I dream every single night. But unless I make an effort to take mental, conscious notes as I am waking and beginning to stir, they tend to disappear. Unless the dream images are provoking and cause me to wake up immediately, the dream tends to drift away as I begin my day.
Often I remember bits and pieces later on when something in my waking life triggers a dream scene, causing it to come back to the surface. A conversation or being distracted in a mindless task is good for that. I love when that happens. I'll see a spider, and bam, suddenly I remember I dreamt about a spider last night! (did that two days ago). At that point, I will usually pause, pull the memory back into focus and examine the scene. The memories are still there, they don't go away, they've been recorded and filed. It's just the access to them that is a challenge. We don't know how to get back to them as the path is foggy, and we don't know where they are filed. Those little memory joggers are great helps to get us there.
Remembering is a skill that takes practice, and it doesn't work all the time for me, either. It takes real diligence, and like many of us, life's distractions often get in the way of that diligence. I figure the dreams I remember are the ones I need to remember. Those are the ones I turn over like a mulch pile. They turn into fertilizer for my life.
Often I remember bits and pieces later on when something in my waking life triggers a dream scene, causing it to come back to the surface. A conversation or being distracted in a mindless task is good for that. I love when that happens. I'll see a spider, and bam, suddenly I remember I dreamt about a spider last night! (did that two days ago). At that point, I will usually pause, pull the memory back into focus and examine the scene. The memories are still there, they don't go away, they've been recorded and filed. It's just the access to them that is a challenge. We don't know how to get back to them as the path is foggy, and we don't know where they are filed. Those little memory joggers are great helps to get us there.
Remembering is a skill that takes practice, and it doesn't work all the time for me, either. It takes real diligence, and like many of us, life's distractions often get in the way of that diligence. I figure the dreams I remember are the ones I need to remember. Those are the ones I turn over like a mulch pile. They turn into fertilizer for my life.