What dreams may come

The other night I had a dream that horrified me. It was so disturbing, in fact, that in the dream I felt like my sanity was about to be irreversibly erased. Yet when I awoke, I could not help but look back on the events that had just transpired within the catacombs of my cerebral cortex and wonder: Where in the hell do dreams come from? How exactly does your brain conjure up such a world of wonders and bring to mind events, people and places that one wouldn't devote an iota of time to let alone an entire night's rest?

The "dream experts" of the world - whoever they may be - say most dreams do not take more than 20 minutes of real time to come and go. This is contrary to most dreamers' beliefs that their brains must clock up a grueling eight-hour dream workload. The experts also say that most people have numerous dreams per night, it's just that they only remember the most recent one.

Most people will admit to dreaming every night, but there is also a relatively small percentage of the population that claims they rarely, if ever, dream at all. The dream experts, once again, would tell these people that everyone dreams. It is just that some people remember them and others do not.

Dreaming is a way that the mind releases its pent up emotions and frustrations. To dream is to think and without such thinking, the brain may begin to malfunction. It is a common belief among psychologists that mentally disturbed people do not dream or, on the opposite end of the spectrum, dream extremely vividly, keeping many of those pent up emotions and frustrations with them while they're awake.

Humans have harnessed the powers of the atom, genes and germs, yet still cannot figure out where dreams come from or what purpose they serve. Many books have been written by psychologists and neuroscientists on dreams, but other than a series of Wes Craven films, not much has progressed in the way of unlocking the mysteries of these nighttime wonders.

Dreams truly are a mystery. However, they can be very beneficial to a person in more than one way. They can, in some people's opinions, foretell the future, though many times very cryptically and mysteriously. The night before a long trip someone may dream about their plane crashing or their car breaking down and as a result, may reschedule their plans in fear of their potentially prophetic abilities.

Many people who are under tremendous psychological stress in their daily lives, such as a terrible job, abuse or general unhealthy lifestyle, can find release in their dreams. For all are equal in the realm of dreams and anyone can be anything. Which brings up many controversial opinions concerning dreams and their origins.

Are dreams touches of the afterlife? Some people have died in their dreams and claim to have seen heaven. Insane? Or are these people simply aware of the powers that dreams can possibility hold? Others claim to have tasted the pain and horrors of hell. Perhaps those people are in touch with something outside of this world too.

Or on the other spectrum, maybe a guilty conscience is rearing its ugly head when they close their eyes at night. The same theory that hospital patients on the verge of death can sometimes see heaven and all of its wonders calling to them may also work with dreams when one closes their eyes and slows down their heartbeats.

Dreams can do many things. They can give writers ideas beyond their wildest imaginations, musicians song lyrics they never would have thought of otherwise and even friends a topic for hours of conversation. Hey, at a party or get together where everyone's drinking, ask someone if they have had any worthwhile dreams lately. It's a great way to get inside someone's head if you want to know more about them.

Dreams can also be interpreted in many ways. If people dream of drowning, they may be running out of time in their schedules. If one dreams of death, in many cases it can ironically mean marriage or birth. If one dreams about their parents, well, how do you think Freud became so infamous?

There are many societies dedicated to the whole phenomena of dream analysis. Surfing the web, one can find a plethora of sites from simply ordinary people throughout the world who are both confused by, yet enthralled by, their dreams. We seem to flourish on conquering the unknown whether it be space or the seas and dreams are one enigmatic landscape that has yet to be trekked.

So the next time you close your eyes and get under those sheets, place a notepad by your bed so that the dreams can be documented the moment you wake up, before the reality of the day washes them away until the next night.

Finally, put some thought into what your mind sees when the body shuts down and the subconscious takes control. Think about what exactly your brain may be telling you when you dream of free falling through the air, swimming with sharks, running for your life or reliving a childhood memory.

Sweet dreams.

John Burgoon is a sophomore majoring in creative writing.

Copyright 2000 by the Daily Trojan. All rights reserved.
This article was published in Vol. 139, No. 10 (Wednesday, January 26, 2000), beginning on page 4 and ending on page 5.