Most Important Dreams
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Dreams can probably influence our personality and behaviors through the rehearsal of motor-patterns - behaviors in dreams - even when the dreams are not recalled. This is because "motor-memory" exists below the liminal threshold of conscious intervention. Then again, some dreams are remembered. In fact, dreams from childhood can be vividly recounted in many people's mind - even for dreams they never told to anyone! Throughout life, some dreams just stick out and can give an added meaning to some aspect of life. Or, a dream may instill a sense of wonder, an intrigue, maybe a portent for the future. Sometimes a euphoric dream such as flying or singing or loving, even getting to reunite with a deceased loved one, can enrich our memories. The dreams we consider most meaningful, most personally important, may be repetitive and visit us throughout the life-span, or we may only experience them once, but because of the highly-emotional nature of dreams - with high amygdala activation - most important dreams can feel as monumental as many powerful waking events.
Kuiken, Lee, Eng, and Singh (2006) compare dreams which have a heavy impact on the dreamer to art, in that both may in part serve to mitigate anxiety when faced with the transitional uncertainties of life. Dreams which engender a high level of personal impact have been classified into three major categories: nightmares, which portray threat and threat-avoidance, existential dreams depicting separation distress, pain, and sadness, and transcendent dreams, which provoke awe and a feeling of magic (Kuiken & Sikora, 1993). Compared with mundane dreams, impactful, or personally important dreams may seem “real” and linger in memory. Mundane dreams are far less likely to be reported as influencing a dreamer’s mood during the day following its occurrence (Kuiken, et al., 2006). Dreams which fall into these different categories may serve particular adaptive functions. Nightmares or otherwise threatening dreams may instill a waking vigilance after their occurrence (Valli, Revonsuo, Palkas, & Punamaki, 2006). Existential dreams may coincide with concerns over bereavement and cause the dreamer to reconsider her values and commitments, while Transcendent dreams may offer both pragmatic and sacred benefits by fostering an introspective, self-perceptual depth with therapeutic value and a mystical experience in which the dreamer perceives an unbounded connection with life in all things (Kuiken, et al., 2006). |