Impactful Dream
I often see one dream, sometimes twice a year, sometimes twice a month. I walk up the artificially lit stairs with empty rooms on every flight. I do not recognize this place, but I know that at the very top is my home and the opportunity to relax. I rise higher and higher, but I cannot reach the desired door. Sometimes I meet other people and animals and turn to other rooms. The script changes occasionally, but I go back to the stairs again. I often try to climb faster, but the more I try, the more complex each step is.
Interpretations of the Dream
The meanings and nature of sleep have long excited people. In the 20th century, scientists and researchers were inspired to know what makes dreams similar and different. Freud was the first to analyze dreams regarding subconscious personality traits. He believed that the subconscious sends encrypted signals about repressed, often unconscious, desires (Freud Museum London, 2023). They are forbidden from the point of view of consciousness but continue to exist, manifesting themselves through dreams.
In Freud’s theory, the staircase symbolizes life; the room is a female symbol (Freud, 1990). Thus, my subconscious signals about some ongoing life situation, the completion of which promises rest and comfort. Anxiety during sleep most likely says that I do not know how to achieve what I want.
Gestalt therapy offers a different approach but a similar interpretation of sleep. Perls believed that everything that surrounds a person in a dream is their manifestation (O’Mahoney, 2023). He did not interpret the dream or look for symbolism; instead, he brought it to life in people’s minds and asked them to express their genuine emotions. Perls believed that sleep is a path to integration with parts of the personality that have been rejected and forbidden in the subconscious (O’Mahoney, 2023).
Thus, fragments of my personality are stairs, empty rooms, and even a light bulb. Using the Perls method, I advise myself to look for the door in another place. It may be a signal to try something new in real life. These interpretations seem plausible and accurate as they reflect my honest feelings and thoughts.
At the same time, the conclusions in my case are too general to state the effectiveness of the first or second theory unequivocally. Ultimately, we are all willing to work hard, climbing stairs to get rest and comfort. People, from time to time, worry about the wrong choice of life path. Recurring dreams seem mysterious and meaningful. Many examples described in books confirm that dreams helped people to open up about traumas or find their calling. However, in my case, it did not work.
Meaning Behind the Dream
Behind this dream is the work of my brain, which generates images from experiences. According to the activation-synthesis hypothesis, during REM sleep, the brain centers randomly signal my body, which does not receive them (Coon et al., 2021). The brain processes this information, selects the most suitable memories for incoming signals, and generates sleep by climbing stairs.
Restlessness in sleep is caused by a sensation of muscle paralysis, which is natural during REM sleep. Most likely, I will never reach the door in a dream because when the frequency of the signal changes, the brain either goes into a different sleep phase or picks up a new image. This dream is just a loading page that does not affect my life path.
References
Coon, D., Mitterer, J. O., & Martini, T.S. (2021). Introduction to psychology: Gateways to mind and behavior (16th ed.). Cengage Learning.
Freud Museum London. (2023). The interpretation of dreams: A guide to Sigmund Freud’s theory of dreams and his method for dream interpretation. Web.
Freud, S. (1900). The interpretation of dreams. Classics in the History of Psychology. Web.
O’Mahoney, H. (2023). Becoming the dream: A gestalt approach. Irish Association of Humanistic and Integrative Psychotherapy. Web.