll begin to better know yourself as a biological creature, as well as becoming more able to understand your mental processes.
There are several theories on what happens to us when we dream...theories surrounding the objective/subjective nature of dreamlife...theories surrounding the usefulness/worthlessness of dreams...theories of biology, theories of spirituality. Every perspective is equally compelling and helps to inform the persons' worldview. In my own pursuit, I've come to develop new ideas about who I am, where I am, and what constitutes consciousness. So, while this experiment might seem frivolous, I assure you that it has the potential to be very deep, if you're willing to go there.
Have you ever tried anything like this? If so, what did you learn? Tell!
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I just re-read this old blog entry which makes some compelling arguments for why dream exploration is so interesting. I really talk a lot about my dreams, don't I?
