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What are waking life dreams about?

Waking life is simply another state of existence. It is defined by the solidity of experience that is often shared with other beings. Sleep is another state of existence. Dreams are again another state. This symbol is identified by words like waking life, real life, everyday reality, etc.

Waking life in dreams is a common dream symbol, occuring in about 8.4% of dreams. That's about 1 out of every 10 dreams.

What are the major highlights of waking life dreams?

Waking life is a very interconnected dream symbol. Having waking life in a dream substantially changes the nature of the dream.

How does the dream symbol of waking life affect the different aspects of a dream?

Explore different elements related to dreams of waking life

Who is in waking life dreams?

Overall, dreams with waking life are less related to characters in dreams. Specifically, dreams of waking life are more related to close people, more related to family, and much more related to romantic partners than dreams in general. They are less related to animals, less related to insects, and less related to different roles.

Animals

less than usual

Insects

less than usual

Different roles

less than usual

Fantastic beings

less than usual

Distant people

the same as usual

Close people

more than usual

Family

more than usual

Romantic partners

much more than usual
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What are the emotions in waking life dreams?

Overall, dreams with waking life are more related to emotions in dreams. Specifically, dreams of waking life are more related to happiness, more related to sadness, and more related to grief and sorrow than dreams in general.

Happiness

more than usual

Sadness

more than usual

Grief and sorrow

more than usual

Embarrassment

more than usual

Confusion

the same as usual

Fear

the same as usual

Pain

the same as usual

Hatred

the same as usual

Fun

the same as usual

Love

more than usual
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Who is in waking life dreams?

Overall, dreams with waking life are less related to places in dreams. Specifically, dreams of waking life are more related to work than dreams in general. They are less related to human places, less related to transportation, and less related to natural places.

Home

the same as usual

Work

more than usual

Human places

less than usual

Transportation

less than usual

Natural places

less than usual

Magical places

less than usual
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What happens in waking life dreams?

Overall, dreams with waking life are much more related to events in dreams. Specifically, dreams of waking life are more related to sex than dreams in general. They are less related to aggressive interactions, less related to friendly interactions, and less related to disasters.

Aggressive interactions

less than usual

Friendly interactions

less than usual

Sex

more than usual

Disasters

less than usual
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How do waking life in dreams related to other dream phenomenon?

Overall, dreams with waking life are much more related to dream events in dreams. Specifically, dreams of waking life are more related to lucid dreams, more related to sleep paralysis, and more related to sleeping than dreams in general. They are less related to waking life.

Lucid dreams

more than usual

Nightmares

the same as usual

Recurring dreams

the same as usual

Recurring nightmares

the same as usual

Sleep paralysis

more than usual

Sleeping

more than usual

Waking life

much more than usual
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How do waking life in dreams related the senses?

Overall, dreams with waking life are aren't really related to senses in dreams. Specifically, dreams of waking life are less related to hearing, less related to smelling, and less related to vision.

Hearing

less than usual

Smelling

less than usual

Taste

the same as usual

Vision

less than usual

Touch

less than usual
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How can you make sense of waking life in dreams?

Waking life dreams are common. Among other things waking life dreams are very postively interconnected.

Do you think this is true for your dream of waking life? How might your dream of waking life be different?

All dreams have meaning

You can gain insight from thinking about any dream, no matter how strange. Only you, as the dreamer, have final say on what your dream may or may not mean. Each dream is unique.

Look for the differences

The DreamWell dictionary provides information on how each dream symbol appears in dreams in general. Finding how experience waking life in dreams can be a key to understanding its meaning.

Return to the feelings

Our emotions in dreams can help us understand its meaning. Pay attention to how you felt in the dream. Pay attention to how you feel about waking life in dreams. See how you feel about waking life now, in your waking life.

Examples of dreams of waking life

Read some real dream reports of waking life dreams.. These real life dream reports come from the moderated dream sharing communities of Reddit including r/Dreams, r/Nightmares, r/DreamInterpretation, or r/thisdreamihad. Please note that some of these may contain graphic, sexual, or violent images and text. Use the source link for each dream to view and join the discussion of each one.

Dreamt I had sex with Barack Obama last night. Michelle is a lucky woman.

Not that I have a real life crush on him or anything, I have no idea why I had the dream. It was just classic doggie style but it felt...magical.

Not that I have a real life crush on him or anything, I have no idea why I had the dream. It was just classic doggie style but it felt...magical.

Source | Show dream

I Had a Nightmare That Has Messed Me Up for Days Now. I Think I Went to a Multiversal Death Hub.

Hello all!
About 2 weeks ago I had a very existential lucid nightmare that I can’t get out of my head. It’s to the point where it has been effecting my waking life. I need some outside help making sense of what it could mean.

For context, I have existential issues involving what my purpose in life is or even if I am supposed to exist at all.

So it began in a sort of black void with a warm colored aurora in the sky. Directly in front of me there is a hooded man with his left eye missing that looks like an older grizzled version of me. Same look, voice, eye color, scar on our upper lip, everything. He is looking into a circular stone fountain looking thing with a bonfire positioned on a raised platform in the middle.

Around him in every direction as far as I could see were hundreds of thousands of gravestones. All of them had a vague “endings” written on them. (For example, “The Swiss Ending”, “The Atomic Ending”, “The Fantastical Ending”, etc.) Some were filled in while most had empty holes in front of them.

I approached the man in the middle and politely asked who he is and where I was. He simply responded with this,
“You know where we are, this is where we all go to die. Now find your grave, I’ll help you out when you get there.”
I responded with,
“My apologies, pal, I’m not dead yet. Who did you say you were again?”
“Does it matter? We’re all the same here anyway.”
That is when it occurred to me. All these graves were for different versions of me. From different realities or universes I don’t know. I was fairly certain I wasn’t dead and this was all just a bad dream so I decided to explore and possibly see which gravestone in this labyrinthine graveyard was mine.

As I walked, I started to feel a tug from my chest, like my heart was being pulled in a certain direction. I followed the pull for what seemed like ages. Eventually the graves just stopped except for this one gravestone sitting alone just outside of where the rest of them lay. As I approached my soul felt like it was it was sitting next to a cozy fireplace, so I had the feeling that this grave was mine.

I eventually got close enough to read it had it not been for the dust and debris that covered it. It looked old and dilapidated yet it still had an open plot in front of it. I brushed off the dirt covering the gravestone and what I read chilled me to my soul.
“The Bad Ending”

The old man came from beside me.
“What an unfortunate soul this one. Feel real bad for him, you know?”
“I think that’s me.”
“What? No, it couldn’t, he’s not-“
He looked at me, his face grew grim.
“Oh shit, you’re not supposed to be here yet!”
He then grabbed my face and I felt my brain shock like it had just been struck by Thor himself.

Then I woke up. Sweating, crying, and white-knuckled. It’s absolutely fucked with my mind ever since.

Hello all!
About 2 weeks ago I had a very existential lucid nightmare that I can’t get out of my head. It’s to the point where it has been effecting my waking...

Source | Show dream

Had a dream when I was 10 with a girl I didn’t know in it. We’re dating now.

I’ll try to keep this as short as possible, I have ADHD and my stories turn into ramblings most of the time.

Anyways.

When I was about 10 or so, I had this dream where me and this random girl were playing and just having fun doing kid stuff. Suddenly I got the urge to tell her “this is a dream, and I can leave whenever I want to. Isn’t that cool?”

She replied with something like “I know.”

So I said “watch this” and in the dream, I closed my eyes and opened them and I was awake (in real life).

Didn’t think much of it.

Come this past June, I was in a town about 4 hours from the one I live in, getting my drivers license photo and all that done since COVID restrictions took them out of my town.

I walked out of the DMV there, and a girl is walking her dog. The dog peed on my moms car door, and she apologized.

We talked for a bit and she asked me for my Snapchat so we could talk some more, which was a first for me since I’m a solid 3/10.

Flash forward a few days later, we’ve been talking, we like each other, decide to hang out in person. She makes the drive up to my town to spend the night.

We spent most of the night just talking about random childhood stories, and I went a grabbed my 3rd grade school picture. Then she told me she had a dream when she was younger about how she was hanging out with a boy, then he said “this is a dream” and left.

She pointed out how younger me looked almost like the kid she had a dream about those years ago.

Well I told her my story of the similar incident, and we concluded we were destined to meet.

I think we both are in agreement that it’s just a scary coincidence, but we both also feel very twilight-zone-y about it now and we aren’t sure if it is a coincidence or some weird fate stuff.

Life is weird, kiddos.

I’ll try to keep this as short as possible, I have ADHD and my stories turn into ramblings most of the time.

Anyways.

When I was about 10 or so, I had this...

Source | Show dream

Had a dream where I rested my head on my crushes shoulders ♥

She is a street músician I go listen to every day and we are going to play live soon, she invited me im so happy(in Real life)

Anyways in the dream I was in the bus with her in the back seats and i rested my head on her shoulders and i just felt so warm and happy

Wanted to share that bye bye good luck to you all

She is a street músician I go listen to every day and we are going to play live soon, she invited me im so happy(in Real life)

Anyways in the dream I was in...

Source | Show dream

I had a dream about a very pretty girl I have a feeling that I know her but forgot who it is, so i don't think so but I would hug her every now, she sits on my lap sometimes and then do bf and gf...

I actually think I'm courting her like that but I have no confidence in myself in real life to do it like that. I don't even have a girlfriend. Does this have a hidden meaning? Pls I really want to know.

I actually think I'm courting her like that but I have no confidence in myself in real life to do it like that. I don't even have a girlfriend. Does this have a...

Source | Show dream
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