Today is IWSG day.
Thanks to Alex Cavanaugh for organizing this
monthly event where writers share about their writerly insecurities and other
things. This IWSG day is different from others because the posts IWSG folks
are sharing today will be put into an eBook called THE IWSG GUIDE TO PUBLISHING
AND BEYOND.
A few years ago, I started a dream journal. As much as I want
to spotlight all the colorful and surrealistic experiences I've regularly
recorded in this notebook, the truth is, I don't write in it very often. But it
is there when I need it. I write in it uninhibitedly, and I don’t show it to
anyone. (That said, I frequently share dreams with my husband in that
just-woke-up mumbling and grumbling way that I speak in after the alarm goes off.)
Here are some
benefits I’ve experienced from keeping a dream journal:
-Writing about a dream can help me recognize
unresolved feelings I have about a subject.
-Reflecting on a dream can help me see where
I'm growing. It can also help me see when it’s time to
reach out to a confidante about something that has been troubling me.
-Sometimes stuff from dreams become idea seeds
that I can nurture into stories or story elements.
-Just by having this journal, I’ve gotten better
at remembering dreams, even those that I don’t write down.
-Thinking back on a bad dream empowers me to realize something that bugged me was just my mind playing tricks, and that I can always change a bad dream into a good one. So the next time I'm stuck with lousy company in a stranded elevator with a psycho unicorn stabbing its horn through the doors, I’d
know better what to do.
-Remembering a good dream is like reminiscing
about a great meal.
Do you keep a dream journal? Would you like to
share a recent dream you had, good or bad?
Cynthia is a reader and writer who blogs
regularly at readisthenewblack.blogspot.com.
I give Insecure Writers Support Group permission
to use this post, about writing, in THE
IWSG GUIDE TO PUBLISHING AND BEYOND.
