Dreams – Part 1: Keys to the Soul

Dream-Loss

Adults often say that their dreams appeared more vividly and frequently in childhood as opposed to adulthood. So, they often see dream-loss as a natural part of the aging process. However, this sort of response totally disregards the amount of power and influence that dreams have. For ancient literature – including the Bible – held dreams in high regard. They spoke of rulers who based the fate of their entire kingdom on the whims of a dream. They would summon prophets and seers from afar to assist them in decoding and interpreting what they had saw. Sure, the people of today would consider these things extreme. But, the people of antiquity would view today’s blatant disregard for dreams equally as extreme – inconceivable even. Yet, as with all things, proper balance lies in the middle.

The truth of the matter is that maturity should only affect the content of one’s dreams, not clarity and regularity. Consider dreams where the dreamer is able to fly. This seems to be easier for children than adults, but it is likely due to adults being more grounded in reality, as the word ‘grounded’ suggests. Moreover, the realistic elements that maturity adds can cause dreams to hold more weight in adulthood than in childhood. Consider, once again, dreams where the dreamer is able to fly. For a child it is a normal thing, but for an adult it may be cause for alarm.

Consider an adult and a child who are facing dilemmas that are relative to their maturity levels: financial turbulence for the adult, and a yelling parent for the child. They begin to have reoccurring dreams where their respective dilemmas manifest themselves as ravenous beasts. However, both the child and the adult are able to fly – within the dream – to evade harm. Same type of dream, same outcome, but the disparity in their maturity levels demand differing interpretations.

For the child, it is simply a nightmare. Being less grounded in reality isn’t the only reason why children seem to fly more in their dreams. Most of the burdens that children carry are a result of their parents inadequacies. This makes escape their best and only option — and, due to their natural impediments, they tend to do so inwardly rather than outwardly. For the adult – on the other hand – being able to fly away from this ravenous beast means that they’re taking a rather immature or escapist approach to their dilemma.

The Earth Mind

However, the question remains: why do so many adults lose sight of their dreams? Well, the simple answer is disbelief.

See, the human brain and mind has a left and right hemisphere. The right hemisphere is imaginative; it is where humans tap into creativity. The left hemisphere is rational; it is where humans draw logic and reason. According to research and anecdotes, children favor the right hemisphere of the brain and mind, and then migrate to the left hemisphere as they age. The earth was formed in this exact manner. The east – which is eternally rightward – is the right hemisphere of the earth mind, while the west is the left hemisphere. It is no coincidence that the cradle of civilization hailed from the east, and then migrated westward as time went on. It is no coincidence, also, that atheism and agnosticism grew in lockstep with this migration. These two factions epitomize the core tenets of the west, or the rational portion of the earth mind.

Disbelief – The Western Persuasion

What the rational mind values most is definitive proof based upon tangible and quantifiable evidence. Yet many tangible and quantifiable things come from an intangible and unquantifiable source, the imagination. Every invention – past and present – began in the imagination — and it is likely that future inventions will emerge from there as well. This puts the rational mind in a rather precarious debacle. For the imagination is too influential to deny, yet too intangible and immeasurable to prove beyond a shadow of doubt. So, to keep from imploding, the rational mind MUST disbelieve. Disbelief proclaims that a thing is too amazing to fully comprehend. Like a professional athlete who performs an outstanding feat: it can happen as plain as day and still cause one to say, “I can’t believe it.”

The Imagination

Because of disbelief, humanity went from seeking prophets and seers to dismissing their dreams entirely. “It was just a dumb dream” is common in today’s vernacular. But, “dumb dreams” indicate that the rational mind is severely outpacing the imagination. This creates dreamers who struggle to defend themselves, form coherent sentences, and exercise basic autonomy within their dreams. They are adults in their waking moments, but mere children in their dreams, as they are riddled with impediments. The rational mind and the imaginative mind should grow in unison, with one slightly outpacing the other at various times. This fosters a proper checks and balances system, which will then cause a person’s dream life and waking moments to become intricately woven.