Why Dreams Run Away
Every wonder why dreams run away from you? After much thinking and deliberation I think I’ve found a way to explain it.
Who has time for Dreams?
Setting out to retrieve the details of a dream is like trying to coax the fragile pulse of a flame back to life. Its essence is vulnerable and threatens to evanesce until gentle hands cup the flickering light, protecting it from harsh elements.
The average dreamer awakens to a stressed and hectic life. These are not the ideal conditions for a newborn dream to be reanimated to its former self. A dreamer’s thoughts are overrun with details of a busy day and everything that must be done. If the dreamer is a parent time is even more finite. Responsibility is prepackaged and lingers bedside. Impatiently toe tapping, it awaits the footfalls of the one balancing schedules and doling out love and attention.
Who then, has the time to pay attention to something as fragmented or fleeting as a dream? If dreams were really important you’d think they’d want to be remembered and stick around long enough for the dreamer to get five minutes to themselves. If dreams were just more than whimsical fancy, they’d find a more convenient and solid way to communicate their message so it could always be understood.
Perhaps in a perfect world. We all know the world is far from perfect. Most of us have learned though the satisfaction of accomplishment that anything of value does not come easy. That said, there are reasons these incredible experiences we call dreams run away from us. It’s like they want us to come search for them.
The Nature of Dreams
One of the reasons dreams do this is because it’s their nature. Removing the elusiveness from a dream is the equivalent of removing the wet from water. It’s not water if it ceases to be wet.
Dreams are not dreams if they are not elusive.
But what about those dreams you wake up remembering without even trying? They stick around for years, even decades sometimes. Why don’t those dreams run away?
Fact is, those dreams are elusive too. They may not be completely evasive, in that you remember them, but they’re elusive. You do not completely understand them. The meaning eludes you, not the dream.
In order to discover the meaning of the dream a dreamer must pursue it.
An Invitation to Pursue
Most dreamers wake up to find their dreams running away from them instead of running to embrace them. It’s like the dream is intentionally concealing itself so that the dreamer will pursue it. Truth is, the dream is inviting the dreamer to engage.
I’ve heard it said that a dream is like the beginning of a conversation. Many times dreamers treat dreams like they’re a monologue. You may not have known that when you awake from a dream and parts of it are lingering in your memory that you’re being invited to pursue.
Pursue the dream.
Pursue the meaning.
Pursue the Dreamgiver.
You Learn in the Process
If you’ve ever been a kid, chances are you have, you were probably made to work. If it was not a job outside the house, it was chores. Nobody likes to do chores, not even as an adult. But chores are very important. The feeling of satisfaction of having a clean kitchen counter or a clean living space far outweighs the inconvenience of doing it. When I’ve pursued remembering dreams then pursued their meaning, I go through a learning process. there’s no doubt that its more about the journey and less about the final destination.
This is just scratching the surface of why dreams run away, but I hope this blog gives you some idea of the depth and complexity that go into creating dreams.
EB