A few nights ago, I had a very weird dream, in which I found myself in a prison. Surprisingly, I was not a prisoner, but one of the prison wardens. What was more shocking to me that my manager was also the Chief warden there! And, I was more scared of him than the prisoners were scared of me. I wonder why I was not a prisoner, because of my troubled relationship with my then manager at office.

In another of my dreams — and this is a dream that I have quite often, I find myself completely naked, with a number of people looking at me. In my dream, I am extremely terrified, trying to cover my body and run away. It seems so real, and none of my efforts seem to work. Every time I had this dream, it shakes me up — I wake up in the middle of night and it takes me a minute to come to my senses.

That one minute where we dabble between dream and reality is more horrifying than the dream itself.

Whenever I have such a dream, I spend plenty of time on internet trying to find interpretations for my dreams (I know we all do that). I also tried to ask some of my friends about what dreams do they have, and came across some strange examples. Citing one particular example, two of my acquaintances, both shared seeing snakes in their dreams. For one of them, the snake bites, while for other it is just standing there.

Of course, sex is the most prevalent theme across dreams, but no one talks about it and understandably so. However, one did share in confidence that he has often dreamt of his ex-girlfriend, with whom he had broken up years ago.

There is a ton of quality research out there on why do we dream and what does it signify. I am no expert so would refrain from sharing my views. But my dreams often raise two particular questions in my mind, which I continue to ponder upon.

I. Are our dreams the first instance of a person experiencing mental trauma?

When I think of both my dreams mentioned above, I realize it had something to do with my personality and my mental condition at that point of time. Maybe we do not acknowledge it our self, but our subconscious mind is constantly reminding us to do that.

The prison dream was an accurate analogy of my relationship with my manager those days — I felt traumatized by his behavior — often felt trapped, and my subconscious mind just reminded me of that. And it was time that I had to do something about it.

The naked dream, if I analyze, may be it has something to do with my inherent personality. I am an extreme introvert, and live a very private secluded life. I do not share with anyone about what I do in my personal life. In fact, nobody knows that I write on Medium. Visualizing myself as a naked person reflects my insecurity about my life being open to everyone, and that is something I am really not comfortable with.

II. Is it a supernatural calling telling us about what is about to happen in the future?

When I think of the snakes dream for two of my colleagues, I tried to find interpretation for it on internet, and realized snakes dreams are way more common than I thought.

I found out that if there is a snake that bites you, it indicates some misfortune might be coming your way.

Surprisingly, if there is a snake that does not bite you, it indicates that someone is protecting you, and good fortune is coming your way.

Or do our dreams do not mean anything, and are just a figment of our imagination?

Sigmund Freud once said, “Sometimes, a cigar is just a cigar,” — which means that our dreams do not need to be overinterpreted, and they do not necessarily mean anything.

Maybe I am overinterpreting things here, but I have strongly come to belief that our dreams are often an indication of our subconscious minds and we must pay heed to them to identify if we are going through any mental health issue.

“Yet it is in our idleness, in our dreams, that the submerged truth sometimes comes to the top.” — Virginia Woolf

On a separate note, last night I was consciously thinking about Hogwarts and trying to let it seep into my subconscious mind. But unfortunately when I woke up, I had not met Hermione Granger or attended any class on building a magic potion. I know I can be such a child sometimes 😄.

Recap to remember:
– Our dreams can often indicate the first signs of any mental health issue.
– Interpreting dreams is often fun, and we must do that — but should be cautious to not over analyze them. Sometimes, dreams are just dreams.
– And thinking about Hogwarts will not get you a dream date with Hermione Granger. Stop dreaming about it.

Please share your thoughts about the article, and any weirdest dream you have had. 👏are optional, but they sure make us happy.
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