A few years back, I read an abridged book by Freud. In it, he tried to create a road map to dream interpretation much like medical science has done with the human body. He presented the notion of universal archetypes to explain patterns he believed he found across races and cultures. We as humans look for patterns in the world around us. Noticing patterns and drawing conclusions from them is a fundamental part of human intelligence. One man in a thousand can look at the stock market, observe patterns, draw conclusions, and get rich. So I can’t fault Freud for seeking patterns where none actually exist. It’s in our nature to want to find them. But just like Freud’s version of dream interpretation, much of superstition is born out of people seeing patterns and drawing conclusions from simple coincidences.
In some circles, Freud is still revered as the father of modern psychology. But if he was right about dream interpretation, why isn’t there a whole science built up around it today? Quite the opposite, dream interpretation is grouped together with astrologers, tarot card readers and fortune tellers.
Many years ago, I noticed a pattern and I drew a conclusion. The pattern: At times in my life when my work was unchallenging or uninteresting, my dreams were more vivid and memorable. At times when I was creatively challenged, I would often struggle to remember even 1 dream in several days. The conclusion: Dreams are a result of a very creative mind seeking an outlet for its creativity. Now if you experience nightmares frequently, maybe you should consider counseling. Nightmares are a sign of stress, either conscious or unconscious. But beyond that; don’t ask me what your dreams mean. Just take them as a sign that you need a creative outlet.
