Dreams, Writing and Creativity

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“Without leaps of imagination or dreaming, we lose the excitement of possibilities. Dreaming, after all, is a form of planning.” – Gloria Steinhem

I had a friend who once told me that when his wife woke up from dreams in which he was behaving badly, he’d pay for it all day. He didn’t actually have to be dismissive or philandering – because on those days, she’d treat him as if he already done it.

I can attest to the lingering effect of dreams. Even if I don’t remember exactly what happened, I can awaken powerfully emboldened or ambiguously scared. So I love this podcast episode in which Vicki Atkinson and I are talking with author, blogger, and former newspaper writer, Melanie McGauran about decoding our dreams. We love our conversations with Melanie – she is so engaging and insightful.

This is such a fascinating episode. The interior of our minds is an interesting, and sometimes scary, place. But it is so fun how Melanie brings her love of mysteries to this practice of sifting through the clues.

Melanie talks about her fascination with dreams and how she both remembers hers and extends them. It’s a wonderful practice to not only appreciate the dreamscape but also focus the mind in the middle of the night.

She introduces us to the work of Matthew Walker, author of Why We Sleep: Unlocking the Power of Sleep and Dreams and his insight that in dreaming, we access our memory tree but without the guardrails of logic.

Melanie combines that memory mixology with her unstoppable creativity, joy and problem-solving to decode dreams.

This episode is such a fun take on dreaming, writing and creativity. We love Melanie’s passion and interest and get to see that in action as she helps us make stories from our dreams.

I’m confident you’ll love the scenic and beautiful places we explore as we share the power of storytelling – in podcasts, in conversation, and in dreams.

We know you’ll love it!

Search (and subscribe!) for Sharing the Heart of the Matter on Apple, Amazon, Spotify or Pocket Casts OR Listen to it from your computer on Anchor: Episode 94: Decoding Our Dreams with Melanie McGauran

Episode 94 transcript

AND subscribe to our YouTube channel to see a video clip of each story: @SharingtheHeartoftheMatter.

Links for this episode:

Late and Lost by Vicki Atkinson

Melanie’s blog: https://leavingthedooropen.com/

“Why We Sleep” – Matthew Walker, Ph.D

From the hosts:

Vicki’s book about resilience and love: Surviving Sue; Blog: https://victoriaponders.com/

My book about my beloved father: Finding My Father’s Faith

(featured photo from Pexels)

32 thoughts on “Dreams, Writing and Creativity”

    1. I totally agree — there is a connection. One of the things that Melanie said that clicked for me is describing dreaming as working with our memories without the guardrails of logic. Isn’t that pure creativity?

      Liked by 2 people

  5. Ooh, looking forward this one! I went down the lucid dreaming rabbit hole as a teen, and there is so much creativity and power available to tap until when we can harness the power of dreams.

    Liked by 2 people

  6. This sounds fascinating. Yes, if I had a dream where my husband was acting badly, I’d unintentionally take it out on him. He’d ask, “How come I never get to be the hero in your dreams?”

    Liked by 2 people

  8. Melanie is one of my favorite bloggers because she writes about interesting topics. I watched the first half of the dream discussion and already left a comment. I’ll try to come back later.

    Liked by 2 people

  10. Dreams are so powerful. Some have changed my life, while others subtly impact my mood and actions on a given day. I used to keep a dream journal in the US. Perhaps I’ll start one in Portugal.
    Wishing you, Miss O, and Mr. D a happy Thanksgiving, Wynne ❤️

    Liked by 1 person

  12. Great episode and loved hearing Melonie and the dialogue you did. I’ve had some doozies lately and now I can’t remember them other than 2 dogs chasing me. hmmmm I’ll be keeping my de-coding hat on. What fun you had together! Bravo!!🙌🏽👏💗

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  13. Oh man, poor friend of yours! I can see how dreams, especially vivid ones, can feel so real. I also infer hidden meanings and signs in them, such as visits from dearly departed loved ones.

    I loved the conversation with Melanie. So fun, bubbly and insightful. Love the concept of mixology and I see how it is useful, especially when it helps with problem solving things that are stressing me out in real life.

    I’ll have to pick up the book Why We Sleep. Such an important part of our daily lives!

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