Writing your dreams down

by Kaija on Sunday, September 1st, 2013

Posted in: inspiration, writing
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White notebook for a dream journal. For some reason it seems fitting.

White notebook for a dream journal. For some reason it seems fitting.

When I told Silver a weird dream I had, he made a connection to some weird short stories I’ve been writing from time to time. They have a very similar vibe.

This made me pause for a second to think it through. If my brain works similarly during the day as during the night, I’m letting a big chunk of possibly interesting stories slip through my fingers.

Couple of days later, armed with a new notebook and determination to remember all my dreams, I start a new obsession: a dream journal.

I actually tend not to remember my dreams. For some reason this fact didn’t enter my mind when I started. I’m guessing that the prospect of catching my brain during it’s most vulnerable time of making up stories on it’s own, was too exciting to remember the possibility of failing and hearing crickets for weeks on end before I remember a single dream.

Compulsory doodling on the first page.

Compulsory doodling on the first page.

The goal of writing the dreams down helped retain many bits and pieces. I’ve noticed that in the morning during the hypnogogic state, the state of being half awake while the dream is still going on, I’m already making an effort to memorize as much as possible. The result is, that I’ve only missed one night out of nine. Sure, sometimes it’s only couple of sentences, but other times it’s a full page of surreal stories.

I’m thinking, if ever a really good one comes along I can make a short comic out of it. Maybe in ten years I’ll have a bookful of them piled up. Other than that, they’re there for my own amusement.

Our dreams tend not to mean anything to other people. It can actually be annoying having to sit through somebody else’s story that has no significance in the real world and most probably makes no sense to the dreamer either. But I find it fascinating having my own dreams permanently attached to a notebook.

Some text from day 2 and short entries on days 3-6.

Some text from day 2 and short entries on days 3-6.

 

Smiles,

Kaija