Hello everyone, I hope we are all doing well. Today I will be attempting to answer my first e-mailed question. This was an interesting question that I received from Mary. Mary asked:
"What does it mean when you are dreaming and the scene changes rapidly? Is this common and why does it happen?"
Well first of all I would like to say that this is very common. The reason I believe that our surroundings change so rapidly in dreams, is that while we are dreaming we do not hold a concious memory. Think about in waking life how quickly our brain processes thoughts. Hundreds of thoughts can whizz through our minds very briefly and then we forget about them. This is essentially what the brain is doing while we are asleep. Hundreds of ideas, thoughts and experiences from the day are rushing through our minds and being displayed in the dream. If they are not focused on, or if they are not a main part of the dream then they are quickly substituted with a new idea (scene or surrounding). This is why a scene in a dream may change, if we look away from it. The loss of focus on the scene, means it is quickly forgotten and replaced with whatever thought our brain is currently using.
Other complications that might cause scenes to change in dreams are what I call memory dominoes. When we have one memory in a dream, it tends to lead on to another one, (this is how a story is created in the dream). For example, if you had a memory of the circus you might see it, but when you look back it's changed to a dentist because later that day you had a tooth getting pulled. ( I know that's a crude example but just to give you an idea).
(On a side note, looking at a scene twice is a technique often used by lucid dreamers. Such as looking at the time, looking away, and looking back at the time to see it change. If you want to know more about lucid dreaming check out my page on the blog).
Ok, so here comes an end to my incessive rambling. Hopefully my insight into this good question will be a benefitial read to everyone. Please do leave comments and emails if you have any questions or any good information you can tell me regarding this question by Mary. Until next time.
Dream Genie
What an interesting and insightful answer. This makes so much sense to me and I really appreciate your prompt answer. You are awfully good at understanding the foundation of dreaming. Again I really appreciate your wealth of knowledge and making the answer so clear and easy to understand!
ReplyDeleteWarm Regards,
Mary
Could it be that since we only process dreams during REM (and possibly some during stage N3), and since we cycle in and out of REM, we are piecing together random dreams while we are unaware of the down time between each REM episode; much like how you would edit film so that only what makes the final cut is seen?
ReplyDeleteThanks for your answer now I know why my dreams keeps changing scene
ReplyDelete