So here we go: since I’m reading Freud’s “Interpretation of Dreams,” I’ve decided to take several dreams I’ve had over the past few days (ones that I had written down the morning after) and analyze them using Freud’s methods. I must say, a lot was explained:

Dream #1: “I was dreaming of the way I think—that is, I was looking at something which resembled ideas and thoughts crisscrossing and passing through a synapse in my brain…the words (intelligible) were colored various neon—yellow, pink, blue, green—and were swiftly shooting across the black synapse on dotted tracks. Then I thought of the phrase “orchestrated chaos” in response to how the mind works, and then went on to try to justify (or fail to justify) this idea. I went on to think that if one uses the concept of an orchestra, one must assume that there is a conductor present—a god figure. I do not believe this is so, but I could not, in the dream, think of another concept/idea to define the way the mind works.”

According to Freud, the material for dreams arises solely from experiences of the day prior. In other words, no matter what is in your dream, it has come from something you thought about/experienced/were reminded of the day before.

“passing through a synapse in my brain”
This probably comes from a discussion I had with Nick over MSN Messenger regarding his psychology 101 homework—the reading involving how the brain sends messages from one neuron to the next. Of course, we’d had this discussion a few weeks ago. However, I was looking through my conversation history last night before I went to bed, and I came across this conversation. Boom! Explanation.

“I thought of the phrase ‘orchestrated chaos'”
I think this leads back to my on psychology class. On the day before spring break, we watched a video on personality and how it develops over ones lifetime. The video used the analogy of an orchestra, showing at different stages a child conductor, a teen conductor, and an adult conductor. I remember thinking at the time the phrase “orchestrated chaos” as the phrase to explain early personality. Yesterday in band, as we were playing, the phrase came to me again. And that’s what reminded me of it.

“a god figure.”
This one’s simple: discussions today in Core about the origin of the world and the presence (or lack thereof) of a god.

Dream #2: “I was upstairs in my parent’s house, and I remember feeling like I was going out of my mind. I was throwing all these papers around and was flipping all these tables over. I was screaming at my mom, all the while thinking, ‘it doesn’t matter what I do—I’m insane!’ Eventually, I ran upstairs and hid under the bathtub. I was afraid that I had scared my kitten, Annabelle.”

“and was flipping all these tables over”
This is probably the most interesting link. I had to think about it for a little while to figure out where this came from. Then it hit me: The Simpsons. That night I was watching The Simpsons on TV and it was the episode in which the family is put on a reality TV show. Anyway, near the end, the abandoned Simpsons and other castaway reality TV stars rebelled against the cameramen, destroying their campsite and flipping over tables. I found it very strange that I dreamt about this.

“and hid under the bathtub. I was afraid that I had scared my kitten, Annabelle.”
This is another easy link. Last weekend I was at home and I accidentally knocked over a bunch of crap that I’d had stacked up in the closet. This scared Annabelle, who ran upstairs. I went up to look for her, and finally found her under the bathtub. On the day I had this dream, I had knocked some stuff off of my bed at my dorm. This reminded me of Annabelle, and I was glad she wasn’t there to get scared.