Too much butter

I listened intently while she recounted every last detail of what seemed to be a dream of epic proportions. A chase, easter eggs of old friends and memories, betrayal, and a trove of material that would make her psychologist or dream interpreter stay busy for the year to come. I can pick out recurring themes, ask about supporting or background dream characters and actually get in depth responses.

I am in awe, but also a bit jealous. I would adore to be treated to a cinematic masterpiece of my own making overnight, and be able to recall every detail the next morning. For the most part, I rarely remember a single detail from any dream.

Today was different. I was excited to take my turn after her retelling to announce that I too had remembered a dream. I could see her eyes light in anticipation. This is out of the ordinary.

I began my account and it went exactly like this ..

She has just returned from the grocery store, I noticed she bought so much butter. Too much butter. Like several of the large tubs and we almost didn’t have room in the fridge. But we did.

That was it. The entire dream. Just an observation that she had bought an exorbitant amount of butter.

She was silent st first, not clear that I had actually finished and there was nothing more. When she eventually realized she roared with laughter. I did too.

I guess we were laughing at how simple it was. Or maybe we were laughing at the comical amout of butter she purchased?

Is this the best my dream episodes have to offer? I am thrilled to have one to tell, but I hope I can do better.

So today I set my sites on improving the excitement level of my dreams. I’m not necessarily looking to experience night sweat inducing dream blockbusters, but something more than; “she was in it and…the color red?”

It’s common for people who don’t recall dreams to barely hang on to a single detail, such as a color or object when practicing recall early on. The good news is the mind is highly susceptible to suggestion.

Affirming your desire to remember vividly your dreams throughout the day and before you go to sleep can have a tremendous effect on dream recall.

The next part is taking advantage of the moment when your dream is still fresh in your mind. The moment you wake up. Even rolling over when you wake up can banish your dreams to a thick fog.

As soon as you awake, lie still. Ask yourself what you recall. Playback the details. Perhaps you were about to perform a guitar solo in front of an audience. Waking too quickly will disperse your dreams memory the same way a rock will disrupt your reflection when thrown into a still pond.

This is the moment where I have struggled the most in my first weeks return to my dream recall goal.

Day one I remembered the dream that inspired the poem “Flamingo Dreams”. To be truthful, it wasn’t Flamingos acting as my dentist in the dream. It was just a normal dentist and her assistant. At one point the assistant had disappeared . Upon realizing the assistant was gone, the dentist scrambled to call for someone else. After much ballyhoo over the disappearance of the assistant, he casually re-enters the office having had simply taken a short break. He returned with a carton of eggs.

For an entire weeks worth of dreaming, this is a drastic improvement, but it is still just a single dream recalled out of 100 or more maybe. I still have work to do to unlock my slumbers hidden journeys.

I will tell you that reading about dreams, dream recall, or lucid dreaming can certainly improve your own dream environment. So think of having read this as improving your own minds development of robust dream experiences. Congrats.