Even when our body is at rest, the mind is at work. The brain takes images from past experiences and recreates them in a series of sensations that make up a dream. Dreams can represent what the subconscious mind is thinking about. Different archetypal images that recur in a person’s dreams can indicate current situations that are taking place in his or her life. Many objects seen in a dream can represent a part of life that the dreamer has been stressed about. Dreams can indicate multiple events that are happening in a person’s life through recurring archetypal images, the general plot of the dream and solving current problems.
There are many objects that appear frequently in dreams and correlate to current situations that the dreamer is facing in real life. If a certain object appears frequently in a person’s dreams, it can suggest certain conflicts that the dreamer has been struggling with in their conscious state. For example, crosses can indicate that the dreamer has strong religious beliefs. Sometimes, the recurring object is not the main topic of the dream and serves only as a background image. In this case, the object shows that the emotion it represents is deep-rooted into their personality. For example, if a person is frequently wearing loose and tattered clothes in their dreams, it can represent that they feel insignificant and useless in their real life. Some archetypal images only appear in a person’s dreams for a relatively short period in their lifetime. These objects correlate to situations that the dreamer is currently stressed about. A dreamer can figure out concepts about themselves that they may not have known which helps them dig deeper into their own personality. Once the dreamer resolves the conflict in real life, the object stops appearing in their dreams.
The overall concept or plot of a dream can indicate the innermost insecurities of the dreamer. For example, a dream in which a person is being chased indicates that the dreamer is avoiding his or her problems or that he or she is anxious about the ramifications that their decisions may bring. A dream in which the person is falling and is suddenly startled out of sleep suggests that the dreamer feels as if they are completely helpless and not in control of their life. These types of dreams tend to happen very frequently. A person with anxiety about decisions will have dreams about being chased often. A dream of higher prevalence will show the person that the problem is important and needs to be addressed. This could allow the individual to become more aware of and resolve the conflicts in their life when they are not asleep.
Carl Jung, founder of the idea of archetypes, developed the theory that people attempt to solve problems that they are facing in their waking life through their dreams. For example, if a person is stressed about a test that they are taking soon, they might dream about studying or reviewing for the test. Although this may not actually help relieve the problem, it does help the dreamer gain insight about what they are struggling with. This means that events from a person’s day-to-day experiences are what make up a dream. The brain uses information that the dreamer has acquired previously to construct the events that occur in their dream. For example, the faces that appear in a dream are actual people that the dreamer has seen in waking life because the human brain is incapable of constructing facial figures with no prior background.
Dreams are more than mere images in the subconscious mind. The stereotypical thought that dreams are insignificant may not always be true. Most dreams have underlying meaning that provides insight into an individual's lifestyle. Every night when a person falls asleep, their dreams reflect on the events that have happened in their daily lives. Dreams include symbols of a person’s emotions and problems that they are currently facing. The overall theme of the dream can represent the dreamer’s deepest fears and worries. Dreams can assist people in realizing what their feelings and thoughts suggest about the unknown conflicts that they are facing while they are awake.
