“I am a dreamer. I know so little of real life that I just can’t help re-living such moments as these in my dreams, for such moments are something I have very rarely experienced. I am going to dream about you the whole night, the whole week, the whole year.” ― Fyodor Dostoyevsky

The rare days when the temperature drops here in Houston means that it’s possible to get a really good night’s sleep. Without running that AC to death. When it’s cool, people fall asleep faster and more soundly. It’s cold right now. Going to get even colder next week. I had a very deep and detailed dream last night. It came early – during my first REM cycle. I awoke at 1:30 am and thought about all the details, trying to make some sense of it.

When I write about dreams here, I’m not being metaphorical. I’m referring to the real thing. The mysterious brain activity that science still can’t really figure out.

One recent brain theory suggests that we dream, a cognitive visual experience (Rapid Eye Movement), because the brain is working to keep that part of its wiring active during the night when our eyes are closed and we aren’t using them. When any area of the brain’s wiring isn’t active, it gets taken over by other parts. Isn’t that interesting?

What we do know for sure is that when we dream, the brain is hard at work. All of our conscious activity from the day is being processed, organized and new thoughts constructed. Maybe that’s why I’m rolling around all night like I’m on a ship in a storm? In my Sunday School class we compared the Christmas stories found in Matthew and Luke. So much important instruction communicated through dreams.

“Nothing happens unless first a dream.” ― Carl Sandburg

I tell my students they need to get more sleep. Sleeping and cycling through numerous REM stages helps to plant what they are learning deeper into their memory. It’s the easiest way to study! But of course, when you’re in college, who wants to get eight hours of sleep?

Often, I pray before I fall to sleep. Instead of worrying about my own problems, I intercede about the possible troubles of others I know and love. Very rarely do I have trouble getting to sleep (and dreaming) because of anxious thoughts. It does happen, but I’m always surprised a week or so later that I can no longer remember what kept me up and had me so bothered. Worries are never worth losing sleep and maybe a good dream. I think writing it all down before bed each night helps.

“I never wrote things down to remember;
I always wrote things down so I could forget.” ― Matthew McConaughey

I read a chapter or two from a novel each night when I go to bed. This is a long kept ritual of mine. I can’t remember ever dreaming about what I just read. Probably because I’m not reading anything too deep. I recently read a Cormac McCarthy novel that had me fidgeting. Of course your most recent mental content is ripe for a dream, but the brain works through so many files. Again, it’s a mystery about what falls into your dream basket, and what you will remember when you awake.

For the past several years, when I go to bed each night, I work on a story – in my head. Writing a book, sort of. This keeps the wandering and worrying at bay. I get about a chapter imagined before I drift off. A new one the next night. It’s a little bit of an extra escape (instead of being hypnotized by that blasted TV). The next step is to put these all on paper.

Sometimes, I will awaken too early in the morning. Standing there looking down at the bed, I have often been successful at willing myself to get back in and have one more dream. Some people awaken from their dream and immediately write down what they can remember. Your dream can make an interesting breakfast conversation. Rarely, but it’s been known to happen, people have recurring dreams. You probably need to go out and buy some new folders for your file. Do you need any dreams interpreted?

For an aging me, dreaming helps me to anchor my own fading memories in place. It’s healthy to go to bed each night and then make plans to dream. It is now been my experience that to wish a dream will often make it arrive and give you a little peace and comfort, maybe just when you need it.

“Last night as I was sleeping, I dreamt —
O, marvelous error —
That there was a beehive here inside my heart
And the golden bees were making white combs
And sweet honey from all my failures.”
― Antonio Machado