Using dreams as content

I wrote this post years ago - before doing a workshop on using dreams to inspire imagery. For some reason it doesn't seem to have been posted, or I can't find it. I have been thinking a lot about dreams lately, in part because it's harder for me to remember them now. It's a sad fact, as I have gotten older I more often wake up with some kind of ache. Nothing serious, but enough to make me roll over before I am completely awake. Moving before remembering dreams makes them harder to remember. So I am revisiting all my tips for remembering dreams.

Remembering dreams:
*Keep a dream journal and pen by the bed. Keep the journal open to a blank page. I prefer a ball point pen and those cheap Mead 9.5 x 6 notebooks. They are not too big when the used pages are folded back. I sometimes keep mine on the bed next to my pillow.
*When you go to bed, as you fall asleep, say to yourself "I want to remember my dreams" and "I want to write down my dreams." It helps to repeat this several times.
*It also helps to read thru your old dream journals.
*When you wake up, don't move. Or go back to the position you were dreaming in. See if you can remember a dream. If nothing comes right away, make your mind blank, an image may arise. If that doesn't help, make a mental picture of people in your life, one at a time. Visualize a person and say their name. Think of it as a question to your dream self.
*It may be hard at first to remember dreams. Try to think in terms of valuing whatever comes up. All images that come into your mind could be regarded as a gift from your subconscious. You want to send a message to your subconscious that you are listening and value whatever comes up. Jot down even the smallest fragments of dreams.

Writing the dream down:
*Go over the whole dream in your mind before starting to write it down.
*Also write down those odd words and phrases that pop into your head as you wake.
*Don't turn on lights and move as little as possible to write down the dream.
*To write in the dark: write large, and leave a fairly big space between the lines of text. You can use your hand to sense where you are on the page and keep your place. Try to complete each letter before going on to the next. Dot your i's and cross your t's before going on.
*Later when you are awake you can go back and read the dream. In the spaces between the lines clarify words that may be nearly illegible.
*Write it all down, whether it seems important or not. Your dream self may tell you it's not interesting, but an hour later your waking self may be amazed.
*Try to not judge the content of the dream.
*Sometimes writing the dream will remind you of more dreams.
*It's very hard to put dream imagery into words at times. Those elusive moments when things shift from one state to another, when a car becomes a bicycle, are hard to describe. Do your best. You will probably improve with practice.
*Make a quick sketch or two. This is not fine art - just get the gesture, size relationships, whatever strikes you as interesting/odd.

Above: Dinosaur Wave, 2010. This copper and brass book more or less illustrates a dream.

How to use your dreams:
*You might want to keep your dream notebooks private, that makes it easier to write whatever happens in your dreams. Sometimes dreams are too weird for public consumption. I take a "middle way." Occasional dreams go into books word for word. Mostly I use parts of dreams. But my real goal is to be more in touch with my dreaming mind.
*When working on a significant project, around birthdays or other anniversaries that are meaningful, be sure to note dreams.
*It may help to keep lists of images that seem important or repeat, or to list what you have been or have done in dreams. These are clues that lead you to the more "important" dreams.
*You may find it's useful to have your most interesting dreams typed into the computer. It's time consuming but useful to be able to search for words.

Should you use a dream dictionary?
I would say "No." Images have meanings, but they are very personal. As you write your dream, you may think you know what the dream means. That's okay, it may be an important insight. But don't lock in any one definition. Dreams can have many meanings, all at once. For example: According to online dream dictionaries going up stairs can mean being ready for success or change. Going down is supposed to be always bad. I can't agree. I have dreamed multiple times of going down stairs, into the earth. I read that as a dream about going deeper into myself - exploring a level that is not easily accessible. Which is a very good thing. And I have dreamed of going up stairs to an all white room where I see important things. I wake from those dreams feeling very good.

The meaning of the image can change and grow over time. Many artists have the experience of thinking they know what a particular piece of their art means, but a year later, or 10 years later, they come back and find a whole new meaning. I don't think they were wrong in the first place, they just didn't see all the meanings. Images and dreams have a life of their own.

If it seems important to find the meaning of your dream, free association is better. What does this dream person or object mean to you? What images or thoughts arise? Be gentle with your dreams. Have a conversation with them, as you would with a friend. Listen to what they say. You don't have to interpret them at all, they can just exist.

Dream image

This is a bit of a mystery - it's dated March 29 of this year. But the time is 11:35 PM. I don't normally put a time on my dream records. On the bottom right it says "drawn when I first woke up. Ballpoint" I do remember drawing it, there was no dream, I just wanted to make this sketch.
Every time I see it in my sketchbook I like it. I'm not sure why, perhaps the looseness, the weird proportions, the skeleton? I'm about to finish my current sketchbook and wanted to have a copy of this image somewhere else.

Dream Journals

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Someone was asking about my dream journals - what size, how do I use them, preferences, etc. I was cleaning up a book case this morning so I can move it to paint the floor. It mostly holds my dream journals and sketchbooks so I had them in a nice stack.



Here are, I think, all of my dream journals. There were more that I actually threw away during a divorce. I was disappointed that recording my dreams didn't reveal more to me about my interior life at the time. Still, I have all these, that's a good thing. On the left in back are the earliest - I used loose sheets of notebook paper, keeping them on a board and moving them to a binder. They seemed a little large, but it worked. Then for years I liked the 6.75 by 9.5 wire bound notebooks - they were easy find, not too large and worked. But the wire always bothered me.

Occasionally I would make a book for fun, to try a binding style. A few of those became dream notebooks. The leather one with a big button was made from an old leather skirt I found super cheap in a thrift store.

More recently I started using the Moleshine cahiers. They are slightly larger - 7.5 x 9.75. Folded in half they weren't too large and didn't have the annoying wire. But they had a lump from the fold and it was hard to write on part of the page. I try to not move when I wake, remember dreams and then write them down without moving. So I want to just reach over, pick up the note book and write. It's a little awkward and sometimes hard to read. Later in the day I try to look at them, between the lines I re-write words I think are too scribbly to read later. The lump in the page made it harder to write legibly.

Then I tried taking apart the Moleskine cahiers and making signatures of four sheets each. I was writing on them unbound and then binding them together when I had 12 signatures. For some reason I like the number 12 and usually stop there. The two above were made this way. I found the paper is way too fragile to hold up to the coptic stitch, my go-to. For the second one I put strips of paper in the center of each signature to make it a little stronger. Still it's annoying and makes it more awkward to bind.

This one is ready to bind. It's made from Mohawk Superfine text weight paper - it's about 6.25 by 9.5 inches, a size the paper tears down to. I don't want to cut it and throw away anything. It's a comfortable size for laying on the bed next to me, I can support it with a slightly larger piece of Davey board and clip it together with a space pen. The space pen writes upside down, a feature I don't need often, but it works really well. I know this will bind well because I use the same paper for some of my sketchbooks.

Here are some signatures beside my bed, spread out a bit so you can see the layers, and the Davey board that supports them. I keep extra signatures in my nightstand.