A Dream Is a Wish Your Heart Makes
I’ve always been a big dreamer. I find a new hobby and start thinking about three new business ideas I could create out of it. I start a book, and suddenly the thoughts and feelings of the main character begin shaping my perception, living a life vastly different from my own. I meet someone, and one week later, I’m imagining us falling in love and living a wild and adventurous life.
What can I say; I’m ambitious. Or problematic. Anyway.
Dreams, at least those cloaking a desire, craving, or ambition, have a lot to share about who we are. But these types of dreams: what are they, really? A hidden longing? Or an unmet need?
What Psychology Says About Dreams
Dreams—whether they happen at night or during a dull afternoon at the office —offer a window into our subconscious. Sigmund Freud, the father of psychoanalysis, believed that dreams were the royal road to the unconscious. He argued that dreams reflect repressed desires and unresolved conflicts, often cloaked in symbolic imagery. In Freud’s view, even the wildest, most nonsensical dreams have meaning—they’re just encoded in a language we don’t consciously speak.
Well, that seems a bit inaccessible, but that’s what psychoanalysis is for.
Fast forward to Carl Jung, who took a slightly different approach. Jung saw dreams as messages from the psyche—offering guidance, self-discovery, and balance. He believed that dreams often reveal what we’re missing in our waking lives, nudging us toward growth and wholeness. So, when I imagine a life I’m not currently living, Jung might say my dreams are less about escaping reality and more about trying to expand it.
Modern psychology adds another layer. Research shows that daydreaming—letting our minds wander—can boost creativity, problem-solving, and even emotional regulation. Psychologists call this constructive internal reflection, and it’s linked to greater psychological flexibility. In other words, your wild imaginings might not be as unproductive as they seem. Dreaming about a better future could be your brain’s way of rehearsing how to make it happen.
A study published in Psychological Science found that engaging in simple external tasks that allow the mind to wander can facilitate creative problem-solving. Participants who took breaks with an undemanding task showed a 41% improvement in creative problem-solving tasks, compared to those who rested without such a task. This suggests that daydreaming during low-key activities can enhance creativity.
Additionally, research indicates that daydreaming is closely linked to the brain’s default mode network (DMN), a set of interconnected regions that become active when the mind is at rest and not focused on the outside world. This network is associated with functions such as self-referential thinking and future planning, highlighting the role of daydreaming in cognitive processes.
In essence, allowing your mind to drift isn't just a mental escape; it's a cognitive strategy that fosters creativity and problem-solving, preparing you to turn your dreams into reality.
*It’s important to note here that I have just spent the past five months studying how dreaming without clearly acknowledging reality or creating a plan to overcome it leads to depressive symptoms when continually indulging in the dream without action. But this is another post to come.
What Philosophers Have to Say About Dreams
Philosophers, of course, couldn’t resist the allure of dreams. René Descartes famously questioned reality through the lens of dreams, wondering: What if all of life is just an elaborate dream? His musings challenge us to consider the boundary between perception and reality. If dreams can feel so vivid and real, what separates them from waking life?
Then there’s Friedrich Nietzsche, who viewed dreams as a creative act of the mind. For Nietzsche, dreams allow us to experience and process emotions, ideas, and experiences we can’t fully grasp in waking life. He saw dreaming as a reminder of the chaos and creativity that live inside us—an untamed space where our innermost selves come out to play.
And finally, Simone de Beauvoir believed dreams could illuminate our freedom. For Beauvoir, dreams don’t bind us to reality—they offer a realm where we can imagine, experiment, and explore what could be. Dreams challenge the rigidity of our waking constraints and invite us to live more expansively.
Dreams: Longings or Needs?
When we peel back the layers, dreams—whether aspirations or night visions—often reflect what’s missing. Maybe you dream of adventure because your routine feels stagnant. Maybe you imagine love stories because you crave connection. Or maybe you dream of success because you’re striving to prove something to yourself—or someone else.
In this way, dreams can act as both mirrors and maps. They reflect our current emotional state while offering clues about where we want to go.
But not all dreams need to be chased. Sometimes, they’re just a safe space for exploration—a playground where we can try new identities, ideas, and possibilities without the risk of failure. This maps especially well onto the erotic realm where fantasies and desires do not necessarily equate with scenarios one wants to experience in reality.
Living With Dreams
The beauty of dreaming is that it invites us to step outside the limits of what we believe is possible. Dreams let us test out different versions of ourselves, expand the boundaries of our imaginations, and connect with our deepest desires. But there’s a balance to strike. Dreaming without action is escapism; action without dreaming can feel hollow.
So, dream big. Get feral. And don’t forget to wake up and engage with the world.
