Hidden Messages

WRITTEN BY MANAV CHORDIA

I started my dream journal in the 9th grade — my secret little place where I stored every detail I could remember from my dreams. I attributed this habit to a cult-classic film, “The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl” (2005) — which, to me, increased the stake of victory over mere dreams. I previously assumed dreams were merely our subconscious communicating with our conscious selves to guide us through our lives and send us signs about the decisions we make. Except lately, I’ve understood my dreams as an inadequate reflection of what my life entails. 

My beliefs are arguably tainted by Sigmund Freud’s “The Interpretation of Dreams” (1899), a book I stumbled upon at home. The familiarity of the title from my psychology classes attracted me to it. As everyone has different dreams, there isn’t any singular approach to study them — it remains subjective and situational. Initially, I was skeptical about this Freudian belief of dream psychology because of the lack of tangible evidence. I gave up completing the bigger puzzle of understanding the origin of dreams and rationalizing what they were made of. I realized my dreams are my own — I was the only one who could translate them.

There isn’t any logical explanation why I see the things I do, but the answer usually revolves around the mental state of the dreamer, the subconscious, and the significance of what one assigns to the symbols or situations witnessed. Frequently these dreams are, quite simply, insignificant. Although at times they hold a certain inexplicable power to change everything I ever believed in. So I wake up, open my journal, and note down key details and descriptions of what my dreams consist of. Then I figure out what they could be interpreted as with the help of multiple dream dictionaries I reference. There are multiple descriptors to what any particular item can refer to — both positive and negative — so when one reads all the interpretations, they can select the ones that seem more appropriate to their mental state and current place in life.

Every time I dream, there are a few distinct details that linger in my reality. With the number of dreams I’ve been able to pen down in my journal, I always try to figure out the greater context behind them.

I choose to believe that our dreams reflect the workings of the unconscious mind, and the unusual warnings and premonitions are mere contextual unthreading of what I think I need to uncover to fulfill the life I need to live. Dreams are an intangible collection of our mind, what we intend to do to decipher them is our journey.