Monday, September 20, 2010

Dreaming Within a Dream

A few months ago, I had a dream. I saw that something good was happening to me, something I’d hoped for a while. It was nothing materialistic. In fact I don’t remember what exactly it was though. However I woke up and there, the dream was gone. It was sad.

Ever since, I have a pattern of dreams. I see that I dream of something good happening to me, and I tell myself in the dream that it is just a dream and will vanish, and I wake up to realize that it is true. I saw I made it up with someone I hadn’t talked to for years, and in my dream, I told the person that it is just a dream and in real life, I know I am never seeing him again. I woke up and there it was. I hadn’t made up with anyone. It was just a dream. On another occasion, I saw that Harvard had reconsidered its decision of admitting me into their program, and I was asking the dean if its reality, because I suspected it is just a dream. I was right. I woke up to realize I was still as far from Harvard as possible, both geographically and literally.

These must have been examples of repressed desires, things that I have wanted in the subconscious though in reality, I kept telling myself that it did not matter. Who cares about Harvard is what I told myself. But deep within, I think I cared. It was a good exercise, since I started asking myself the things I really want although I might have shrugged them off consciously all this while. The list, I am not going to tell you about. But I can say that it is an exercise definitely worth doing. If nothing, we can be more aware of the things that constitute our needs, things we keep telling ourselves does not matter. Repressed desires, forgotten friendships, decisions of moving on, things that make you shrug your shoulders and say “I don’t care” though deep within, you know you do care. If nothing, you will at least not fool yourself going back and forth between your inner/true reality and the perceived reality.

I want to read and know more about dreams and their interpretations (and I am not talking about dreams where you see something random like a horse and know that you are going to have a baby boy). I want to watch sensible movies about interesting experiences or explanations about dreams. It is interesting to know about our conscious, cognitive world, but what happens in the subconscious is even more intriguing.

sunshine

8 comments:

Day Dreamer said...

You might be interested in watching the recent movie "Inception" if you have not seen it already. This movie is all about dreams and the subconscious mind.

Alpine Path said...

I've had some such dreams and have tried to recollect them, some with success and some not. I'd b interested in knowing the movies/books/links that you see related to dreams. Keep us posted!

Anonymous said...

from spiritual/religious point of view ... I read somewhere that dreams are something which were supposed to happen to you in real but for some reason of your karma they dont happen in real life.
This can be both pro and con for it. Suppose something bad was destined to happen to you in real life but due to your good deeds it does happen but only in your dreams.
how true is this ... hard to say :) just like the idea

Anonymous said...

the interpretation of dreams sometimes are so scary that it even prevents us from voicing them, at times. A good ready-reckoner for dreams would be most welcome!

The Rational Fool said...

Have you seen Stanley Kubrik's "Eyes Wide Shut"? It's a bit sexploitatative for Kubrik's standards, but does relate to the "dream-reality" conundrum. You may also like to read my take on the film here: Eyes Wide Shut.

Rakhi said...

I've been dreaming a lot too lately. Earlier I could never remember my dreams but these days I do. And I have also started recognizing my inner desires and needs. As for a movie, maybe you could watch Un chien Andalou, directed by Bunuel and Dali.

Anonymous said...

I dreamed that I was waiting for someone in front of Bed Bath and Beyond, only to realize that that person was waiting for me in front of the another Bed Bath and Beyond! I have been breaking my head trying to interpret what this means ... so need your help:
Is this a repressed desire for
1) waiting for someone
2) buying soap
3) buying 2 soaps
Or is it something else?

Sorry for misusing the fact that you need to approve this :)

Anonymous said...

Ah, why can't I stop ... :p :p

I believe we need to be strong and make those repressed desires come true ... For instance, today afternoon I was working on a homework and fell asleep ... In my dream I realized I need to get up and do my homework and I need coffee ... So I got up, confronted my repressed desire for coffee, and went out, walked 15 min to the nearest starbucks and got a double tall latte!