DREAM ON!

Lately I've been dreaming a lot. I don't know if it's because there's a dream catcher hanging in my room, or it's because I am just thinking a lot of people. Whatever the reason is, I don't like the dreams I am having, especially when it hinges on death and failure.

Now, why do we have dreams? They say that there can be a lot of stimulus which results in dreams. It may be stress, excitement, drugs or even a movie or tv show you just watched. But despite a lot of research, our knowledge of the origin and purpose of dreams is still inconclusive.

I've read that a dream is a story revealed through images that our brain creates while we’re asleep. Dreams are an expression of our unconscious mind, which runs free only when we’re sleeping. Because a dream comes from us, we can probably learn something about ourselves when we examine a dream closely. But it would be hard to examine it closely when we do not really recollect the details of our dreams.

Scientists still have not reached a consensus explaining why we dream. There are two main kinds of explanations for why people dream:

* Physical explanations: Physical explanations for dreaming are varied. One theory suggests that dreaming helps the brain to incorporate memories, thereby increasing the brain’s ability to learn. Another theory proposes that dreams are simply random physiological responses to electric impulses in the brain and that they don’t actually carry the deeper meaning we often attribute to them.

* Psychological explanations: The most common psychological theory for dreams explains that they help us to sort through the events and feelings of the day. According to this theory, we dream about events and feelings that are most important to us, which allows our unconscious minds to make sense of crucial information while disregarding the rest. Another psychological explanation holds that our dreams allow us to express fears or anxieties we weren’t aware we had, thereby letting us learn more about ourselves.

Based from my recollection of the dreams I had, I tend to agree on the psychological explanations why we dream. I believe those dreams I had are just a product of the anxieties I am having right now. The fears I have long kept and never expressed manifest in my dreams, well maybe reminding me that it's alright to express them with those people important to me.