Journals have been a gigantic part of my personal and spiritual growth journey that began back in 1989. Whether that’s to be used as: a diary, for emotional release, my business thoughts, debating my life direction, a daily gratitude list, and more. Nevertheless, recording my dreams of the nighttime in a journal propelled me further along my path than any type of journal.
Now, I’ve always been able to remember my dreams, although I thought they were hysterical nonsense. That all changed in the early nineties, when I began the process to heal my childhood wounds through 12 step groups and therapy. I started having dreams with intense feelings and some of them were recurring, which I intuitively knew were related to my childhood. Since these dreams were very painful, I prayed to my Higher Source to send me a therapist who could help me understand them.
Halleluiah, my prayers was answered! And I received an excellent therapist; who encouraged me to keep a dream journal for reference during our session. Why you may ask? A dream journal can assist you with the following:
No matter how silly a dream is, it’s important to record it because it may connect to other dreams or make sense in the future. Some dreams are truly baffling and takes an expert’s assistance to comprehend it. I discovered early on that dream dictionaries are as general as daily horoscope; therefore, they were little help to me. It’s important to have a basic understanding of symbolism that even a book on symbols can aid you with. Yet, one symbol may have hundreds of meaning depending on the dreamer’s feelings, current issues, and past or present situation. This is where reviewing your dream journal will be helpful to see if the symbol was in a previous dream and whether it has the same meaning or a different significance.
Between my dream journal and therapist, I received a strong foundation for dream analysis. Within two years of journaling my dreams, I began having premonitions and spiritual dreams. Sadly, my therapist freaked out on me having those types of dreams and it was time to part ways.
For another seven or eight years, I continued every day writing down my dreams in a journal. Until I adopted my cat, Midnite, who didn’t have any tolerance for my morning journaling, wanted immediate attention, and to be fed. It became impossible to journal with a kitty climbing all over me and hitting at my pen with her paw! Fortunately, by this time I was able to interpret my dreams without a dream journal.
Fast forward to 2020, I occasionally will journal a dream on my computer. One of my categories for my blog is “What’s Pamela Dreaming,” to use as an education tool. Because of my personal experience, I always recommend keeping a dream journal to my clients and readers. These days there are many different formats and devices for journaling. However, there’s something magical about pen on paper!
Author bio:
Pamela Cummins helps her clients take their nighttime messages and turn them into daytime wisdom to accelerate their personal and spiritual growth. She is a dream interpreter, spiritual growth coach, and an author of six books, including her latest, “Got Dreams? Discover Your Ideal Dream Journal.” To learn more about Pamela, please visit https://learndreaminterpretation.com/