Dreams and interpretations

[boltnrun]

Last night (well, technically early this morning) I woke up at just after 5 am from a very disturbing and upsetting dream. Fortunately I have the ability to pull myself out of dreams if they're scary or disturbing. I don't even want to describe it because it was so very graphic and upsetting. It started out as a very nice dream. It was very lightly snowing and I went outside to dance in the falling snow. I felt happy. Then it somehow transitioned into me clearing some of my belongings out of a closet because someone was moving into that room and then it went downhill from there.

Every so often (fortunately only every few years) I have a graphically and descriptively violent dream. And I see it all in full color which is even more upsetting.

I read somewhere that dreams are the love letters and hate mail from our psyches. But I didn't see anything similarly upsetting recently, so I have no idea where this hate mail came from ☹️ I used to watch disaster documentaries and scary movies before bed but I stopped that months ago when I realized it led to frightening dreams. 

Do you all feel like dreams are subject to interpretation? Or do you just see them as something that happens when you sleep and nothing more?

[tattoobunnie]

Your dream is about losing control, your footing, your sense of self is being sacrificed.  I believe dreams are both prophetic and, or things you need to work out in your brain.

But cleaning out the closet could also mean you are making room for new thoughts, moving past a wrong you may have made.  Can I ask what else happened?

For a few months now, I keep having dreams that I am unmarried with no kids, and annoyed that I have to sign up for online dating sites.  But my hubs wasn't someone I broke up; I just wasn't myself.  When I wake up, I am relieved to remember I am married with kids.  Last time, I had these weird break up dreams, was probably 15 years ago; the guy breaking up with me with a current BF, and he'd be cruel in the dream.  I had them for six months, and he did break up with me cruelly that actually brought me to enotalone.  Oddly today, I was looking up what they could mean just minutes ago, then I noticed your post.

And really rich chocolate right before bed also makes me have vivid mean, crazy dreams.

[boltnrun]

I actually feel very positive about where I am in life. I would like more social interaction but other than that things are really good. I love my job, kids are doing well, family is healthy and I love where I live. I'm financially comfortable for the first time in a long time. And my fitness level is better than it's been in years. I think that's why I was dancing in the falling snow in the dream. 

I have been thinking about making some more donations for the homeless collection the local library is having and I also gave a homeless man a food item yesterday, so maybe the closet cleaning was just literal. But after that it started to get bad. 

I really don't want to describe the upsetting portion of the dream in detail but it involves an animal being hurt in a very graphic way. I love animals so it was especially disturbing. 

These kind of dreams can stay with me for years. I still remember one I had in my late 20s and that was a LONG time ago. 

[Kwothe28]

49 minutes ago, boltnrun said:

Do you all feel like dreams are subject to interpretation?

Psychology science has very extensive research on interpretation of dreams. Both Freud and Jung had their own versions that are teached and expanded upon till modern times. Its a big topic even in modern times.

Quote

 

Jung and Freud disagreed over the fundamentals and derivatives of dreams. Freud believed that we can learn more about a person through their unconscious as opposed to through their conscious mind. Freud believed that when we are in a conscious state of mind, we do not act upon our deepest desires because of the considerations of reality and morality. But when we are sleeping, the forces that make us more reserved are weakened, meaning we can live our desires through our dreams.

Freud concluded that our dreams are able to access repressed or anxiety provoking thoughts – mainly sexual desires – that are otherwise not acted upon because of the fear of embarrassment. Defense mechanisms allow a thought or desire to sneak into our dreams in a symbolic form. Someone dreaming of a large stick, Freud would view them dreaming of a penis. Ultimately, Freud believed it was in the hands of the dreamer to interpret the meaning of their dreams.

In relation to Freud, Jung believed that dreams are a representation of the unconscious mind. Jung did not agree that everything presented in a dream related to a repressed sexual desire. Jung focused for on symbolism and imagery. He believed that dreams can have many different meanings depending on the dreamers associations.

Again, Jung agreed with Freud that dreams could be retrospective in that they reflect events in childhood, but also believed that dreams could anticipate what could occur in the future. Jung claimed that dreams can be used as great sources of creativity. Jung fiercely disagreed with Freud on the fact that Freud strictly observed the external aspects of a person’s dream, rather than digging deeper and looking at both objective and subjective content.

Jung believed that dreams are the bridge between the conscious and unconscious mind. He did not believe that dreams are a way of repressing desires or outcomes, but rather a tool to help the person come up with a solution to a problem they may face in their conscious state of mind.

On the other hand, Freud viewed dreams as a way to aid the person in staying asleep. Freud believed that dreams purposes are to convince the person that the dream is concealing something that needs to be revealed, so they dreamer will want the dream to go on, and therefor will stay asleep.

 

So you can look at it as something subconcious and open to interpretation. Depending on who you ask and who interprets it, you would probably get different perspectives. But, you will never get literal interpretations. So, for example, even though the dream was graphic and very traumatic, that would not necesseraly mean a bad thing. For example, one interpretation can be

Quote

Dream about Animals Being Hurt is about an unrealized goal or dream. New areas of opportunities are being opened to you. You are getting to root of a matter or situation. Your dream denotes hope, nature or creativity. You are rising above a situation.

As for example cleaning the closet would be something that you reflect or wanting to start a new chapter in life. Its all very open to interpretation. 

[boltnrun]

26 minutes ago, Kwothe28 said:

As for example cleaning the closet

I wasn't actually cleaning the closet. I was clearing some of my things out because someone else was moving into the room and they needed the space to put their belongings. A friend of mine was taking some of my empty boxes out to the garage and that's when the dream started to go bad. 

In an earlier dream there was something about a car and a garage but I don't have a clear memory of exactly what that was about. 

[Seraphim]

Dreams are the brain working out issues it finds it can’t work out while awake.