Dreams, Human Nature, and Revelations

     Last night while I was asleep, I drew back my curtains and saw the planet Saturn drifting by. I had a certainty that someone was about to bomb the Grand Canyon. Oh, and it was doomsday.

      I used to think dreams possessed some kind of meaning—they predicted the future, or they were a reflection of your subconscious desires. But if all that is true, then what was my most recent dream trying to tell me? I’m going to be an astronaut? I want to go to the Grand Canyon, but someone will try to stop me from doing so? Science never was my strong point, and I’m not exactly yearning to see a huge hole in the middle of the desert.

      So I’ve come to realize that people overanalyze their dreams. When you’re asleep, you don’t become a psychic, and your secret, innermost longings aren’t going to reveal themselves to you. Dreams are just random thoughts that float around in our subconscious minds—something we saw or thought about that day comes back to us in a different form. Nevertheless, it’s easy to hope you were given some kind of sign in your sleep—a bit of guidance to put you on the right path, or a hint about events to come.

      And it’s the same for most situations in life. People scrutinize the most trivial matters, hoping to realize something they didn’t notice before. It becomes much easier when you take things as they come, without the endless questioning and investigation. Life isn’t about trying to know things beforehand. It’s about surprises and making mistakes so you can learn more about yourself through them.