WASHINGTON — What did that dream mean?
At some point in their lives, most people wonder about the meaning of dreams, and try to understand why specific thoughts entered their subconscious mind.
Now, some are sharing their most private thoughts with the whole world.
DreamSphere is a new mobile app that helps people record and share their dreams, research their dream symbols and meanings.
“It also has a real-time trending global dream map, where they can see from where are what others are dreaming about, around the world,” says Dana Sciandra, director of marketing and communications for the Reston, Virginia-based DreamsCloud.
The average person has over 100,000 dreams in their lifetime, according to Sciandra.
“Dreams are always communicating with you,” says Sciandra. “Although they seem very random, if you start to pay attention to the symbols, they are indicative of different emotions.”
While some dismiss dreams as random brain impulses, Sciandra points to well-known dreamers.
“Larry Page says the idea of Google came to him in a dream. Einstein mentioned the beginnings of the theory of relativity came to him in a dream. Mary Shelley thought of Frankenstein in a dream.”
How DreamSphere works
Most people forget their dreams when they wake up.
Sciandra says the free iOS app — an Android app is in the works — makes it easier to analyze the dream by recording details while they are still fresh.
“They can grab the phone from their night stand, quickly go to Log A Dream, and there’s a voice record option,” says Sciandra. “We’ll actually transcribe the dream for them after the recording, so they’d want to mention they were being chased through the woods by somebody who they were unable to identify.”
When the dreamer is more awake, he or she can tweak the transcription, and sync it with their dreamscloud.com account, adding searchable keywords to the DreamsCloud community.
“So if it was their teeth falling out, they were flying, or there was an elephant — even a pink elephant — they can search by color, and they can assign those keywords, as well as look into the definitions of those individual keywords,” says Sciandra.
Over time, the dreams entered in the mobile journal may help the user understand their dreams.
“We have a metrics and insight tool, that starts to paint a clearer picture of maybe this was an anxiety-based dream, if it was about family or friends, or if the dreamer takes a central role in their own dreams or are more of a supporting character,” says Sciandra.
While many people are content to discuss dreams with a friend, others prefer a second opinion.
“They can put a request in through the DreamSphere app for one of our professional Dream Reflectors, to reflect on their dream and give them insight,” says Sciandra.
“They don’t interpret their dream — only the dreamer can do that — we use something called projective dream therapy, in which our dream reflectors say ‘if this were my dream’ and they draw from their experience,” says Sciandra.
Why would someone want to share their intimate thoughts with strangers?
“I think there’s kind of a stigma with dreams,” says Sciandra. “Dreams have always been considered very private, but with the advent of social media, certain age groups are very accustomed to sharing just about anything, from what they’re eating to what they’re dreaming about.”
