Have you ever had a dream so vivid that you’re sure there’s some hidden meaning behind it?
You won’t always wake up and remember your dream—young adults typically remember their dreams only once or twice a week, and around 65% of individuals never remember their dreams. So, if you’re looking to decode your dreams, it’s important to act quickly on the mornings you remember them.
Looking for common symbols can be a great place to start when searching for meaning in your dreams.
Do Dreams Have Meanings?
When you wake in the morning with your dream still playing behind your eyes, you may find yourself scratching your head as you attempt to make sense of it.
Dreams often seem to have no sense or meaning, but that may be far from the truth. In fact, some studies have revealed that we may dream in order to process information or solve problems, and interpreting your dream can help you draw meaning from the images that play in your mind while you sleep.
Still, it’s also likely that our dreams have no meaning and instead serve a purpose only for preparing for future threats or emotional regulation—scientists remain unsure of a dream’s true purpose.
Delving into Your Dreams: What Do Certain Symbols Represent?
If dreams do have meaning, it’s likely that the meaning comes more from our interpretation of the dream rather than the dream itself since most dreams are nonsensical.
If you’re unsure where to begin with dream interpretation, honing in on some common symbols can be a great starting point. Remember, though, that while these symbols may have general meanings commonly linked to them, the key to finding the right fit lies in your interpretation.
Water
When water is present in your dreams, try to make note of how the water appears, as it is often believed to represent our emotions. For example, if the water is clear, our feelings may be more pleasant, whereas cloudy water may represent unsureness in our emotions. Similarly, calm water vs. turbulent water can also provide insight into the emotions charging through our bodies.
Vehicles
Modes of transportation in a dream may represent the direction our life is taking and how much control we have over it. For example, if you’re driving a car, you may feel as though you have more control than if you were a passenger on an airplane.
Additionally, the state of the vehicle may provide insight into how we feel about the direction of our lives. A vehicle that frequently breaks down may represent continual challenges that we face or an area of ourselves—whether physical or mental—that we feel is lacking.
School
Dreams where a school is the key feature may represent a lesson or test that we’re facing in real life. If you’re unsure how to tackle the challenge during the day, it may manifest as a test that you weren’t prepared for in your dream.
Babies
If you dream of a baby, it’s may be a representation of something new, whether that’s a new project, a new idea, or a new development in your waking hours.
People
The people that appear in your dreams rarely represent the person at all. Instead, each person that appears in your dreams is thought to represent an aspect of yourself—it’s not the person that matters, but instead how one of their qualities or characteristics applies to you.
In some cases, this quality may be something you admire and wish to incorporate into your own life. Conversely, it may be a negative characteristic that you dislike, offering insight into your beliefs or judgments.
A House
In a dream, a house often represents yourself, with each room correlating to one element of yourself. The kitchen may represent the act of supplying nourishment for your body, mind, or soul. The bathroom may represent purging something from your life that isn’t working or that it is time to move on from. Bedrooms are typically the most personal, while the basement usually symbolizes your subconscious mind.
Take note of the rooms you visit in the house and what occurs in each room.
Furthermore, if you revisit an old house from your childhood, this may be a sign that issues from your past are resurfacing in your current life.
Tips for Dream Analysis
If you’re looking to find meaning in your dreams, try out these tips.
Keep A Dream Journal
It may sound like something out of a teenager’s room, but a dream journal can be useful for anyone looking to analyze their dreams, no matter their age.
A dream journal should be kept close to your bed, alongside a pen or pencil, so that when you wake up, you can immediately reach for it to jot down your dream. This ensures that you write down as many details as you can before you start to forget your dream.
The dream journal doesn’t need to be anything fancy, either; even a single piece of paper placed beside your bed each night will accomplish the goal.
Write Down Everything
When you first wake up and are recounting your dream, be sure to write down as much as you can—no detail may be too small, and one thing may unlock a meaning you otherwise would pass over.
When recounting your dreams, try remaining still as you recall your dream; once you start moving around to begin your day, new thoughts enter your mind, which can push aside your dream. Instead, write down everything you can remember about your dream, and once you’re done, then you can start your day.
Analyze Your Notes
When analyzing your dream, look not only at what occurs but the symbols that may be buried within. For example, was water a key feature, or did your dream take place at school?
In many cases, you may find more than one symbol to be present in your dreams, and the key to dream interpretation lies in fitting together each piece of the puzzle to get a clearer picture—your entire dream tells a story, not just one symbol plucked out.
Analyzing Dreams to Better Understand Yourself
With the various symbols common in dreams, you can draw meaning from what plays behind your eyes during sleep. Still, the perceived meaning of dreams may instead be found in how you interpret them—the process of interpretation may dredge up more than the actual dream does.
In this case, dreams act as a way for you to better understand yourself. You often need to do a little digging and interpretation, but when you analyze your dream, you just may be able to understand what’s bouncing around in your head better, which can help you tackle challenges and address concerns.
You may never understand the true meaning of a dream, but through analysis, you can better understand yourself.
