Dream Journaling – Part 1

A guide to creating your own personal dream journal.

An interest in understanding your dreams leads to the basic knowledge that you’re going to need some sort of dream journal in which to record your dreams. The most fundamental reason is that you will seldom remember your dreams when you don’t write them down. It’s kind of hard to interpret your dreams when you can’t even remember them!

To answer this need in an age where journals are fast becoming obsolete, I am offering this guide. The first part is for those of you who don’t have time to journal. I have been in the situation many times where I have to leave for work and I remember the most amazing dream, I realize I have about 5 minutes. Now what?

Journaling with Little Time

How to remember your dreams.

  • Simply wanting to do something doesn’t get it done!
  • Wanting to remember your dreams does not bring remembrance.
  • While lying in bed, you have to repeatedly tell your mind that you want to dream.
  • You have to set your mind on what you seek to accomplish.
  • You have to set your mind on telling yourself that you will remember your dreams.
  • Then you set your mind on the fact that you will journal them.
  • Amazingly, this produces more and more memorable dreams with enough clarity to work with.

Everyone has their own personal style.

A notebook and pen are the journal of choice for some; a computer for others. A personal recorder also works well. I use all three depending on the situation.

Write key words, thoughts and feelings.

Writing down a few key words will many times enable you to come back later and remember your entire dream.

Write only those that were in the dream. See Step 1 in Analysis for a more in-depth discussion on how to focus and record dream information.

An example might look something like this:

Dream#1. zombies, fighting, swords, winning the battle, triumph.

Dream#2. tall house, dark, no windows, afraid.

Dream#3. Ridley Park, hotdogs, clowns, having fun.

Give your dream a title.

When you give your dream a title you are capturing its main theme. This can bring back the whole mood of the dream and greatly aid in remembering.

For example you may choose:

Dream#1. Zombie Attack

Dream#2. The Scary House

Dream#3. Baseball game

Date your dream.

There’s nothing worse than finding a dream years later and having no idea when it occurred.

When using a recorder.

For those of you who drive to work alone, a mini recorder is great. Just tell your dream to the recorder. You can always write it down later if you choose. The important thing is that it’s there when you’re ready to work with it. Once again, don’t forget to speak the date into the recorder.

Conclusion

The information described above is the shorthand version of writing down your dreams.

A tablet works just fine for it, but I would recommend using your computer. You may choose to keep your journal in a similar shorthand style, and that’s ok. You will at least have some words and clues that you can work with to determine the meaning of your dreams. I suggest going back later when you have a few extra minutes and writing the rest of the dream down. The more you have to work with, the more successful you’ll be at determining what your dream means.

In Part 2 of dream journaling I will discuss the best way of recording your dreams for those of you who wish to write the entire dream from beginning to end, whether you’re starting from scratch or expanding on your shortened version. Thanks for reading!