Thread: I don't think most things in dreams need interpretation- they are just random things thrown together

This is sort of a cross post (not sure if this is allowed). I posted it here as well.
www(dot)dreamviews(dot)com/f45/where-does-dream-imagery-come-i-had-experience-relating-122203/

I don't want a complete copy and paste, so I'll just copy the crux of my argument:

What appeared to me was happening as that as I entered a dream, everything in my short term memory and the sum of all my thoughts would start to "collide".

The only dream I still recall was that I ended up in an office, which was a half assed recreation from a tv show I watched earlier that day. My boss was slamming a sledge hammer into the floor, doing some sort of construction. Being in a self reflective state though, I could see that this was not some profound meaningful statement... but I was remember some construction work on nearby road, and was partially thinking about emails my boss had sent me while I was out sick.

In other words, I had all these thoughts and memories floating around, and in my dream they were all intersecting in a freestyle type mashup. This happened to me several times, and by the end of my illness I was really able to see my thoughts go from a focused stream to a slowly deconstructing tangled web that would directly relate into my dream world's contents...

Prior to this, I always thought that dreams made sense in some context. I had thought that maybe your subconscious was doing something cool and complex. Instead, my experience led me to believe it was more or less random due to a lack of conscious focus and control.

Later on, I experienced more evidence of this, as I started to tell my wife about my dreams... and she started noticing many of the objects were probably due to other random objects/events I encountered. The subconscious did come in to play, as a lot of my dream experiences weren't from things I directly noticed. Some of it were things I indirectly noticed, and did not immediately realize. For instance, one person in my dream was actually someone I had as a cashier at Target (they had a weird hair style), and I had really had to think back to recall them. My wife, who had a different perspective, was able to recognize this right away.

I'm curious to hear other peoples thoughts on this..

I've experienced that too. Most of the time if I think about the day before I can usually see how something could have popped up into my dream. Like, oh yeah... I was talking about dancing bears yesterday so that's why I had that weird dream. But sometimes dreams are not so superficial. Last night I had a dream that I went to the ER cause I was having a miscarriage and that they put me under to "vacuum the remains out" (which is usually what they do IRL) and when I came too I was so worried that they didn't get it all and that I could still be pregnant. I left the hospital worried. There are a lot of aspect of this dream that I can correlate back to things that happened during the day... A LOT, right down to the hospital setting... but the general idea of the whole dream I can see is my fear of getting pregnant and the guilt of not wanting another baby when my spouse does. I've even had "premonition" dreams.

Yes of course, it's called day residue, and your subconscious uses it to build with, along with scraps of memories and whatever else it can dredge up from the mess of your mind.

And sometimes your day residue is powerfully emotional stuff that might connect up with a series of events leading all the way into your childhood or whatever. You know how, sometimes you have an old ongoing argument with somebody that's really about some old emotional injury but it crops up over and over again about frozen dinners or some other stupid little thing? You know - you fingt over dumb meaningless little things but it's REALLY about something you still haven't gotten over from long ago.

Yeah, when THAT kind of stuff is in your day residue (short term memory) then you can have dreams that reveal deep layers of meaning. It doesn't happen often - usually only if you rip open some old emotional scar or something. Things that were repressed well up and take form in your dreams.

Dream interpretation is something that takes place when person is deeply troubled and has presented themselves to a psychologist for treatment. It's a very turbulent chaotic time in their lives when they need guidance, and if someone can properly read the dream's symbolism the subconscious is usually providing immensely helpful material.

In my opinion things we see thru the day will be used in a metaphorical way to expresses things by the subconsciousness when we dream. I sometimes still have dreams about certain things that I haven't seen nor knew about for years and then it suddenly pops up in my dreams.

Speaking from the perspective of someone who has worked at dream interpretation for many years, I can vouch for the fact that all dream images have meaning. Unless an object in a dream is one we have just been thinking about, the image cannot be taken literally but needs to be understood symbolically, that is, for the meaning it conveys. When you stop to consider that several dreams are created for us within a relatively short period of time while we sleep, it would make sense for the designer of the dream to choose from our mental filing cabinet those images that convey the desired meaning from among those that have been recently filed. Why dig into the archives when an image is close at hand? For this reason we will find recent and old images in the same dream.

In some cases an image bears some resemblance to something just seen yesterday – like a door painted the colour of a friend’s dress, an animal sitting in the same position as a friend’s pet did a day ago, etc. These are not random inclusions. When one has acquired more proficiency with interpretation, it becomes obvious that these resemblances do add something to the interpretation. This is usually referred to as ‘personal associations’ which can tell us a lot when used correctly.

Your dreaming experiences when ill, when seen from an overall perspective, seem to have been showing you something about the thinking process itself. You said: “I was really able to see my thoughts go from a focused stream to a slowly deconstructing tangled web that would directly relate into my dream world's contents.” Normally we assume that when we are awake, our conscious thoughts are focused – but any loss of focus allows for that stream of consciousness to operate with our thoughts in free flow. Generally we do not then fall asleep. Your dreams were showing you the idea that you can track your thoughts and that when you cease to control them, you lose in consciousness (as you fell asleep)and end up living in your own Dream World. To be a fully conscious being (as is God), one must be aware of all thoughts going through the mind at any time. We need to know what we are thinking about at all times because thoughts not acknowledged and controlled can cause us a lot of trouble – they become part of that mash up found in our subconscious.

As for the office dream: The scene would indicate using a mental attitude or way of thinking that is serious or implies serious business, but here this is a seriousness that you might only be able to imagine yourself using. (office was a half assed recreation from a tv show) In fact the seriousness seems rather recreational. [Could this be referring to your attempt at tracking your thoughts from focused to unfocused while in bed ill ?] The boss is an aspect of yourself reflecting your controlling ego. Using the ego’s way of thinking, you appear to be coming down hard on a principle that pertains to serious business. (My boss was slamming a sledge hammer into the floor) [“I don't think most things in dreams need interpretation- they are just random things thrown together” – could this be the principle you are bashing ?] Here this act is seen as being constructive. (doing some sort of construction) With more reflection you can see that the statement being made is not all that profound. (in a self reflective state though, I could see that this was not some profound meaningful statement) As to an act that is constructive you could remember and relate a constructive act in reality with one that does do work on a course of action that the mind could use to get one somewhere. (but I was remembering some construction work on nearby road) You might also remember that your ego had provided you with mental messages (thinking about emails my boss had sent me while I was out sick) [This could refer to your theory that most things in dreams do not need interpretation - they are just random things thrown together. Note that when you were sick you were drifting in and out of consciousness and thus not thinking with full awareness.]