zzz - dream

I have been keeping a dreams.txt for almost 6 years now. But I only keep the dreams I like because of their surrealism or similar.

In the beginning I wrote down every dream on paper, but I can't read them anymore, because of my bad handwriting in the dark. But doing that definitely opened up the world of dreams for me.

In my experience dreaming is all about wanting to remember. The very first times I remembered a dream or two every morning, because I was really into it and hoped to have some lucid dreams, which I eventually also had.

But writing down every dream every morning is too much time-consuming. Since I started only writing down the exciting dreams I remember also quite a bit less dreams. I also didn't have lucid dreams the past years.

From all that I deduce that dreaming and lucid dreaming is all about wanting to and giving it time.

>>318
>In the beginning I wrote down every dream on paper, but I can't read them anymore, because of my bad handwriting in the dark. But doing that definitely opened up the world of dreams for me.

If you still have these notes perhaps you could take images of them and someone besides you might be able to figure them out. I remember having really bad handwriting and after a week I wrote something I wouldn't be able to tell what I had written, however I remember one of our teahers being really good at figuring out what I had written. Just an idea yo.

>>318
>But I only keep the dreams I like because of their surrealism or similar.
This is what I would want to do, ideally, if I didn't have so much trouble remembering my dreams to begin with. Right now though I'm desperately scrawling down every little detail I could possibly remember about the most mundane dreams.

Since I started keeping a journal I've only gotten a few juicy dreams down, but I'm hoping it'll pick up to where I only need to use the journal for dreams I thought were interesting and worth logging down.

If anyone has trouble remembering their dreams and wants to correct this, I'd definitely recommend keeping a journal. Just be sure to consciously think about it throughout the day or in the evening before you sleep.

I can usually remember my dreams so the only dream journal I keep is in my head. Memorizing them doesn't help me lucid dream though unfortunately, and I don't think I ever will have the ability to ;_;

Anyway I think it's interesting how you can piece together parts from your dreams with past experiences (if you're lucid dreaming this probably won't happen as well). For example, everything you've done, seen, thought, heard, etc. from yesterday to a week or two ago is put together into one unique dream. Sometimes it's so unique I can't figure out if my brain just dreamt it up with or without prior memories. Definitely keep a journal and try it out OP.

>>318
>From all that I deduce that dreaming and lucid dreaming is all about wanting to and giving it time.
This. I can't lucid dream, but usually when I want to dream I tell myself that I'll be looking forward to tonight's dream and I end up dreaming most of the time.

to be honest i have dreams every night but they have been so stressful i haven't written them down. I might just start.

>>332
I know your feel.
I can't bring myself to write down my stress dreams.
And they are so depressingly "real-life" and straightforward that even Sigmund Freud could interpret them right.

>How many of you do this?
One more here.

>How long have you been doing it?
For about two years now.

>Has it helped you recall your dreams in the morning?
Yes, it is the only way (I know of) to improve dream memory.

The super disturbing nightmares I leave out too, but I usually have multiple dreams a night, so there is always something to write down in the morning.

Sometimes I even get up at night, to safe a especially good or impressive dream.

Reading your own old entries has something magical to it. It's like diving down your past mind and exploring the graveyard of your memories. Note that dreams eventually may become or replace your memories, as they are sometimes even more vivid than the things you actually did.

As soon as I realized that, my view on the things I recall has changed. The past may never has happened, who knows for sure?

Anyways good luck with your project! Explore your mind!

>>333

This is still a source of problems for me : What should we do with those numerous «mundane» dreams we're we just experiment something barely different from the waking life? When I was younger it was high school scenes, for example. It's a pain in the ass really, as not writing them down pretty much mean less and less dream recall and motivation to record more powerful dreams

I just bought a notebook that will become my dream journal starting tonight. I want to remember my dreams better.

I had a dream journal for a while and it definitely helped me with recall. I can still remember a bunch of dreams I had while I was journaling them.

It's really neat how even when you scribble down nonsensical parts of the dream, when you read it later you remember it so well.

>>261
I do keep a dream journal. Though recently my dreams have been unmemorable, just episodic blurs.

It does help with recall. Leave the analysis out of your dream-I find it easier to recall objectively. Analyse after you've written what you saw.

>>261
> How many of you do this? How long have you been doing it?
I don't even know. I read a book for children written by a sleep therapist when I was 10? 12? and she recommended this. I've been doing it ever since though most of my journals are lost. I started typing rather than handwriting them a year ago, I think because I moved house and had no stationary for a few days, just my laptop.

> Has it helped you recall your dreams in the morning?
Absolutely, and the times when I have lapsed because I was depressed and too lazy to write, I lost touch with my dreams for weeks at a time. I don't always re-read them later either, just the act of writing seems to increase the prominence of my dream life in my mind. Not writing them down means I usually forget them within five minutes of being awake.

What to do, if you don`t remember dreams properly? I remember those only if they are very bright or weird.

>>920
the more you write, the more you remember. I had this problem too, then I started writing dreams down. They get more vivid and easier to remember.

>How long have you been doing this?
First entry is June 30 of last year, so I'm coming up on a year. I've almost filled two composition notebooks with about 350 pages of words.

>Has it helped you recall your dreams in the morning?
Oh yes! Went from about one recalled dream a month, to one or more nearly every day immediately. Recall falls when I get tired of writing them down, but I have yet to go a week without an interesting dream.

Writing down the mundane dreams seems to pay off in that overall recall is easier, so when interesting ones come around I can write more about them.

I usually write them out first thing in the morning. But I also rely on my memory quite often and simply replay the dreams in my mind to help recalling them later.

Like last night I had 4 dreams and it took me 30 minutes to express them in words. I just don't have time for that during workdays. I have a really messed up schedule and I tend to sleep very restlessly, waking up several times a night. It's a hit or miss if I can recall anything in the morning but if I do it's usually 2-4 dreams.

i used to write down alot of my dreams, but not really anymore. alot of the dreams i write down are pretty interesting, and i probably wouldn't be able to remember them if i didnt write them down

It helps alot when I actually do it. Though, it seems, once I skip a few dreams or stop recording temporarily that I've really interesting or rather numerous dreams.

Started just over 2 years ago as I started university

I think it has helped me recall subsequent dreams

The biggest benefit is when I go back and re-read dreams
I notice how my dreams connect to my life and reveal my thoughts, feelings, fears, etc.
Plus it can be entertaining. I've had some funny, and disturbing, dreams.