Shout-out to all Dreamers

[Goldengirl]

Every now and again I get the inspiration to encourage participation at the NDC. As we’ve talked about before, I think we’ve all been lurkers at some point, before we took the plunge and started contributing. There is absolutely nothing wrong with testing the waters and seeing how it all works and fits together. Everyone is welcome here, and I think it’s a great community of like-minded people from a variety of backgrounds.

But this time I want to encourage all you little dreamers and potential dreamers to add your voice to the site.  I think we all get into the mindset that the posted dreams need to be precognitive directly – and that’s not true. While we would all like to have a BIG dream that says exactly what will happen, and get the kudos for that, the bot is scouring dream websites every day for repeating language, and that can come from any dream, big or small, stated in plain dream language, or metaphor. And the more dreams that are recorded, the more data the bot has to mine.

I’ve also heard it discussed that it’s wrong to put your personal spin and interpretation into the telling of the dream. In my opinion, I don’t think that’s true. My use of the word “heaven” in a dream description may pop up in other’s dreams as well, and that’s what the bot is looking for. For a great article on the nuances of the bot runs, please see Eagle1’s blog post here.
http://nationaldreamcenter.com/forum18/T...84%A2-Runs

Anyway, we all need to be encouraged to foster good dream health, and encourage our dreams to come to us so we can record and honor them. I’m working on remembering, and have had some success recently, although I will admit some recent dreams are of a personal nature, and I will keep those in my personal journal only, but recorded nonetheless.

Here again is Eagle1’s post on remembering your dreams:
http://nationaldreamcenter.com/forum18/T...ber+dreams

And another post with tips:
http://nationaldreamcenter.com/forum18/T...am-with-me

More recently it came to my attention that low vitamin D levels can not only weaken your immune response, but also can create sleep disturbances and issues. Please see your doctor if you think that could be the case, and have your levels checked. It’s been estimated that 50% of Americans are deficient in this important hormone.

For recording your dreams, a journal is a time-tested way to go. Give me a journal, a pen, and a flashlight and I am set to record (and it also reminds me of being a kid with a good book under the covers)!

There are also some really cool dream recording apps out there. Some are dream journals, and some voice record (that’s if your partner doesn’t mind you whispering in the middle of the night)! There are even some I've seen that let you set "reality checks" for those of you interested in lucid dreaming.

As far as timing, the weekend is a great time to start recording your dreams! Typically people get more sleep, and don’t wake to an alarm. This allows for more and longer REM cycles, and also for a gentler awakening, so you can hopefully (barring kids, pets, and partners who are “morning people”) wake slower and ponder your dream a bit before stirring too much. That helps keep the dream memory intact.

I also want to mention, be wary of dream dictionaries for interpreting symbology in dreams. If the symbol’s interpretation doesn’t ring true, then your subconscious wasn’t making that connection either. Some might say an owl means wisdom, and another person could equate an owl with being a predator. Exploring how a multitude of interpretations could possibly fit, and then feeling out which ring true for you is a much better way to go.

So, I hope to see you all out there soon, maybe in a shared dreamscape!

Happy dreaming!

[Cassandra]

Thanks GG, well said!

[twiceblessed9]

Nicely worded GoldenGirl.

[Nanny]

Goldengirl said, "I’ve also heard it discussed that it’s wrong to put your personal spin and interpretation into the telling of the dream. In my opinion, I don’t think that’s true. My use of the word “heaven” in a dream description may pop up in other’s dreams as well, and that’s what the bot is looking for. For a great article on the nuances of the bot runs, please see Eagle1’s blog post here."

I agree with you, Goldengirl. We ask the person that dreamed the reported dream, what their emotions were during the thing. This, to me is a good indication that we are blessed for them to put themselves in the report, letting us hear "how it hit them" so to speak.

Hearing their spin doesn't prevent us from having our own reaction to it, IMO, or it shouldn't.