Dream Journal: Traveling Through Dreams

My dreams usually evaporate as soon as I wake but an interesting exchange with my psychiatrist a few months ago in which we discussed dreams as a portal to the unconscious mind prompted me to focus on improving my dream recall. I used to recall my dreams easily, and when I was younger I loved talking to friends each morning about what we had each dreamed. I’m a bit sad that I fell out of that habit but I’m excited to be getting back in touch with my dreams.

A few months ago I would wake up every day aware of having had multiple dreams but they would disappear from my mind before I could jot them down. My psychiatrist suggested I lie still and say a word from the dream to help anchor it and then immediately record it. This helped a little and I’ve been making slow progress. A few weeks ago I started reading a book he suggested called Where People Fly and Water Runs Uphill by Jeremy Taylor. I’m only a small way into it but as soon as I started reading this book on dreams I began to recall my dreams with much more clarity. I recently read an interesting theory that suggests just thinking about wanting to recall your dreams can help, so actively reading and sharing dreams can help even more.

People say to keep a pen and paper by your bed to jot notes down but most of the time I find it’s more efficient to grab my phone and add a calendar entry with notes about the dream in the description.
I was going through my calendar to compile all my notes into one document and an entry I had forgotten about from 2017 popped up labeled “Dream – Traveling Through Dreams.” And it’s so neat I figured I’d share it. I wish I recorded more details. I can kind of recall the sensations and how excited I felt when I woke from the dream but I sure do wish I could remember the details.

Dream Journal

Traveling Through Dreams | 2.2.2017

I dreamed I was constantly traveling spontaneously through different dreams and reality in a way that makes me think of flipping through pages. I had no control over when I was in a dream or in reality. (Sort of reminded me of Quantum Leap.) I was both scared and excited. I felt like a scientist and explorer who had become trapped in an experiment but I also felt like I was very close to a discovery. Perhaps onto figuring out how to control my dreams and shift from a dream state to reality at will. I had a feeling of Deja Vu in the dream because many of the dreams I traveled through were dreams I’d had before. It was really neat but felt super meta.