Like many people, I frequently have strange dreams that stick with me long after waking. Uncontrollable as they are, these vivid experiences can influence our mood and mindset well into the day.
I bolt awake, drenched in sweat. Rolling onto my back, I reach out and feel my husband still beside me. Sitting up, I take a deep breath. We're not divorced—thank goodness it was just a nightmare. After a sip of water, I try to drift back to sleep, but my mind races with dark thoughts. What does this dream mean? Is my husband itching to break free?
But really? What kind of wife lets her husband vacation with another woman, group trip or not? My tossing pulls him awake. "Honey, do you want to go skiing?" he mumbles sleepily, suggesting we save it for daylight.
Oh, we need to talk now.
"I dreamed you wanted to share a room with another woman on a ski trip." He chuckles. "Sounds like a fun idea." Before I can retort, he adds, "Sweetheart, I haven't skied in years. If I do, it'll be with you or the kids. Now go back to sleep."
Our dreams build on daily preoccupations, explains American psychiatry professor Milton Kramer in his book The Dream Experience. They help us process unresolved issues during sleep. How effectively we do this directly shapes our next-day mood, per Kramer—leaving us energized for a fresh start or dragging us down, tempted to burrow back under the covers.
It's not sleep duration but dream content—our actions and the people in them—that dictates whether we wake feeling positive or perturbed.
My young son bursts into the bedroom, chattering excitedly. "Mommy! Daddy's taking me to school—cool, right?" He peeks from the bathroom door. "Why do you look so down?"
"Mommy's not down; I just didn't sleep well."
"Why?" "I had a really weird dream." "A nightmare?" "You could say that." "Do dreams always come true, Mom?"
I want to say I hope not.
"Some dreams carry meaning and might hint at the future, but even Mom doesn't know for sure." Later, over an after-school snack, he jumps up. "Mom, I dreamed my room was full of hidden presents! Can I go look?"
—Ievy—
Shutterstock photo of woman on bed by Tatyana Chaiko
