Integration

So, I sometimes dream about something and actually remember it in the morning. This usually happens when I haven’t slept quite enough for my body to be happy. Though I know (from studying sleep) that we actually dream more near the end of our needed sleep time. So if you’re dreaming, there is a good chance you’ve given yourself enough time to sleep, but I know that sometimes this isn’t the case. Anyways, when I dream (and it’s not lucid, which it sometimes is), I tend to integrate several parts of my day (or my life) into the dream. I don’t know if it’s a Freudian way of working things out in my brain, or what, but it makes my dreams rather strange.

So I woke up this morning, and I had to speak out loud several aspects of my dream so that I wouldn’t forget it. So I’m sitting outside (?) but under a covered walkway or something. I’m sitting with 15 other people. We are on Survivor (yes like the show…) only not. In fact if you’ve seen the movie “SAW” then you might understand more of the feeling. But we were on survivor, because we were talking about it. I tried to introduce myself and learn names because apparently the “last time I was on this show, I never learned everyone’s name”. But no one wanted to say who they were.

I did know my mom, and Kathy (from pool) and my friend Anita. They were there, but they didn’t want to be. We were sitting at a table (and me ON the table, crossed legs). We were eating fruit. It was apparently the best fruit any of us had in a long time, because we were fighting over it. I took the last of the honeydew melon. I’m pretty sure my conscious mind would never have done such a thing, especially on a game where people’s opinion of me matter (but that’s beside the point).

The funny thing is that it wasn’t really on a beach or in a setting where survivor would normally take place. We were in a covered boardwalk or something, and there was a plate under the fruit. And there was a piano. I banged on it. I don’t know if I was frustrated or playful. I know my mood was interesting because we started talking about death. We talked about what to do with our bodies when we died. I think we all somehow knew that we were going to die on this boardwalk. It was a strange feeling, but not sad really. We had just accepted it, like it was a fact of life. I felt sad for the people with children. And I remember saying to Kathy (who was sitting at the table to my right) “I don’t care what you do with my body. I will be dead, and I will forgive you”. In the background the song “Dust in the Wind” was playing.

I think my dream ended there. I think it was a combination of being at pool last night (and seeing all of the “characters” in my dream), and talking about survivor, and fruit, and dreams. Also, I listened to that song right before going to play pool. So I integrated my day into my sleep. But why?

I want opinions (so please comment). I want to know why you think we dream. Is it to sort through our thoughts or feelings from the day, and make us more mentally stable? Or is it our secret desires coming out (like Freud thought)? Do the things you dream about represent the actual physical things in true life (like the people, or the piano)? Or are the things our brains way of giving us some sort of hidden message (like dream dictionaries would suggest)?

I’m just curious on other peoples thoughts about dreaming, because I know a lot of the biological aspects of dreaming, but I still don’t have an explanation I’m happy with. Do you think your pets dream? And if so, does that mean they have an “advanced” brain form too? Or is it a universal thing that everything does for some more-primitive purpose?

Spit it out people, I want your thoughts for a change. Mine are boring…