What are dreams? Psychology Today’s article on dreams confirms the need for dreams in our lives. Dreaming is a part of who we are, some people dream while awake and some dream while they sleep. Robert Stickgold finds that when people are awakened out of REM and given a word to associate to, their associations are more novel, more original than in other stages of sleep; they “ignore the obvious and put together things that make a kind of crazy unexpected kind of sense.” Dreams, Stickgold says, are where we bring things together in fresh, often startling ways, drawing on stores of knowledge from the past, the present, and the possible, to find new associations. Dreams may help us find new patterns and create combinations that break through well-worn ruts. “This is what creativity is,” says Stickgold. Dreams, far from being idle fancies, are enablers of “the most sophisticated human cognitive functions. Dreaming is an important part of our creative nature.” We dream of being successful, we dream of our children going to college, we dream about the beautiful princess coming into our lives (which mine did) to make us happy or for a woman, a charming prince to come in and save them and live happily ever after. We dream because of how we were created. It is important not stay in the dream stage but turn it into a vision and then turn it into reality. Our dreams help us develop and accomplish our destiny whatever it may be. So dream, Dream, DREAM…..
