Final blog 4 Conclusion for dreams...

                                           Why do we dream… Conclusion…for now.

So far in this blog we have discussed some theories and facts of why people dream, whether those dreams have a purpose, why some people don’t dream, and whether day dreaming is even considered dreaming. Although, it may seem as if we have reached the final boundaries of this subject, the topic of dreaming has left me with a few questions still unanswered.

After all of the research done and theories inquired, I still believe dreaming is too far for the human mind to comprehend. Overall, no matter what form of dreaming you experience whether it be creative dreams, day dreaming, or dreams that you forget; I believe dreaming is a necessity that the human mind performs without our will due to relaxation and meditation needs.

                                     

In an essay written by Shayne Dahl and Roger Lohmann entitled, ‘’Sleeping, Dreaming, and The Imagination: Psychosocial Adaptations to an Ever-Changing World” they describe dreaming as “therapeutic insofar as they work to normalize the phenomenal content of negative experiences by integrating them into existing schematic networks.” In this essay the authors discuss REM sleep and NREM sleep, no matter what the dreams they produce, can serve a purpose to the human mind and body process.  As I said in the first blog entry, the mind and soul are connected and without deep sleep I don’t believe our mind can communicate with the soul or “purpose” and produce dreams that are meaningful. With that being said, that does not mean that just because our dreams are not meaningful they do not serve a purpose. If not in our lives, they serve a certain purpose in our mental stability throughout the day.

                                           

Although dreaming may serve a purpose throughout our lives, I can’t help but wonder what further proof we have on dreams predicting our fate. Why do we call our future ambitions, dreams? Other than the bible, are there historical records of any dreams having a purpose or meaning? I want to inquire more information on the past or future information of dreaming, instead of focusing on current theories and documentations.  I have attached a video below discussing a brief history on dreaming to further my imagination and yours. I hope it can produce positive and creative thoughts on the answers I proposed above. Thank you for following my exploratory blog on dreaming and I hope you enjoy! 

Work Cited

Lohmann, Roger Ivar, and Shayne A. P. Dahl. "Sleep, Dreaming, and the Imagination: Psychosocial Adaptations to an Ever-Changing World." Reviews in Anthropology 42.2 (2013): 56-84. Web. Web. 20 Mar. 2016.

Why some people do not dream...

Why do some people not have dreams?

An article written in Psychology Today explains that in order to actually understand why one would not dream, we would have to follow them around over a long period of time and record that persons REM sleep. With that being said, this article goes into discussing the possibility for ancient background of cultures that never had dreams.

I don’t believe there is are a specific culture of people who do not dream. People either do not remember their dreams, or they are lacking some type of conscious stability. Is it possible the individuals who do not dream, relieve this conscious problem by day dreaming more often? Dreaming comes in many different shapes and forms so it is hard to examine the true reason behind not dreaming. I think most people do dream, they just don't remember the unimportant messages their brains are expressing.

Here is a video discussing why some people may not remember dreaming.

 What are your thoughts on not dreaming? Is there a time period you felt you were lacking more dreams than often? I feel as though my dreams have always been constant and unimportant, so my brain filters the good dreams from the bad. Let me know your thoughts on the subject, and thanks for reading! 

Daydreamers

                                                      What is day dreaming?

      It is very common to let the mind shut off to a point of deep concentration, a break from society and truly let your imagination wonder. An article written in The New Yorker states, people let their mind wonder 47 percent of the time they are awake. While going into more recent studies, this article gives an idea that a day dream is a way of noticing thoughts generated by our unconscious.  

      I can agree with this because I believe daydreaming is a way for our mind to truly sit back and relax. Most articles I found on daydreaming were on the negative side, straying away from the common core and exclaiming ways to get rid of these unconscious behaviors.

                                     

                                       

        While it can be distracting, day dreaming doesn’t necessarily have to be a bad thing. I remember in high school, I would always get in trouble for day dreaming, or not paying attention in class. This aspect of day dreaming is probably frowned upon by many school goers. After thinking about the reason behind all of my day dreaming I came to the conclusion that even when I am not paying attention, or day dreaming, you cannot force a person to focus. The mind controls all of the actions in our body, and I believe daydreaming needs to be embraced as much as a bodily function. We can only imagine what the unconscious mind holds. If daydreaming is a form of relaxation for the mind, I think we should embrace it. What is so horrible about letting the mind wonder for a few moments?

I found a video from Huffpostlive  discussing excessive daydreaming and the pros and cons for such things. Enjoy and let me know your thoughts on the subject!  

Do dreams have a purpose?

Have you ever had the best dream of your life? You wake up, hoping to remember the sweet picture in your head, but it’s gone. In my last blog I discussed a few scientific and spiritual theories on dreaming. After coming to my own conclusion of why we experience dreaming, it makes me wonder if our dreams even have a meaning.As we all know, when it comes to dreaming everything is in theory. No matter what theory I searched, all referenced to Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung. 

                                                

Both, world famous Psychiatrist, have theories on why we dream. According to Scientific American , Freud believed dreams are based around unresolved longing. Jung  also believed dreams link into our psychological side, but had many different theories on why. With that being said, these are still theories, no one truly knows what lies behind our dreams. I can't help but wonder if all theories point to the same conclusion, that dreams may have a meaning behind them, why do we forget them so often? 

In another article written in Scientific American, the author discusses a recent study on why we don't remember certain dreams claiming that we only remember the things that are significant to our daily lives. (Meetings, Birthdays, Dates....Etc...) Contrary to this, most theories result to scientific standpoint, discussing REM sleep and so on. Here is a video discussing a few more theories on why we forget our dreams. What's your thoughts on this? If dreams are important and do serve a purpose, why do our brains store some memories and not others? Let me know your thoughts! 

Why do we dream: Theories and facts

Dreaming is one of the worlds constant wonders. No one has ever truly found the reason behind dreaming. Although, that does not keep us from provoking theories. Research and conclusion have been formed on dreaming over many centuries and though many can be contradicting, the human mind is so mysterious there will never be an answer to our never ending question.

              In an web based article on Dream Research.Net  written by G. William Domhoff entitled, “The Purpose Of Dreams”  the author claims that dreaming actually has no real meaning. Backing up his theory, Domhoff begins to discuss the research tested on REM sleep. (REM sleep is a deep sleep the human mind enters after a certain point of rest.) It was thought that this was the only time we could experience dreams. Domhoff says that because it was proven we could experience dreams in any point of rest that the REM theory for dreams cannot be true. The writer attempts to explore new theories by discussing the research found from an ancient philosopher named Carl Jung who claimed, "the function of dreams is to compensate for those parts of the psyche (total personality) that are underdeveloped in personal life." Once again unraveling the facts, the author discusses the failed findings of Jung's studies stating that, “dream content is continuous with waking thought and behavior.” Just when I thought the pessimistic Domhoff had me struggling to find a theory I believed in, I discovered an article reviewing the spiritual purposes of dreaming.

          Amy Brucker wrote an article titled, “3 Magical Ways Dreams Help You Live Your Soul Purpose.” In this piece written in The Dream Tribe , she discusses the type of dreams you can have and claims that if you analyze each correctly, it will help you navigate your true purpose in life. Now, what does this have to do with the meaning behind dreaming? Brucker states that dreams can guide us in mysterious ways, but there are always three types of dreams that navigate your soul towards the right path. Soul calling theme dreams, Soul calling direction dreams, and common theme dreams. Without these dreams, we would have no direction or true calling in life. In theory, Brucker is suggesting that dreams are given to us to help navigate our life purpose.

                What are my thoughts on dreaming? After reading many articles and opinions I have discovered the brain is difficult thing to comprehend, I think humans were not meant to fully understand the meaning behind something as complex as dreaming. With that being said, I think I finally have come up with a type of personal theory for dreaming.

              I believe REM sleep does contribute to a lot of our more creative dreams only because our mind is finally turned off and our body is relaxed. The human mind is a constant running machine, telling your body to breathe, eat, and think twenty-four seven. I think if we did not dream, our mind would have nothing to focus on while we rest for 6 or more hours a day. Our brain creates an image for itself to keep it occupied because after being a constant machine for function all day, it cannot handle the complete shutdown process of sleeping.

                As for the spiritual representation of dreams, I do believe dreaming has an underlying meaning for ourselves. The mind and soul are connected, in my opinion. If the idea I proposed above is true, and our mind can occupy itself by creating its own falsified memories, doesn’t that mean the soul can contribute to those images we see in dreams as well? Of course it can! The soul is far beyond something I can comprehend, but I believe that it does contribute to the things we see in our dreams.