BR: The New Secret Language of Dreams by David Fontana

I found this book in the library. To be honest, I was in the middle of reading Around the World in 80 Days when I realized if I waited a few days to finish it, I could finish on my 80th day in prison, coinciding with the timeline in the book. So, I went to the library to find a short, fun read. The New Secret Language of Dreams popped out at me. I think everyone has wondered about the meaning of their dreams and how to interpret them, especially me. This book was exactly that. It is an illustrated book with lovely art that takes up full pages. It makes for a very quick read but is also more visually enticing than most books.

Interpreting dreams is more than science, which made it surprising that the book started with science. It talks about the sleep studies done by famous scientists throughout the years and what they found. Stages of sleep are the first lessons. I already knew a lot about them from my Apple Watch sleep monitor (NREM, REM, Deep). We do most of our dreaming during REM (Rapid Eye Movement) sleep. Since our sleep cycles fluctuate during a healthy night of sleep, the average adult only dreams for about 1 1/2 hours a night, even though we don’t remember all of them.

Next came the levels of dreams:

• Level 1 – Preconscious Level: These dreams are things usually at the front of our minds, usually things we experienced throughout the previous day. Our mind uses these to sort through our day and maybe find things we missed.
  
• Level 2 – Unconscious Level: This level is where most of our vivid dreams occur. Our subconscious is trying to communicate to our conscious about inner turmoil, anxiety, hopes, lust, or urges our mind is not aware of. For example, right after my friend Ryan died, I dreamed about him only once, but it felt as if he was there with me, almost like I could sense his soul.
  
• Level 3 – Collective Unconscious: This level is where the science goes away, and art takes over. This level is based on the concept that we all share a small part of our subconscious, either as a whole or even another dimension we go to during this level. These dreams are not that common, usually 2-3 a lifetime, but they are very memorable. They usually involve spiritual or “big” themes, or lessons being imparted on us. Sometimes we are even visited by people who have passed, but it feels different than other dreams.
  

The book then goes on to help interpret dreams and symbols in dreams. Most dream interpretation is very personal. Everything in a dream can mean something different based on the circumstances in the dreamer’s life. To get a detailed explanation, you can read the book, but I would like to share a few insights I found fascinating:

1. A house usually represents our self, so if your house is crumbling in a dream, you most likely think your mind or body is falling apart. When I first started my pending parole journey in prison (trying to get out sooner), I had a dream I bought a brand new mansion, and I spent most of my dream looking for the huge library I knew I put in it but couldn’t find.
   
2. Our mind likes to use puns or wordplay in our dreams. One example from the book is a programmer seeing a dirty kitchen full of mice, but they were computer mice. Another example: seeing pine trees in your dreams could mean you’re pining for someone or something. I believe I had one of those right after my favorite person just left.
   

The next section I found fascinating talked about the paranormal, starting with lucid dreams. Lucid dreaming is when a dreamer can recognize they are dreaming and take control. I have been able to do this several times in the past. It involves practice, patience, and keeping a dream journal (which I have been doing since starting my prison term). It is quite an experience to control your dreams, and I hope to be able to do it again soon. The book also gets into out-of-body experiences, which it says is the next step after lucid dreaming. There have been some scientific studies to prove its existence. Ex: a person sleeping reads a word on a card in another room. The last paranormal thing was dream sharing, in which two people share the same dream. There were a few scientific studies into this, but nothing conclusive.

There was some part about Freud, who was one of the founders of dream study, but his teachings that all dreams are about sex or madman instincts have largely been discredited.

The paranormal part of the book was my favorite. All in all, this was a great book. 5 out of 5 stars.