DREAM ON

I've been having some interesting dreams.

They're very colorful and the characters are well defined and interesting. I read somewhere that the people you see in your dreams are those you've seen while you're awake. That the brain doesn't create new faces and bodies for dreams. It images only those people it’s seen.

My dreams have had some interesting story lines. I'm always involved in two or three scenarios. These all merge into one big scenario just before I wake up.

If I wake up in the night I can usually fall right back to sleep into the same dream. Last night there must have been ten people moving into and out of my dreams. It was a busy night at the movies for my brain.

There’s much speculation about what dreams are and what they mean. Some people think dreams represent our anxieties as well as our accomplishments. Others believe dreams may foretell a person’s future. Scientists believe dreams may be the way the brain organizes the day's events. Like a filing system. The images in the dream represent the subjects the brain is sorting, saving, and comparing with other data. While the body rests, the brain is busy figuring things out.

All of us dream but that doesn't mean we remember the experience. No one knows why some dreams are remembered and others forgotten. Some people have even died while dreaming.

Think about that. You're in a dream but then during the dream your body shuts down and you die. What would the scenario be then? Would the mind panic or would the dream simply fade away as the body dies? What would the brain make of all this? How would it file away its own demise?

People have dreamt that they're flying but few people dream about dying. In fact, most dream states are protective of our mortality, emotionally and physically. It's more likely we'll wake up before we injure ourselves or become emotionally vulnerable.

I wake up feeling about the same every morning no matter what I dream about the night before. I'm not anxious to get out of bed unless I have to. I like the feeling of staying under the covers and trying to sleep in late. I used to get up later than I do now. I don't sleep as long through the night as I used to either.

Worldwide, people are getting fewer hours of sleep. This lack of rest also relates to the amount of information we consume while we're awake. The brain has more material to sort through. When it doesn't have the time to do this, we begin to forget what we've learned. Some studies even suggest we start to go to bed earlier, especially in the winter months.

If you find yourself forgetting more than you used to, don't feel strange. More people of all ages are admitting that they're forgetting more than they've consumed. Their brains are busy trying to catch up and make sense of all the incoming content confronting it and they don't have the time to do it. Get more sleep. Dream often. And remember more.