Have you ever woken up from a good night’s rest and thought to yourself “that was the weirdest dream?” Oftentimes I find myself waking up from a dream wondering why I dreamt about the things that I did. One day I was telling a friend of mine about a dream that I had the night before and she suggested that I research certain elements of my dream and what they mean. I never thought to do that, but when I did a lot of the things I read made sense to me. Of course, there is no scientific research that explains exactly what your dreams mean, so it is up to you to interpret the meanings of your own dreams. These are just things that may have some symbolic meaning if they end up in one of your dreams.
- An Abandoned Building
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Dreaming about an old abandoned building may indicate that there is something that you want to remove from your life. It may mean that there is a need for you to forget something in the past, maybe a hardship or a bad habit. If there were bricks in the building, those can mean there are certain blocks in your life that may be overwhelming. If you saw broken boards or old pieces of furniture scattered around, this may mean that you have some things in your life that you need to clean up. Things may be chaotic, causing you to be overwhelmed.
- A Boat
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If you find yourself in a boat sailing through water in one of your dreams, this may indicate a number of things. In my research, I found that the condition of the boat is what you have to pay attention to. If you are in a canoe sailing through calm waters, this is an omen of happiness and good business. If you are sailing on a yacht, this may mean that you are confident about what lies ahead of you in your life. It can also mean that you are confident in your talents. If you are sailing through rough waters, this may mean that there is danger ahead of you, but if you have navigation tools, this can indicate that you may need help understanding a recent mistake.
- People of the Past
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If you dream about someone from your past, as most of us do, they are probably someone who has had an impact on you, whether that is positive or negative. If you dream about a family member you haven’t seen in a while, this may be a reflection of your own characteristics. If you dream about a friend that you haven’t seen in a while, this may be because there is a certain aspect of their personality that you have avoided until now. You may or may not be ready to accept that part of them.
- Water, Wind, and Fire
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Water is meant to represent emotions and different types of water can represent different types of emotions. For example, muddy water can represent sadness. Tidal waves can mean that you are overwhelmed by a certain emotion or a range of emotions. Clear water can mean that you have emotional clarity. Fire can represent anger or distress as one can imagine. Wind can represent current changes in your life.
- How do I make sense of my dreams?
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While you sleep you are talking to yourself, not through words, but through symbols, metaphors, and emotions. Dreams are a continuation of our consciousness from the day and they are our subconscious thoughts. While dreaming, the amygdala, the emotional center of the brain, is more active, while the prefrontal cortex which is the decision-making center of the brain is less active. That is why we dream about things that can be scary or things that wouldn’t actually happen in real life. While we don’t know exactly why we dream about the things that we do, it can be fun to look into a deeper and more symbolic meaning of certain aspects of our dreams.