Dreaming of Dreams: A Reflection of Knowledge and Wisdom
Dreams are a manifestation of knowledge and wisdom; knowledge and wisdom are the guarantees of mental health.
We have come to understand the language of dreams and entered the world of dreams, where we have discovered many interesting things. If we only want to be tourists in this world, we should be quite satisfied. We can travel to any place we can imagine without spending a single penny on travel expenses.
However, humans are always greedy. We are all human, and we cannot help but be greedy even in our dreams. We hope that our understanding of dreams can bring us even more.
In fact, dreams can indeed offer us more. Dreams are our wise teachers and friends; understanding them can enhance our mental health, improve our psychological resilience, and even change our lives for the better.
Why can understanding dreams promote mental health? Because dreams are the product of the "primitive" part of our inner selves. This "primitive" aspect is the more instinctual part of our psychological structure, which constantly receives external information, analyzes various situations, and conveys its "thoughts" through dreams. For the following reasons, its "thoughts" are very valuable to us:
First, at the conscious level, the way we think about problems is abstract and generalized. Similarly, our observation of things at the conscious level is selective. For example, when we listen to someone speak, our main focus is on the content of what they are saying. We might notice their tone of voice, but that’s about it. At the subconscious level, however, that "primitive" part acts like a well-functioning camera that records every word spoken, along with the tone and every subtle movement, analyzing them in detail. Thus, any slight abnormality in the other person's actions will catch the attention of the "primitive" self.
In other words, the "primitive" self observes people and events in a much more detailed and comprehensive manner than our conscious selves. Therefore, it may discover things we have overlooked.
Furthermore, at the conscious level, we often deceive ourselves. Humans, with language and thought, are much smarter than animals, but it is precisely because of these abilities that we can also engage in self-deception. Lu Xun once expressed a similar sentiment: lions, tigers, and wolves eat humans without first justifying their actions. But humans are different; they may harm others while pretending to uphold principles and justice, rationalizing their actions. There are countless instances of self-deception: someone may dislike their father but convince themselves that they must be nice to him because of a sense of responsibility or filial piety due to the inheritance involved; someone may have ulterior motives towards a girl but tell themselves they are just friends discussing ideals; someone may sense their wealthy husband is cheating but, fearing the truth will lead to abandonment and loss of material comfort, convince themselves that he is simply busy with work. However, the "primitive" self confronts reality more directly and knows what the truth is. Therefore, it can reveal many truths to us, encouraging us to face reality rather than evade it, allowing us to solve problems rationally.
Additionally, the "primitive" self is closer to our instincts and knows what we truly need. Due to self-deception and various societal influences, people often lose sight of what they genuinely desire, blindly pursuing what everyone else is after, unable to see their true inner longings. The "primitive" self, however, does not fall into this trap, or at least is less likely to make such mistakes.
Understanding dreams can be likened to diving into the depths of the ocean, plunging beneath the surface to explore the depths of our inner selves, reaching that mysterious unknown world, and emerging with pearls—these pearls represent knowledge and wisdom.
Why can this knowledge and wisdom promote mental health? Because many psychological issues stem from self-deception and a lack of understanding of our inner selves. For example:
A girl, as if possessed, repeatedly "falls in love" with married men. In her mind, she believes it is all for love, merely "coincidentally" falling for men who are already married. Later, through psychological analysis, it is revealed that this "possession" began after her first love failed—her boyfriend was taken by another woman. In reality, her subsequent relationships were not genuine love; they were merely attempts to validate her ability to win a man from another woman. At the same time, she symbolically seeks revenge, viewing each unfamiliar woman as the embodiment of the rival who took her first love, attempting to reclaim men from them as a form of retribution. Moreover, she sees married men as symbols of her first love, wanting to reclaim what she lost. Of course, this symbolic revenge and reclamation are not real; the strangers she harms are not her past rivals, and the married men are not her first love. Such substitute actions cannot bring her true satisfaction. If she understood her inner self, she might abandon the trivial pursuit of "seducing married men" and seek genuine love instead.
Similarly, a young man struggles to get along with his boss. His boss is not a bad person, though somewhat authoritarian, but not excessively so. He himself is well-liked. Why can’t he get along with his boss? It turns out he has a poor relationship with his father, and his boss resembles his father in both appearance and personality, leading him to project his dissatisfaction with his father onto his boss. If he realizes this, he can separate his feelings about his father from his relationship with his boss, alleviating his severe bias against the latter.
Additionally, a girl is perpetually melancholic, yet she does not understand why. She lacks motivation for anything, feels worthless, has no appetite, and suffers from insomnia. If she were to discover the reason for her melancholy, she would have the opportunity to overcome it and regain her vitality and happiness. Analyzing her dreams reveals recurring themes of being stripped of clothing, losing teeth, and being skinned, indicating that her boss often undermines her self-esteem through jokes. Although she believes she is indifferent during the day, she is actually very fearful. Once she understands the source of her low mood, she resolves to change jobs, and her melancholy noticeably improves.