On Dreams

I've been bloggin' a fair number of dreams lately, which has brought up some interesting questions.

A friend recently made a comment to me that he's not sure if he believes my dreams or not. This confused me. Where would I come up with this stuff if not for in dreams? I like to think of myself as a creative person, but some of these are just way too far out there for me to come up with in my waking life. I wish I could to be honest with you. I think that I'd have far fewer bouts of writers block if I could.

Now this makes me question why I dream to begin with. Is this my minds way of transferring ideas from the subconscious (or even the unconscious) into a forum where I can actually begin to understand and utilize the concepts? Why do I dream when so many people tell me they never dream? Is it that they aren't dreaming or that they're not remembering them?

My dad seems convinced that my dreaming has something to do with the things that I eat. I'm not so sure about that. I've started consciously thinking about what I eat in the evening in hopes of finding out what it might be and using it to my advantage in achieving the ever illusive "lucid dream". However it seems that regardless of my diet, or lack thereof, in the evening I still have dreams. Is dreaming something that one can really control?

I've actually actively tried to dream at times when I haven't for a while. I lie in my bed and think of all the various things that I might dream about or think intently on one thing that I really want to dream about in hopes of gaining a greater insight into it. However it seems when I try to dream I don't and if I want to dream about something specific I end up dreaming about something completely different. Is it possible to control dreams or does that defeat the point in dreaming?

Do these dreams have any meaning? Is there some point that I'm missing that's hidden deep beneath the symbols and faces? Or is it just a result of misfiring neurons that happen to create these beautiful, strange or sometimes frightening dreamscapes? If it is just random mistakes of the mind how do they seem to fit together so well at times?

I guess this is where I'm left asking what is the relationship between dreams and art. Many of my dreams are as vivid as the best cinema and as captivating as the greatest novels. Are dreams the art of the unconscious?

Where does God play into all of this?

I know with all these questions I have yet to give a single answer. I wish that I had them, but I don't.