Using your expertise, can you tell us about any particular theories or understandings about dreams?So, Freud believed that dream interpretation — which he thought he was skilled in — gave him access to the unconscious of the person. He would listen to his patients, talk about their dreams, then determine what the symbolism was of the particular story that was being told. I’m going to give a personal example of Freud’s. One of his closest colleagues for a stretch of years before they had a falling out was a man named Jung. Jung and he were exchanging dreams because they were working on this idea of dream interpretation theory, and in the course of Jung telling Freud about his dream, Jung indicated that Freud died. Freud was so upset by this … that he fainted and fell out of his chair.

Do you know how Freud interpreted that aspect of Jung’s dream?He took it as Jung wanting him to die because Freud was senior to Jung. Freud was actually hoping to have him be a colleague and sort of mentor him into leading the field of psychoanalysis once Freud got older… So, [Freud] thought that this was Jung secretly having a competitive urge to take over sooner and wanting Freud to die.

As a middle schooler, I became infatuated with the study of dreams, scrambling to write them in my journal before they returned back to latency. For something so universal, dreams and sleep are virtually unknown, and for most, these viable clues for examining our subconscious are more-often-than-not forgotten in a matter of seconds.

Sleep, ultimately a reversible loss of consciousness, occurs in a series of stages. Stage four is the most crucial and allows for deep restorative sleep during which we enter rapid eye movement. We begin dreaming, but other body systems are active, leaving the body puzzled, as there are clear indicators that the person is awake.

In the end, dreams are just false sensory experiences due to the variation of delta waves. But what do dreams mean? Why do we dream? Perhaps dreams are simply a result of random firing of neurons according to the Hobson-McCarley Biological Theory. It could be that our brain fabricates these scenarios to help us through our problems – the brain attending to issues from the day and lending insight, a tenant of the Cartwright Problem Solving Theory, which identifies the purpose of dreams for therapeutic reasons.

Sigmund Freud set a precedent in psychology regarding dreams. He theorized that dreams were a hidden language, the only way of communicating with and understanding our subconscious. Thus, these sequence of images, emotions, and thoughts passing through a sleeping person’s mind had subliminal messages that reflected internal conflict. In his book, The Interpretation of Dreams, he discussed the concept of wish

fulfillment and discharging feelings of aggressions during dreams in a way that the superego, somewhat of a moral compass, would never allow. He broke these down into two parts: manifest and latent meaning, manifest being the plotline, which is incredibly hard to remember, and latent, or hidden meaning. These dreams serve as a moral awakening, repercussions from the defense mechanisms we use to distort, deny, or falsify reality every day.

While we dream in almost every sleep cycle, these dreams are seldom remembered. This is proven by the Hartmann Boundary Theory, which elaborates on the fact that different people have varying degrees of “boundaries.” Those with thick boundaries do not remember dreams and continue untroubled, statistically ending up in practical professions. In the converse, those with thin boundaries remember their dreams with ease, using them in their work, and working through them, statistically being drawn to creative professions. Freud believed our remembered difficulty stems from the fact that we reject these conflicts and categorically deny them from a day to day basis, further repressing our subconscious thoughts.

While many dreams transcend limits of thought, each dream is individualized to the person and their specific problems. Those with the ability to remember their dreams aren’t only seen as statistically more personable and more creative but are adept at problem-solving and have a better grasp of understanding themselves and how they think. And while seemingly random and otherwise obscure, dreams remain a window into the waking subconscious.

Kim Groome

D R E A M SD R E A M SD R E A M SD R E A M SI was sitting in bed, and big yellow frogs started appearing on my bed. And then, smaller toads and pink tarantulas and swarms of cockroaches started appearing. Each animal was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen. Spaghetti started oozing out of my mattress. I tried to show people, but they said “there’s nothing there” and told me I was hallucinating. I also dissected a horse in my grandma’s greenhouse. - Helen Schrayer ’18

I once dreamed I was passing physics...what a night to remember... - Brian Lu ’18

I was running through ShopRite and the aisles were made up of big hands with extremely long nails that were trying to grab me. - Ashlyn Liverman ’18

I dreamed I was a famous movie director/filmmaker, and I was at the Academy Awards with my mom. I was accepting the award for best director. - Michael McAloon ’19

graphic: Han Jiang

graphic: Jennifer Ren

VanguardThe Tower 7

Kim GroomeKim GroomeKim GroomeKim GroomeKim GroomeKim GroomeKim GroomeKim GroomeKim GroomeKim GroomeKim Groome

graphic: Han Jiang

Sara Mills ’18

photo: Anya Sachdevphoto: Anya Sachdev

8 December 22, 2017 Vanguard 9

graphic: Laura Bussemaker

graphic: Jasmine Xu

graphic: Avery Hom

DREAMSDREAMSDREAMSDREAMSDREAMSDREAMS

graphic: Laura Bussemaker

How would you describe your overall dream experience?I don’t exactly [have] lucid dream[s], but I have very vivid dreams where I can feel stuff … The worst nightmare I had was when I woke up, and I saw a small beetle on my pillow ... A bunch of cockroaches started crawling on my skin. I could feel them chewing me… It was really gross. After a while, I couldn’t remember if that happened in real life or in my dream — that happens a lot, too.

How do you think mixing up dreams and real life affects your day-to-day life?I guess [it affects] conversations with friends because I don’t know whether I can make an inside joke because I don’t know if it really happened or not. Sometimes, I think about a friend saying something really stupid — which is a totally realistic occurrence — but I can’t remember if it happened in school or if it happened in my dreams.

How has your overall experience been when it comes to dreaming?Honestly, lately, if I have been dreaming, I don’t really remember it. I do remember a lot of very vivid dreams from when I was much younger — elementary to middle school, maybe.

Do you think the content of your dreams has changed as you’ve aged?Probably. Like I said, I don’t really remember very many dreams now, but they’re certainly not as fantastical as they once were. They’re much more realistic now ... I think it just shows a shift in priorities. So if dreams are your subconscious sorting out your thoughts, then obviously my subconscious cares about different things now than it did when I was younger.

Could you give an example?I’ve had dreams about my daughter — nothing bad, just doing things with [her]. I used to have dreams about having superpowers. The most vivid one I remember is a dream that happened over the course of three nights, continuously — like three chapters — where I was at a family friend’s house, and I was being chased around by their pet chicken. This must’ve been when I was around eight [years old], and so it took me three nights of this dream to figure out how to get this chicken to stop bothering me. So those were the dreams I used to have. Now, it’s more of my family, my daughter, [and] work. I’ve definitely had the dream where I come to school for the first day, and I get there late, ... don’t have my lessons planned, and can’t find the classroom.

Do you find that the dreams that you do remember have any special significance?I don’t know why I remember those dreams specifically. I used to keep a dream journal by writing my dreams down and [then I would] send them to my grandfather while he was alive. So the ones that I remember are probably the ones that I managed to get written down. There are several dreams that I remember very vividly, and those are the ones that I managed to record; once I stopped recording them, I think I stopped remembering them.

What were your motivations for creating a dream journal?I would tell my grandfather about my dreams, and he said that I should write them down. That was basically it. I’m a person of science, so I’m not much into believing in the mysticism behind what … dreams mean. Though, I think, having a dream where I don’t have my lesson plans ready is self-explanatory of how I’m anxious about coming back to school.

Do you find that the dreams you have remembered impact the day you lead after you wake up?I don’t really take them to heart all that much because I know they’re dreams. I know my wife does. [She] has dreams — like horrible nightmares — of things happening to me or things happening to my daughter, because those are the anxieties she has. So, the next day, she’s kind of shaken up.

Could you describe your typical dreaming experience?When I dream, I’m typically looking down at myself, like [I’m] God. I had this weird experience one time when I was younger [when] I was having a nightmare, and then [I], in my dream, looked up at me, and said, “It’s time to wake up now.” And then I woke up.

How did that dream influence the way you’ve dreamt other nights?That dream was a little weird because it was about Easter egg hunting. I went outside, and this creepy car pulled into my driveway and [I was scared]. And the me in the dream was like “wake up,” and then I woke up. I woke up and I was like, Wait, did that just happen? I have a really hard time telling apart dreams and reality — like a really hard time.

How often do you dream?I probably dream once every two weeks.

Have you had any instances recently when you couldn’t tell the difference between dream and reality?Last week, I had a dream where I dropped my phone in water. I woke up, and I was like Oh, I have to text my friend that I can’t do something this weekend. And then in my head I was like Wait no I can’t, because I broke my phone and dropped it in water. And then I went downstairs and I was like Wait, no I didn’t, because I forgot that that was just in my dream.

What is your experience with dreams?They’re generally in color. I don’t really remember them afterwards; I don’t dream very often because … I won’t dream throughout the night, but then in the mornings when I’m half awake, that’s when I’ll have my dreams. Sometimes my dreams come in read form — not like the color, but text — so I’ll almost be reading my dream. I can also talk about my nightmares. My nightmares aren’t like being chased or falling. I have this really weird nightmare where it’s me and I’m facing this problem — it’s an abstract problem. I can’t solve it in time, and it’s about to crush me. I’ve got to solve this horrible problem, and I have to fix it. But it’s so massive, and my tools are so small that I can’t fix it.

Is it a math problem?It depends; sometimes it’s a puzzle, and sometimes it’s a math problem.

Do you think about your dreams?I think about my dreams, but I’m not like Professor Trelawney [from the Harry Potter series].

Oren Levi

How would you describe your overall dream experience?A lot of the time I forget my dreams, [but] I’ve had some dreams that I’ve remembered because they were significant. Over the past year, I’ve had three or four that I remember, but other than that, it’s pretty rare that I really remember them.

What makes a dream really significant to you?Either I’ll wake up dying or really scared and then fall back asleep. And when I wake up in the morning, I’ll remember it, or it’ll be so good that I don’t want it to stop ... When I wake up I’ll want to fall back asleep … Or sometimes, I’ll wake up in the middle of the night and try and fall back asleep and continue the dream because it was so good, but it won’t happen again. Then, I’ll try and recreate it in my head. I’ll be like, Okay, this was happening, I want to keep on going, but then it doesn’t work.

Do you find that you’re woken up because of good or bad dreams more often?They’re about equal. The difference is that the good dreams will just stop, but the bad dreams … I would get this terrible knot in my stomach and feel like I was falling through my bed for eternity. You know that feeling you get when you’re falling? That’s how I’d wake up. And then I’d be kind of startled and scared. But the good dreams would just stop … I think that’s the thing … For the bad dreams, right before they got terrible, they’d end.

Are there any dreams in particular that you remember?One … was before winter break, when I dreamt that I was on a plane to Australia — and, over winter break, I was going to go to Australia — and the plane crashed and I died. That was the first time I ever “died” in my dream but I was still conscious and I saw the world without me, and I saw my grandma. Then I spoke to my grandma, which was kind of weird. I [said], Yeah, Grandma, I’m dead. It’s really sad. And she was like, Yeah, that’s so sad. And I just remember when I was dead that I felt really sad and really bad for my family. I just felt sad that I wouldn’t continue life. I was still conscious, but I knew at the same time that I couldn’t participate in life … that soon, I wouldn’t be conscious anymore.

How did this dream influence your actual trip?It really reflected the fact that I was kind of scared to go on the trip because it was the first time I was traveling by myself… and I was traveling to Australia, which is probably the worst flight I imagine I’ll ever be on. It’s … seven hours to San Francisco, then 15 hours to Australia … On the way back, my plane got diverted after four hours because there was a man making a lot of commotion on the plane. He was yelling, being kind of racist and … really rude to the air hostess. So they turned the plane around and landed in New Zealand, and then I had to stay overnight, by myself, in New Zealand, and then get on a new plane the next day … The plane that I got on dropped 30 feet [while we were in the air] and I thought we were going to crash; I thought my dream [was] coming true … I don’t really know how much my dream affected my trip, but when we were free-falling for a second or two, I got the fright of my life and I was by myself, [just like] in my dream … So I think my fear was exemplified in real life because of my dream.I got the fright of my life and I was by myself, [just like] in my dream … So I think my fear was exemplified in real

it really happened or not. Sometimes, I think about a friend saying something really stupid — which is a totally realistic occurrence — but I can’t remember if it happened in school or if it happened in my dreams.

interviews: Vanguard co-editors

graphic: Caroline Tan

graphic: Jennifer Ren

graphic: John Liang

graphic: Avery Hom

dreams down and [then I would] send them to my grandfather while he was alive. So the ones that I remember are probably the ones that I managed to get written down. There are several dreams that I remember very vividly, and those are the ones that I managed to record; once I stopped recording them, I think I stopped remembering them.

What were your motivations for creating a dream journal?I would tell my grandfather about my dreams, and he said that I should write them down. That was basically it. I’m a person of science, so I’m not much into believing in the mysticism behind what … dreams mean. Though, I think, having a dream where I don’t have my lesson plans ready is self-explanatory of how I’m anxious about coming back to school.

Do you find that the dreams you have remembered impact the day you lead after you wake up?I don’t really take them to heart all that much because I know they’re dreams. I know my wife does. [She] has dreams — like horrible nightmares — of things happening to me or things happening to I don’t really take them to heart all that much because I know they’re dreams. I know my wife does. [She] has dreams — like horrible nightmares — of things happening to me or things happening to I don’t really take them to heart all that much because I know they’re dreams. I know my wife does.

my daughter, because those are the anxieties she has. So, the next day, she’s kind of shaken up.

Zoe Kim ’18

Myla Wailoo ’20

Michael Shen ’18

Emma Glasser ’18

I think about my dreams, but I’m not like Professor Trelawney Harry Potter series].

John Lianggraphic:

my dream.

graphic: Laura Bussemaker

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