Dreams . . . do they mean anything?

I just took a break from work and went for a lovely walk with my dog. This is a major perk of working from home for me, particularly when the day is as fresh as it is today - crisp enough for a thick coat and hat but the sun shining so I have to squint when walking towards it. Another great benefit of being able to take a walk in the middle of the day is that I tend to let my mind wander, which is when I come up with ideas - some business related and some just thoughts about general day to day life. Today during my subconscious meander I found myself remembering the dreams I'd had last night and it got me thinking about why we dream about the things we do . . .


I had some grim dreams last night (I guess you could call them nightmares really) and have no idea why?? One was that both my brother and I were dying of Cancer and the other that me, my brother (again) and a friend had been put in an awful prison and were trying to escape before the guards filled our windowless cells with with water to drown us! Nice!!


Some people think that your dreams are related to what you're going through in 'real life'... Well, in this situation, I can categorically say that neither my brother or I are ill or dying (phew!) and the chances of any of us getting locked up is inconceivable (at least I hope so!). Yes I've had experiences with Cancer, through losing and looking after people close to me with the disease, but who hasn't? I guess it's something we're sadly surrounded by a lot of the time but I've never dreamed about it happening to me or someone that is well before? I'm definitely not one of those troubled characters that believes one day I will get a terrible illness and die early - life's far too short to think like that! So why?


Some people read dream books for interpretations on what their dreams mean - I used to have one when I was a kid actually (as I've always dreamed alot) and back then I believed what it said. The question is, do I still? I don't know it's been so long since I've looked at one. So let's have a look at the meanings of the two dreams I had last night and see what it means shall we? The beauty of the web means everything is accessible so here's what www.dreammoods.com have to say...


Cancer dream definition - To dream that you have cancer, denotes hopelessness, grief, self-pity, and unforgiveness. You feel you are wasting your life away. This dream also represents areas in your life which are bothering you, disturbing you, and hurting you in some emotional way.
What an absolute load of cods-wobble! 


Being in prison dream definition - To dream that you are a convict, suggests that some situation or relationship is making you feel restricted. You may be experiencing a loss of freedom in some area of your life. Alternatively, the dream represents your feelings of shame and guilt. This dream image is trying to tell you to stop punishing yourself.
This one is a little more accurate about some personal feelings that I have I suppose...


The other reason people say is behind what you dream is to do with what you've seen that day, perhaps whilst out and about, read in the newspaper or seen on TV. In this case for me it seems strange that I dreamed what I did after watching X Factor and then the most cheesy film ever 'Letters to Juliet'!


As you can see, I certainly don't have the answer to why we dream what we dream - maybe you do? It would be great to see what your opinions are so feel free to comment on this blog...