Are Dreams Connected to Reality?

How are your dreams connected to your real life? Dreams can predict your future with signs from the universe. At least that’s what some people think.

Sure, you could believe that your dreams are your brain’s way of telling you what’s going to happen. Your brain’s subconscious wants and needs may be completely different from what you know you want or need at the moment. But is it possible for your subconsciousness to literally predict what your life has next to come? Maybe for you it has or maybe, it was nothing but a coincidence.

Scientifically speaking, the brain has dreams to help allow oneself to work through conscious experiences, even while you sleep. According to NBC News, the brain’s neurological patterns used while dreaming, are applied as well while awake when recounting past memories or imagining a scenario in the future.

What if I told you that dreams could have an influence on your future decisions? As reported by Rassin et al. in a 2001 study, he demonstrated that dreams are more likely to have an influence on your reality, if they are realistic, probable or likely to happen, and have more negative effects, rather than positive influence.

But what about crazy dreams with flying dragons and singing gummy bears you ask? Dreams where giant snails rule the world and your favorite sci-fi movie character is your best friend may actually have a neurological and psychological connection as well.

Robert Stickgold, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School’s Center for Sleep and Cognition, explains that brains can build better, wackier, stories while sleeping rather than awake.

Izzy Prescott, a junior at John H. Pitman High School states that when they dream, they do in fact relate it to their personal life and experiences. When asked how they perceive their dreams, with literal meaning or just as a story your brain is telling them they responded, “When I remember my dreams, I always end up experiencing them and getting déjà vu. I don’t think our brains ever make up random stuff, dreams definitely have meaning or something behind it.”

Another student, Maylene Blevins, another junior at Pitman High stated, “I perceive scary dreams with at least a hint of some literal meaning, and typically relate [dreams] to reality,” when asked the same question.

For thousands of years, dreams have been associated with signs, symbols, predictions, or omens, good and bad. However, there’s no proof that dreams can actually predict your future or something life is ready to throw at you. What do you think?