dreams

i started therapy at the suggestion of a couple's therapist gabriel and are seeing to work out our issues. he suggested i write down my dreams. i've never tried this before. my knee jerk response was that i don't remember my dreams but it turns out i can remember them with clarity if i do a couple things. i either have to jot a few notes down right after the dream or repeat to myself a few key things from the dream for me to be able to remember the dream in detail in the morning.

i was skeptical that recalling dreams would have much value, but right after i started writing them down i had a few humdingers that woke me up, literally, and which have reverberated for weeks. one was about roger, the other about gordon. since then i've had some interesting dreams and i hope i have some more humdingers. i've found recalling the dreams and bringing them to consciousness during the day connects me to my unconscious during waking hours which gives moments like my hike today a magical texture. my senses are more alive, smell is amplified, colors sing and i find myself feeling slightly stoned, which is a pleasant sensation for me. it may be that acknowledging my dream world, giving it purchase in my daily life, somehow balances me. i feel better prepared to take on the ups and downs of the day and to respond lovingly to situations that i might have previously reacted to aggressively or hatefully. tuning into my intuitive/non-verbal side feels really, really great.