31-8-00 9:05:54 -0000
[My own experiences]
When I went to bed as a child I used to spend a lot of time enjoying (what I've now come to know as) hypnagogic images and sounds before actually drifting to sleep. I was especially intrigued by everything turning bright white in those 'wake dreams'.
I had a very vivid imagination and when I had an intense dream, I used to keep thinking about it, integrating it in my play...
[My family/community]
I don't recall any particular interest in dreams by my mother or father (I don't have sisters or brothers). The same goes for the rest of the community around me.
I always found my dreams interesting, because of their unusual contents. But it wasn't until I read 'creative dreaming' by Patricia Garfield (Dutch translation: 'creatief dromen'), that I started writing them down. I was about 15 then and continued doing that for two years or so. I didn't really try to get lucid in that period, nor did I try to have paranormal experiences (telepathy, mutual dreaming,...)
I did try to describe the dreams as detailed as possible and make drawings with them in my notebook. I paid special attention to creative ideas, surreal contents and humor.
I've read several books about Freud and Jung, but never really thought much of all their theories. I relied more on my own experiences, instead of theorizing. I didn't try to find 'more' behind dreams than just entertainment and a source of inspiration. I do often try to analyze dreams, but I've never enjoyed doing so, because most of the time you just find what you want to find.
Right now I try to have lucid dreams, ever since I had one out of the blue. It was so intense and surprising that it rekindled my interest in lucid dreaming and I started to do reality checks with some small success so far. I have much better dream memory than as a kid or teenager, and the dreams are more bizarre and contain more musical/sound elements than they used to.
I still look at dreams as a source of inspiration and now and then I have such intense dreams with clear messages that I tend to integrate those ideas / messages in daily life.
Return to the results page.
