Dr. Dream: March 6, 2022

Your dreams, on the couch. Why all the fuss about dreams? I bet you're dying to know. Also ants to the rescue. 🐜

Dr. Dream is a feature for paid subscribers to WOODRUFF.

SEND ME YOUR DREAMS and I will share my impressions with you in this column.

Disclaimer: Dreams can never be accurately interpreted by another person (only you have access to the heart of your dream’s message or meaning.)

Still, it is fun to see how another person responds to your dream’s narrative.

Email me your dream and please note if you want your name mentioned in the Dr. Dream column. Not all submissions will be published.

Dear DD,

I don’t understand why people make such a big deal about dreams. It seems to me that dreams are simply the imagination working overtime after a person falls asleep. Why all the fuss about trying to understand a dream or determine if it has some secret meaning or influence? People should just relax and hope for a good night’s sleep.

Mark K., New York

Dear Mark

The most profound insight I ever encountered about humankind’s fascination with dreams came from a psychologist by the name of James Hillman. In a nutshell, Hillman explained that our fascination with dreams is related to our fear of mortality. Because dreams take place when our everyday consciousness has unplugged from the world, usually at nighttime, Hillman suggested a correlation between the absence of consciousness (that we associate with death) and that of the world of the dream. Without going into too much detail, Hillman suggested that our dreams are preparatory exercises for the moment when we die and enter a state that no one has factual data about. Dreams allow us to become familiar with a world or condition that is completely foreign and unknown to consciousness. Think about it this way: