Weaving in and out of dreams

Remember when you were a student and sitting in the examination hall writing the answers, searching your brain for correct answers?

And then from nowhere comes a second thought, filled with doubts wondering whether the other option could be the right one.

Do you still wake up from dreams where you were writing an exam?

The latest dream was about the exam on a subject that was quite theoretical, and was trying to breakthrough the mental block to be able to write down the answer.

In this dream, the thoughts were about how well prepared I was for the previous exam with this particular topic and for the current examination I had skipped it while studying. Here it was in the exam. The strange factor is that the question paper was clearly visible in the dream.

So can you imagine how active the brain was during that time?

The brain was going through a dream state, reading and analyzing the question, trying to recollect, regretting for not studying well, and wishing there could also be another question as an option.

That’s a lot of thoughts to deal with when you are supposed to be sleeping.

So the theme of the dream was about being unprepared. In a way exams symbolise life’s challenges. And why does these dreams recur?

I would like to think the subconscious mind must be prompting us to look at life differently and be prepared for the unexpected.

So many times we avoid certain issues just because they do not interest us. The result is we do not gain knowledge in the area, which makes us depend on others. But is it possible to learn about everything?

The experts say that dreams of unprepared exams also indicate a sense of anxiety that is on the mind. And does our body react to all this stress just as it would to the real stress?

I had to wake up and remind myself that I was in a dream and in reality I was not in a classroom or answering questions. So where did the information on the question paper that was in the dream come from? Just a memory?

There are few lessons learnt - dreams can reveal a lot. But you also have to learn to pop out of them because some dreams can leave lasting impressions almost attaining the intensity of real incidents. And as for studying for exams, I think one of the best techniques would be to talk the matter out. We can do that by talking about it to others. We see new stories on news everyday. Why is it fresh in the mind? Because maybe the visual impact on the learning process. But what interests us captures our attention. And when we repeat the story to others, we reinforce it. Explain the subject to someone and you begin to be the narrator and source soon. The more you think and talk about it, further you begin to master the topic.

So now the dreams throw at you riddles to solve. All one has to do is pick the cues. Then there are dreams that you just cannot remember.

During other times, we have no clue who are the people in our dreams.

Dream analysts also say that these individuals could represent our own aspects. When we fine tune our dreams it can be quite interesting but like everything else in life we cannot go overboard.

Spend a day without sleep and you will realise how different the world looks - our responses differ and we are impatient with everything. So can you imagine what could be happening to us when we try to sit up and study late nights. There is a reason why sun sets in the evening.

Before we discovered electricity, our body used to know to turn off too, but now we can make use of electricity to brighten our evenings to push further with the information. So there is no time even to reflect on what has been read, leaned, heard or seen.

Retention of information is what we are looking for activity and it need not be just for scoring marks in examinations. It is for a person to have an authority over a subject, and that means to show your expertise. This is especially needed in public speaking. The more you know about a subject, more convincing is your presentation.

What captures attention are stories.

Story telling is a skill and not everyone has it. One can learn to be a story teller, but the listener has the liberty to decide whether you are good story teller or not.

If the content has to be good, equally important are the narration as well as the style of narration. The flow is important and the speed as well as the pitch. One might take the next aspect for granted and there is the energy level.

Clarity of thought we know is essential, which could be one of the reasons why experts say stop multitasking if you want to retain your information. For very simple reason - attention is divided.

Memorization after all was one of the best ways that was applied in the ancient days and this is how they maintained records of stories and poetry. Some languages did not have scripts and others were left in inscription on wall and tablets. Bit there verses that still live today because they are passed it on from generation to generation.

So memory is an integral part of us, unless someone loses connection with it. Memory gives us connectivity. It gives us meaning to life.

And that makes us think about the people who are lost between pockets of memories. Not knowing their loved ones when they see them.

Brain is a mystery, yet it is an organ that provides us with feelings, emotions. Intelligence, and not to forget dreams.