

In other words, the abstract symbols appearing in your dreams represent real hardships. Linguist and philosopher George Lakoff believed dreams offered a metaphorical glimpse into daily challenges and life events. Since the images that appear in dreams reflect elements of daily life, Hall believed dreams could offer important insight into how you view yourself and others, your problems and conflicts, and the world in general. Hall considered dreams part of the cognition process, or a type of thinking that happens as you sleep. Other dream researchers have offered their own theories as to the meaning of dreams. Upon waking, you might realize your dream exposed some of the more mundane things absent in your relationship, while also suggesting you might want a relationship that includes thoughtful planning for the future along with fun. One night, you dream the two of you are reviewing housing listings, wandering through the furniture section of a department store, and then, suddenly (in the abrupt nature of dreams), taking a leisurely walk through a quiet park. You enjoy the same hobbies, have great sexual chemistry, and get along well - but you can’t shake the feeling that something deeper’s missing from your relationship. Say, for example, you have a lighthearted relationship with your partner. Jung focused on specific archetypes, or patterns, that appear symbolically in dreams, theorizing that dreams could help explain daily events and balance out aspects of yourself you aren’t aware of yet. Like Freud, Carl Jung believed dreams had meaning.

Jung’s theory of compensation and self-portrayal

In other words, the manifest dream uses various symbols and bizarre or unusual images to conceal the latent dream, or what you’re really dreaming about. The manifest dream simplifies, reorganizes, and masks the “latent dream,” or your repressed and unconscious wishes. Your sleeping brain creates what he called a “manifest dream” from snippets of everyday images, experiences, and memories. He suggested that dreams helped protect people from waking up early when light or sound disrupted their sleep, but he also believed dreams pointed to buried desires. Psychologist Sigmund Freud had a lot to say about dreams (and not all of it related to sex). Freud’s theory of unconscious wish fulfillment Plenty of psychologists and other experts have theorized on the deeper meaning of dreams. Experts haven’t come up with a clear answer, but you’ll find some main theories below - along with a few tips for decoding your own dreams. Whether your dreams are mundane or peculiar, you might want to know if they have any deeper significance. gaining superpowers or magical abilities.terrifying experiences, like returning to high school or being chased by monsters.ordinary activities, like doing chores or buying groceries.You can cover a lot of ground in your dreams. While experts still have plenty to discover about dreams, they do generally agree that dreaming is part of the human experience. Others remain vivid in your memory, so clear and unforgettable that, as the days pass, you might start to wonder if you actually dreamed them more than once.Įven if you don’t remember many (or any) of your dreams, you do still have them. Some dreams slip away like minnows when you wake up and hazily try to grasp at them. Share on Pinterest Nina Zivkovic/Stocksy United
