Understanding Dreams
By Bruce McKeithan
brucemckeithan@sbcglobal.net
November 6, 2026
In the past, people have thought of dreams as providing direction to their activities. Today different mental processes have come to the forefront. The following explains dreams as representing part of the process of awakening.
We must have sufficient energy to take care of ourselves, but the new energy released within the brain during sleep is initially not adequate to wake us up and do things. So, energy is moved into the brain’s central part, the limbic system, where it can be built up. Neuroscience explains this movement from the midbrain very well, particularly in terms of dopamine, a neurotransmitter. The limbic system stores this energy until it can hold no more and must release a large amount of energy. To prevent the released energy from harming us, the mind expands energy into the outer parts of the brain, producing consciousness.
We also try to counteract the increased energy within the limbic system. Because this energy can be disturbing, we engage in activities to expend it and repair any resulting damage. These short-term personal efforts conflict with the mind’s longer-term efforts to store energy. Since the stored energy is needed for external tasks, it takes priority, frustrating our personal efforts.
The movement into the limbic system is reflected by finding ourselves at a resort by a beach or in the mountains. We may be in another region of the country or just in another part of the city where we live. We try to return home where there is peace, but we cannot gather our belongings, our route out of the mountains is unclear, or we are unable to get an airplane flight. Our hotel may suddenly become much larger, with many hallways and elevators.
Sports provide good examples of undertaking activities to prevent or neutralize the effects of the new energy and being frustrated. For example, we may try to hit a golf ball into a cup, but there are too many trees, hills, or rocks in the way. In tennis, the court is too large to hit a ball satisfactorily, or a crowd of people may watch us lose a tennis match after winning a few points.
Other examples include getting lost while driving a car in heavy traffic and struggling with a problem at work or school. We may see two armies in combat at a distance or one ship colliding with another one at sea or an armored vehicle falling into another. A current concern or interest may also give us an idea of some activity. We may also witness efforts to achieve something within an organization.
At other times we want to restore a previously comfortable state that has since been damaged or harmed. For instance, we may recall a deceased parent who appears alive but ill. Other examples include a formerly compatible couple now getting a divorce, an old car that needs repair, a coal-burning furnace that needs fixing, or an overgrown garden in an old location. An unaffected old friend or someone else from long ago may also appear.
Sexual desire is of course another source of action, although its energy may be redirected or sublimated toward something else. Sex, like so many other things, is also an antidote to the effects of internal energy and allows us to sleep a little longer. The difficulty and frustration are still present though. As always happens, the need to expand energy and wake up arises and interrupts this activity too.
We see that the contained and stored energy takes the form of unmoving large objects or groups of objects or people. These forms necessarily interfere with and block our personal efforts. Various other examples of the large images are a closely packed crowd of people in an auditorium, stadium, bus, diner, or classroom. We may see a large body of water, multiple houses, a large building being built, rows of tables or desks, natural features like forests or hills, or many cars in a parking lot. A long line of people, a long wall, a long train of container cars, or a long list of items may occur as well.
Occasionally, we may prolong a dream, e.g. by hitting a golf ball up a steep hill and having it fall into the cup. We may repair an item, such as putting out a fire or fixing an overheated computer. A large dog that has died is replaced by a small dog.
While we may persist in our efforts, eventually some hostile action disrupts sleep. Police, military forces, or enemies may even threaten us or our group with death, or a large enemy army may destroy what a friend has built to support sleep.
Ultimately, the storage reaches its capacity to handle the incoming energy. Then the large images release their energy like a large waterfall spilling over a dam, a stream rushing down a mountain toward a town, water flowing rapidly through a culvert, or a flood. To avoid the disturbance from this, we accept a greater expansion of energy. This time the expansion is into the outer layers of the brain, the cortex, which wakes us up. Often though this threat waking us up is unrecognized.
Thus, dreams represent the bridge between the first part of waking up and full consciousness. They have various interpretations which may have merit, but the main reason for them is to reflect the latter part of the transition to awakening.
Consciousness then allows us to have life and do those things that help us survive and thrive. We can help others and admire others and things. We can exercise our abilities to carry out necessary tasks and take thoughtful actions.
Thanks to Dr. John P. Ralston, Professor of Physics at Kansas University, for helping me to understand some of these issues involved in writing this article. Thanks also to Nancy Hamilton at KU for her views.
Let me know if this theory is acceptable to you or if you have any criticism.
