How do I make sense of my dreams?

The meaning of dreams has always been interesting to me.  In my experience, most people share a certain fascination with their dreams but make little effort to understand them.  Dreams fade fast and it's easy to let them remain a curious oddity. 

Our confusion about our own dreams seems to reflect a larger ignorance about the meaning of dreams in society as a whole.  There are most likely many factors that contribute to this, one being they just seem plain weird!  It's not hard to understand how intimidating the task of understanding can be for a novice interpreter.  Despite this, with a little guidance, most of us can discover profound messages and direction in our dreams.

If you read my earlier posts about Focusing, or are already familiar with this awareness practice, it may come as no surprise that it can be applied to dream interpretation. 

Eugene Gendlin, the founder of the Focusing practice also authored a book called, Let Your Body Interpret Your Dreams.  This book not only seeks to apply Focusing to dream work but also to incorporate various theories about dream interpretation.  One result of his efforts is the formulation of a provocative list of questions that can be used to increase your understanding of dream content.

Here is a link to an abridged version of the questions provided by Leland E. Shields, MS, MA from his book, Dreamwork: Around the World and Across Time.