I also had nightmares. Somehow all the feelings I didn’t feel when each thing had actually happened to me I did feel when I slept. —Andrea Dworkin—
Dreams are messages that we send ourselves about things in our lives that bind deep feelings. Often we find ourselves dreaming scenes from our daily life, ordinary situations that make us anxious. Sometimes our dreams are images like newspapers, account books, or video screens to show us our fears.
When the events in our lives are dangerous and destructive, we may numb ourselves so that we won’t feel the fear or pain they provoke. But our dreams know; our nightmares are an outlet for feelings that we’ve chosen not to feel.
Our dreams will guide us, if we honor them. We don’t have to interpret every last detail of a dream to be able to understand it. The symbols in our dreams are coded, and only we can break the code. When a dream brings us strong feelings, we can usually—if we’re honest with ourselves—determine what it’s about. Then it’s up to us what we do about our lives.
My dreams tell my personal story, and all the feelings in them are mine.