To those who are awake, there is one ordered universe, whereas in sleep each person turns away from this world to one of his own.

Heraclitus, Philosopher

Dreams feed us, and we feed our dreams. They are of us. Some are visual, some verbal. Some are vague, endoceptual feelings, hard to translate accurately into words. Many inventions have been credited, albeit partially, to dreams.

According to writer Robert Moss, Friedrich Kekule dreamed of a serpent swallowing its tail and finally grasped the molecular structure of benzene. If we take the time to examine the content of our dreams – that is, if we wake up remembering them – we might discover a treasure-trove of available, yet still-to-be defined material. From these dreams, we might conjure fantasy world, landscapes, paintings, stories and characters.

Many characters have come to me… in a dream, and then I’ll elaborate from there. I always write down all my dreams.

–William Burroughs

We often are oblivious to the potential of our dreams and tend to dismiss them. Yet, there are those dreams that do linger on, nourishing our emotions with positivity. Then there are those disturbing ones we’d prefer to forget. We indeed, enter a world in which we are the creators and the dreamscape is of us and these dreams vary: some are visual and others, auditory. From where do they come and to where do they go? Why do some appear in similar forms again and again?

Our dreams are vague, volatile and generally difficult to remember, but they are our own creative productions. Anything can occur in our dreams – from wondrously beautiful imagery to the deeply unnerving. We dream dreams and then we disconnect. Sometimes though, we retain a sufficient memory of where we went while we were asleep. “A great deal of unconscious cognition is transformed into representational forms when we dream, and as Carl Jung observed, “The dream calls our mind to the body’s instinctive feeling.” (HAVE YOU EVER HAD A HUNCH? The Importance of Creative Thinking).

In our dreams, we often travel into our emotions – remembered or suppressed. And we journey into the realms of unexpected worlds…

I Touched a Star in My Dream Last Night?

I touched a star in my dream last night.

Woke up much too soon.

To touch ten million trillion stars I’d have to sleep till June.

I’ll visit the Moon and Mars tonight.

Check if they’re blue and red.

Pluto is too far to reach unless I leave my bed.

I’ll take six leaps from the sun, skate on Saturn’s rings.

Fly to Uranus — just for fun, with imaginary wings.

(I Touched a Star in My Dream Last Night)