Whether you dream about an ex, a family member, a friend, or even random strangers, it is normal to seek to understand these dreams. So grab a pen and paper, literally and figuratively, as we learn all about how to interpret dreaming about a man you know.
Dreaming of a man you know: What you need to know
How you feel when you wake up can tell you a lot about your dream. Our dreams can seem erratic and strange while being emotionally intense. The same study showed that this intensity of emotions, or dream characteristics, "reflects the brain's attempt to identify and evaluate new" emotional associations within the brain's cerebral cortex.
Every symbol or person or action in a dream or nightmare must be taken in context; it reflects something happening in your personal or professional life, your health, etc. Many dreams are metaphorical, ridiculous, or even absurd simply to get your attention.
In other words, if you dream of jumping off skyscrapers for example, it doesn't necessarily mean that you actually want to jump headfirst off those buildings. It can mean that you are anxious or excited to prepare for a big event in your life.
There is always the wonder of the connection between everyday life and dreams. Have you ever seen a person one day and dreamed of them that night? Studies tell us that it is not uncommon.
According to Freud, who believed in what he called "the theory of self-organization", which posits the idea that "...dreams are not independently functional but rather a co-product of the sleeping brain, reflecting the physiological and psychological activities of the dreamer such as memory consolidation, emotion regulation and reception of external stimuli.
Strong emotions in your day to day life or important events can transfer into your dreams creating intense sleep experiences, for example experiencing a traumatic car accident can lead to dreaming of the exact event or events similar. Waking life experiences can manifest in many ways, even if they are good.
Recording dreams can help in the process
Often our dreams have meaning, but we forget them too quickly after waking up. Keep a journal by your bedside to record your dreams right after you have them, while they are still fresh in your mind, before you start your morning. Keeping a dream journal can be a great way to learn more about yourself and learn how to nurture yourself.
It's time to go buy a new journal, a nice pen and clear some space on your bedside table. Even if you only remember snippets, writing it down is a perfect first step to understanding what your brain is going through.
Now let's talk about the three levels of dream interpretation: explicit, subjective and spiritual.
Explicit interpretation of dreams
Explicit interpretation involves being objective about the images in dreams and applying the meaning to the literal meaning of life. When you write down your dreams and try to understand them, be sure to act as if you are reading someone else's dreams.
Objectivity is important in all aspects of our life, but it is even more important when trying to understand a dream.
For example, if your school is the setting of your dream, the interpretation may involve examining your feelings or memories about that place. The true place is taken and interpreted keeping in mind the possible meanings of the symbols.
Subjective dream interpretation
One of psychology's most famous ancestors is Carl Jung. He believed that interpreting dreams on a subjective level helps to understand how your brain processes your emotions and experiences.
He believed that every part of you, be it mind, body, or spirit, worked together to work things out. Accordingly, Jung believed that dreams were your whole being processing the events of the day and how you felt about them.
Jung also believed in what he called "individuation" where dreams help develop your own personality. That doesn't mean you should assume that grocery shopping down an endless aisle directly reflects your personality. It's more like how you approach your overflowing cart or how you react to not being able to find that can of tomato soup.
This approach to dream analysis helps us understand the developments of our emotional energies, whether they are working within us consciously or unconsciously. Through these symbols we shift energies to create new pathways in the mind.
Spiritual interpretation of dreams
The last type of dream analysis techniques is spiritual dream interpretation. When themes appear in your dream, they connect you to the instinctual energies shared by all of humanity. This is often the time when people search the internet for answers about their personalized dreams.
Keep in mind, however, that interpretations, at any level, start at a very personal level. Your dream about elephants might mean something completely different to someone else, even if it was the exact same dream. To truly understand, we need to examine how these generalized symbols relate to our personal lives.
Dreaming of a man you know:: Meanings according to details
What does it mean to dream of an ex?
Dreaming about your ex is completely normal. In some cases, dreaming about an ex may be a way for your mind and body to revisit the past and work through emotions related to the breakup. This can happen because sometimes reviewing what went through your mind is more helpful than trying new activities or attending therapy sessions.
Our dreams can inspire processing that our waking mind is unable to do. So the next time you dream about your ex (because it will most likely happen again), don't wake up disgusted. Try to look at any associations or feelings experienced with this dream and understand what may remain unresolved for you personally.
dream of a colleague
Dreaming about exes, having fights with friends or being mad at your family may sound awful, but have you ever dreamed of arguing with a co-worker or being punished by your boss for missing a big deadline? Dreams related to work can often leave people panicked or worried.
Whenever these dreams occur, they might reveal feelings of being overwhelmed and in the trenches of work, stressed or unhappy with a boss. Does that mean you hate your boss or have to change jobs?
When we examine a conflict with someone in our dreams, we are really examining a potential conflict with ourselves. Feelings in dreams may represent how we feel about ourselves.
Dreaming of a co-worker or your boss in a negative environment may not mean you need to quit your job, but it might ask you to think about why you are feeling this negative emotion.
What is it about the work environment that evokes this negative feeling in you? Was there a specific workplace interaction that upset or annoyed you? Once the “why” of the feeling has been considered, then it is easier to see how that feeling fits into your current professional life.
Dreaming of a close man
If the dreamer has a conflict, it is easy to assume that he is directly related to the person in the dream. It could be a family member, a friend or even a random person. Sometimes, however, trying to make sense of the dream in direct relation to that person is not always the best path.
However, that "random" person appearing in your dream may represent more than you realize. They can represent different archetypes in your life.
It can be a tough pill to swallow when you consider that the other person is creating problems in the relationship or in your life. It is reasonable that these same representations also occur in our dreams. The comparison in our dreams may be easier for us to accept and reflect upon than in our daily life as it occurs.
Whatever the dream, there are a multitude of approaches to take to take a closer look at our dreams. Searching online for answers on how to approach the interpretation of these dreams can be helpful.
We should not, however, rely solely on what someone else has written about their dream and expect it to connect perfectly with our own experiences. Dreams provide an opportunity for introspection into situations or relationships that we had not considered before. Dreams are an opportunity to learn about ourselves and our relationship to the world.
