How seriously...

...do you take your dreams? Do you believe that some dreams are a direct reflection of what's going on in your life or what's to come? Or, do you believe that dreams are random, with no meaning or symbolism behind them at all?

I strongly believe that dreams are a influential indicator of what is going on in my life. I dream, or I should say remember my dreams constantly. It's not often that I have a dream that doesn't have some huge, symbolic meaning. I can honestly tell you that my dreams are one major way of my determining how I feel in my waking life. Dreams that involve teeth, cats, and rape (not all at once mind you) are in most cases directly related to how I am feeling (powerless, violated, anxious etc). Dreams that involve clear, calm water, dolphins, and deer (again, not all at once) mean that I am feeling, in touch with my spiritual self, peaceful and calm. Of course, some dreams are directly related to specific real life situations (for example last night, when I had a dream that involved my sister reeling in pain, rolling around on the floor, after hearing that in real life, she had just spent the day in the ER with what appears to be gallbladder issues).

Lately, my dreams have been very conflicting, not the dreams themselves but conflicting with each other. A few weeks ago, I had a dream that I was raped. While I didn't actually see it happen, it was clear in my dream that it had. I woke up crying, unsure of why at first, and then the dream slowly came back. The next night I had a dream I was swimming in clear and calm water with dolphins. A few nights later, I had a dream that my teeth were crumbling and falling from my mouth. Not too long after that, I had a dream that I was in the woods, watching a deer eat. I have become so good at analyzing my own dreams that I almost don't even need to look them up any more. Alarming as the recent dreams may seem to some, for me, it actually couldn't have been any more connected to my waking life, and really, rather than being alarming, they have been more "realization-like" then anything.

Anyway, how do you feel about dreams?