Dreams: they mean a thing or two?

It was pitch dark initially. Then the pale blue stage lights came on. From the backstage I could hear the murmur of the anxious crowd. The smoke guns slowly swung into action giving the feeling that I am looking through the clouds. The crowd went absolutely crazy when Thomas Anders took the stage and sang "you're my heart, you're my soul..I'll keep it shining everywhere I go..". Yes, it was a 'Modern Talking' concert, and I was enjoying the show literally standing on the stage; just behind the band. I don't have a clue how I reached the backstage, during the concert of a band whose last live performance was in the early nineties!

OK, as you might have already guessed, it was one of the dreams I had a couple of days back. I wasn't a regular in the dreaming circuit, the kind you see in your sleep. I was always comfortable dreaming in the day itself, almost exhausting my daily quota of dreams by the time I go to bed. Even if I dreamed during sleep, I rarely remembered any of them once I am awake. You need some cues in the morning to remember the dreams you had the previous night. Like, something you see or do during the day, relating you back to the dreams you had. Entirely different is the case of this friend of mine who has come to stay with me for a while. He dreams every night and remembers all of it the next morning. His brain works like a movie theater, running multiple shows every night. His dreams are so 'real' for him that he occasionally rides a horse around the room or paddle into the kitchen on his way to crack a waterfall! The sound effects also closely match the emotionally charged situations most of the nights.

As if inspired by him and the vivid stories of his dreams, I have started dreaming more often these days. I should rather say I am remembering some of the dreams. After the Modern Talking concert I had another interesting dream the same night. I was visiting this 'mystic', with a friend of mine who had something to discuss with this 'God-man'. We reached the god-man's house, and my friend started talking about the problems in his life while I watched the scene from outside. After listening to my friend for a while the god-man moved to the adjacent room on all fours, lifted his hands and grabbed something from thin air. When he turned around I could see that he was holding an over-sized millipede in his hand. I could not remember what he was mumbling, but it was to the effect that he has taken care of all the bad energy in my friend's life. The millipede symbolized all that was bad in his life. The next thing I remember is my friend telling me how the millipede actually came out of the god-man's pocket and not from thin air.

Where do dreams come from? Why do they come and always show some weird stories? Do they reflect hidden emotions and desires? Are they always triggered by things you do or topics you discuss or thoughts you have? I know I am just repeating some of the questions people have been asking for ages. But after looking at the dreams both us were having over a period of time, I feel that dreams are nothing but a mashup-on-steroids, of all that happens when you are awake. There are certain parts of the dreams which you can relate to real events, thoughts or desires, but they are more like triggers around which elaborate plots are cooked up.

Looking at my own dream, I do listen to Modern Talking once a while. I also got a live concert video, their farewell concert at Berlin, but I haven't watched it in the last few months. And to be honest, they are no Floyd or GNR for me to be delighted if I get a backstage pass. Moreover, I have videos of many other live concerts- from Metallica to the Metropole Orchestra, so why Modern Talking of all the bands? The second dream makes more sense in fact... we have been discussing about a mystical personality recently; how he listens to people's problems and attribute them to various things like events in their previous life. We had also talked in detail about how some of these so called 'god-men' cheat people, by doing cheap tricks like manifesting objects out of thin air. And over-sized millipedes.. yes, I have seen them in the woods during my treks, at least once.

So, now I know some of the probable triggers of my dreams; but how? why?... the questions all still remain.