Dreams. Probably the closest interactions we will ever have with our soul. What are they? Why do we need them? More importantly, why are they so weird?

What are dreams?

Dreams are projections of our subconscious mind, duh. Our brain absorbs much more information than we are conscious of. We are constantly blasted with random information which we subconsciously decide whether to process it consciously or not. In our waking life, we only direct our attention towards what is relevant to us or what grabs our attention. Rarely do we notice details like, how many red cars we saw while driving or a specific song that was playing on the radio, or notice the faces of all the people we see while walking and minding our own business.

YET, these observations manage to make their way in our dreams! Why? Because it's all information temporarily stored in your brain. The mind tries to use this information to sort out what needs to be done to achieve equilibrium.

Yep, the mind is a self-regulating system that constantly needs balance. It is filled with unconscious knowledge that actually knows what it needs to regulate itself. Dreams are merely a method of communication between the mind and the self.

“The psyche is a self-regulatory system that maintains itself in equilibrium as the body does” (Jung, 1933)

SO why do we need dreams?

Although we all struggle with eating healthy, we all have a bit of knowledge about what a balanced diet looks like. Yes, we learned it through books, school, and what have you. BUT, our bodies would tell us just the same even if we hadn't learned about this. The body is aware of what it needs to reach this equilibrium and it makes sure to let us know when our body is too unbalanced. We get sick, we get urges & most importantly we get moody. The chemical imbalance changes our mood in order to mobilize us to act on our needs.

This is exactly what dreams do to us! We study and learn about giving our mind what it needs to live a healthy life, but at the end of the day, our mind knows exactly what it needs in order to achieve this balance. Just as our body does, we need to listen! Dreams contain this hidden subconscious knowledge and they are used to understand your needs and wants.

So why are our dreams weird AF?

Simple. Dreams are weird to grab your attention! If dreams would be as normal as our daily life it would be extremely difficult for us to distinguish between the dream-world and the real world. The one thing in common between all practices related to dreams is that vivid, anxiety-provoking dreams ( a.k.a nightmares) are there to grab our attention. Keep in mind that we have hundreds of dreams every night, yet we only remember a couple if we're lucky. The ones we do remember however are usually the ones that left us pondering about them or the effect they had on us. These are the dreams your subconscious mind wants you to understand as an indication of what needs to be done to achieve equilibrium.

Anyway, long story short, embrace your nightmares, everybody! :D

Comment your thoughts or reactions down below!

Debate is always welcome! :)