Okay, so November 2023, I decided to dive into this whole “dream journaling” thing. I’d heard about it here and there, and I figured, why not? I mean, I dream every night, might as well see what’s going on in that crazy head of mine.
Getting Started
First thing I did was grab a notebook. Nothing fancy, just a plain old spiral-bound one I had lying around. I put it on my nightstand, along with a pen. My initial thinking was, “I will write in this right when I open my eyes.”
The First Few Nights
Yeah, that “right when I open my eyes” part? Easier said than done. The first few mornings, I’d wake up, totally forget about the journal, and start my day. Then, halfway through my coffee, I’d remember. Oops. I’d try to jot down whatever I could recall, but it was usually just blurry images and feelings, nothing concrete.
Starting to Get the Hang of It
After about a week, I started getting a little better. I think keeping the notebook right there, in my face, helped. I’d wake up, grab it, and just start writing. Didn’t matter if it made sense, I just wrote. Some entries were like, “Weird dream about a giant talking banana,” and others were a little more detailed, like describing a whole scene where I was flying over a city made of candy.
Noticing Patterns (Kind Of)
Around mid-November, I started to see some, I guess you could call them “themes,” popping up. Lots of dreams about being late for something, or forgetting something important. I’m no psychologist, but I figured that probably meant I was stressed about something. Who would be surprised?
The Weirdest Dream Award
Okay, I have to share this one. One night, I dreamt I was a squirrel, but not just any squirrel, a squirrel who was also a secret agent. I was on a mission to steal a giant acorn from a group of evil pigeons. Seriously. It was so vivid, I could practically feel the fur and the tiny claws. That one took up a whole page in the journal.
The End of November
By the end of the month, I had a pretty full notebook. It wasn’t all groundbreaking stuff, but it was interesting. I definitely felt like I was paying more attention to my dreams, even if I didn’t always understand them.
Did it change my life?
I will be honest with you. Not really. But it was a fun experiment. And who knows, maybe all those dreams about talking bananas and secret agent squirrels are telling me something important. Maybe I’ll keep it up for another month, just to see what happens.
