The initial recording of your dreams, and why you sometimes cannot.

Part 3 Dream Series for Writers

So here it is, your dream, in your mind, you’ve woken up by the alarm.  It (the dream) is slipping away.  There is no time to think about it, to hold onto it.  In fact you may not even remember that you have dreamed as the alarm has blown all chance of recollection.  Sad indeed.  Though nothing lost, because what you don’t know you had you’ll never miss or think to look for. 

The fact is, however, that no matter what you may think, you do dream every night.  There are many stages of dreams as well… the getting to sleep dreams (sometimes noted by the feeling of falling, or your body jumping, both of these actions waking you up a bit); the R.E.M. dreams, the longest dreams, though not necessarily the most detailed dreams, these are the dreams in which you can fly, swim in the air, drive a car from the the back seat (untill you notice that is what you’re doing)—if you can remember these, you may have a nice novel on your hands; and then of course there are the dreams you wake up to, if allowed to do so.  These are the ones you most probably write down, unless you are prone to being able to wake after R.E.M. sleep or don’t sleep enough to get past R.E.M. dreaming. 

When you fall asleep, your mind does not know how long you are going to be sleeping for.  Your mind also does not know which dream stage will be “missed” by you.  There are many unknowns to your mind as well as to your consciousness, especially when it comes to the “what” it is you are dreaming about.  I suspect your mind has a plan, and that when we don’t get enough sleep or are woken with the start of an alarm, that plan is muffled, stunted, and anti-climaxed. 

So when we are able to capture our dreams, and think upon them, we are actually enriching ourselves in a deep way.  Every grain we can procure and place into our collection jar (our journal, whatever type we may choose that to be) is adding to a magnificent collection of unique masterpieces. 

Never rely on remembering.  Ever.  Not with your mind, at any rate. 

Always jot something down.  A color, a feeling, a position, a sound, an action, a word, a something.  This is the only way you can hope to remember, to expand on the little you’ve pieced out of your subconscious.

Do not worry about your handwriting.

Do not worry about order.

Do not worry about what something meant or represented.

Do not worry about rationale.

Do not worry about spelling.

Do not turn on the light.

Do not turn on the light?  Yes, that is exactly what I said.  Just as an alarm will shatter your dreams’ existence, so will electric light or anything that is overtly sudden.  By the light of the moon?  Certainly.  In pitch dark, that is just fine, and good training, as well as an excellent meditation, and one that helps your inner mind meld with your outer mind, your right brain with your left brain.