New Twist on the Book Club: Dream Sharing

A recent story in the New York Times covered groups of people who got together to discuss their dreams — a book club for the subconscious, if you will. The people involved reported feeling more understanding of their dream experiences and of the subtext of those dreams. The more people shared their dreams, the more other people joined in the shared experience.

In the age of Facebook and Twitter, when we're sharing absolutely everything all the time, in snippets and in longer bits, this sort of Dream Club is probably not surprising. The line between personal and public gets blurred more and more with the further advent of social media. In a way, however, we're only just taking things to a new level, updating traditional practices with new technology and a new lens.

I can see how it could be quite refreshing to share a puzzling dream with other people who knew you. No one in the group has to be a psychologist, of course; in fact, psychologists would probably avoid such groups on the theory that they wouldn't really be getting away from their jobs but would, on the contrary, be looked at as the experts that they assuredly were. (Hold that thought for later.)

Having your friends and acquaintances discuss or otherwise interpret your dreams could be quite a thrilling experience, especially if someone who knows you can lay their finger on the meaning of the dream that your conscious mind couldn't quite come up with. The same could be true for you, in reverse, as you connect the dots for a friend in a way that he or she couldn't because they were too much in their own headspace.

The members of the group profiled in the New York Times story said that they refrained from sharing really intimate or potentially embarrassing dreams, especially if they involved other members of the group. The one thing that did come across, though, for many members of the group was an increase in their level of understanding of the events, people, fears, and hopes that featured prominently in the dreams of the people who shared those dreams with the group. Such shared understanding can certainly serve to increase bonds between people, as they come to understand not only what makes other people tick but also, potentially, how similar concerns can be found within their own dreamsphere.

But back to the professionals. Practicing psychologists obviously have training in dream interpretation. They have studied the issue and the symbols and the patterns and all manner of other elements of people's dreams. Psychologists get paid to do this sort of thing, and they might just resent nontrained people offering up their own opinions of what other people's dream events, patterns, and people are on about. But that really isn't the point of the group; rather, the people are sharing their experiences in the hope that they will learn more about themselves and the other people in the group. In a sense, it's one more way to get people together with shared experience. Not all dreams have to be interpreted. Not all dream-sharing groups have to get down into the detail of what means what and who means what. What is clear, though, is that these people are enjoying the discussions, and that can only be to the good.

So add dreamsphere to the blogosphere, the Facebooksphere, and the Twittersphere. And maybe try it yourself. Learn more about your friends, your acquaintances, your family by sharing what doesn't keep you up at night.