I’ve been keeping a dream journal for a few years now, and it’s been such an amusing experience. Ever since I saw The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl when I was a kid, I always thought it would be fun to have my own dream journal. I can’t remember exactly what made me actually sit down and start, but I’m glad I did. I’ve heard of the benefits of keeping it, but my main reason for it was so I could remember my dreams better. I hate the feeling of waking up and having the feeling that I had a good dream, but I can’t remember any details.
My dream journal is a treasured part of my morning routine. As soon as I wake up, I write down whatever details I can remember from my dream the night before. I don’t always remember and sometimes I’m too busy to write it all out, but keeping up with the routine consistently is important in helping to remember them better.
It’s also funny to go back and look through some of the dreams I’ve had. As soon as I read the first sentence, I tend to be immediately reminded of that dream as if I just had it, and the experience of that is quite comforting, especially when it was a dream I wish I could have again. Sometimes when I wake up, I’m still half asleep when writing and the sentences might not make sense. After I’ve woken up a bit more and go back to read it, those nonsense words refresh my memory and I’m able to rewrite the memory in a more concise and clear way.
It’s suggested to write down as many details as possible when recounting your dreams, even the smallest details. The more details you include each time, the easier it will continue to be to remember your dreams in the future. Lucid dreaming is also a possibility when you regularly keep a dream journal. That’s not something that’s really of interest to me, but I know it is to a lot of others, so keeping a dream journal could be a step towards accomplishing that.
I would recommend everyone to keep their own dream journal, especially if you’re interested in dreams or their meanings. I personally don’t find much meaning in my dreams, but if someone were to look through my dream journal, they’d definitely be able to tell what I watched the night before by the characters that show up. Even after all these years, keeping a dream journal continues to be a fun and rewarding experience.